Bonner County History - May 26, 2024
Brought to you by the
Bonner County Historical
Society and Museum
611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864
208-263-2344
50 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
May 26, 1974 – ANOTHER BOMB THREAT
The Sandpoint Junior High was the scene of yet another bomb scare Friday, that, like all the others, proved to be a fake. Chief of Police Elliot said the caller, a young male, called in to the school office saying, “I suggest you get the hell out of there,” then said there was a bomb in the boys’ lavatory. A search of the premises revealed no bomb and school was not cancelled. Police are investigating.
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NEW LUMBER MILL MAY BE BUILT IN AREA
Bonner County will likely have a new lumber mill in the Laclede area, to be constructed by the Brand S Corporation of Corvallis, Ore. Located on a 50 acre site on U.S. 200, just south of Laclede, it would employ about 100 workers. Ken Babin, Panhandle Health District, said “Brand S has worked closely with us about the new mill. As far as I can tell, they are trying to meet every requirement.” The mill likely will not employ a teepee type burner, and would use a boiler instead, eliminating a lot of the noise and smoke pollution found around most area mills.
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GILMORE GETS NAVAL RESERVE AWARD
Midshipman second class Michael K. Gilmore received one of the two Idaho Naval Reserve Assn. awards given May 2 in Moscow. Gilmore, a junior electrical engineering major at the U of I, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Gilmore, Sandpoint.
75 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
May 26, 1949 – BUILDING GUTTED BY FIRE
The most costly fire in many years gutted the Masonic temple building [at Second and Cedar] in the heart of Sandpoint’s business district Friday with the lodge and three businesses suffering damages upwards of $100,000. The blaze, which apparently started from an undetermined cause in the rear of Decker’s 5c to $1 store, was discovered by Bill E. “Beaner” Johnson at 5:20 a.m., when the heat and smoke burst the front display windows as he drove east on Cedar. By pouring thousands of gallons of water through the east windows of the second floor, the fire department managed to keep the blaze out of the Bonner County National bank, but the entire second floor was gutted, the roof burned off and Decker’s store was a total loss. The building was constructed in 1913 by Thomason Bros., completing the first floor that fall. The second floor was added in 1924, the large upstairs room used as “The Orient” ballroom. The Masons acquired the building in 1929.
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SCHOOL FRIENDS ENTERTAINED
Marilyn Cox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Cox, entertained friends Friday after school with a beach party at Talache. They enjoyed swimming, hiking, dancing at Talache Lodge, and a wiener roast with “all the trimmings” on the beach. Guests were Janet Croy, Shirley Decker, Marjorie Whipple, Charleen Jahnke, Shirley Brixen, Polly Spangle, Karen Hayden, Susan Oberg, Gary Pietsch, Bob Maxwell, Kenny Thompson, Don Sundgren, Fritz Holz, Ewing Buck, Bill Fredstrom and Terry McConnaughey.
For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.