Wallace, Idaho
Wallace, Idaho | |
|---|---|
 Buildings in Wallace's historic district | |
 Location of Wallace, Idaho | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Idaho |
| County | Shoshone |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2) |
| • Land | 0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,730 ft (832 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
• Total | 960 |
| • Density | 1,104.4/sq mi (426.4/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 83873-83874 |
| Area code | 208 |
| FIPS code | 16-84790 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0392796 |
Wallace is a historic city in the Panhandle region of the U.S. state of Idaho and the county seat of Shoshone CountyTemplate:GR in the Silver Valley mining district. Wallace sits alongside the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River (and Interstate 90) and the town's population was 960 at the 2000 census.
Wallace is the principal town of the Coeur d'Alene silver-mining district, which produced more silver than any other mining district in the United States. Burke-Canyon Road runs through historic mining communities — many of them now deserted — north and eastward toward the Montana border. East of Wallace, the Route of the Hiawatha (rails-to-trails) and the Lookout Pass ski area are popular with locals and tourists.
The elevation is 2,728 feet (831 m) above sea level.
History
 |
The city was named for Colonel W.R. Wallace, a landowner.[1]
In 1890, Shoshone County was the most populated county in the new state of Idaho, and Wallace was its largest city and the third largest in the state, with 2000 residents.
The area periodically experienced open warfare between miners and mine owners. Hard rock miners in Shoshone County protested wage cuts with a strike in 1892. After several lost their lives in a shooting war provoked by discovery of a company spy, the U.S. Army forced an end to the strike. Hostilities erupted once again in 1899 when, in response to the company firing seventeen men for joining the union, the miners dynamited the Bunker Hill & Sullivan mill. Again, lives were lost, and the Army intervened.
One third of the town of Wallace was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1910, which burned about 3,000,000 acres (12,141 km2; 4,688 sq mi) in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.[2]
In 1979, several blocks of downtown Wallace were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, the Wallace Historic District.[3][4][5]
Geography
Wallace is located at 47°28′23″N 115°55′30″W / 47.47306°N 115.92500°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (47.472923, -115.924935).Template:GR
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 878 | — | |
| 1900 | 2,265 | 158.0% | |
| 1910 | 3,000 | 32.5% | |
| 1920 | 2,816 | −6.1% | |
| 1930 | 3,634 | 29.0% | |
| 1940 | 3,839 | 5.6% | |
| 1950 | 3,140 | −18.2% | |
| 1960 | 2,412 | −23.2% | |
| 1970 | 2,206 | −8.5% | |
| 1980 | 1,736 | −21.3% | |
| 1990 | 1,010 | −41.8% | |
| 2000 | 960 | −5.0% | |
| 2007 (est.) | 867 | ||
| source:[6][7] | |||
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 960 people, 427 households, and 237 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,104.4 people per square mile (426.0/km²). There were 587 housing units at an average density of 675.3/sq mi (260.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.90% White, 2.50% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.62% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.19% of the population.
There were 427 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.0% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,065, and the median income for a family was $33,472. Males had a median income of $25,288 versus $16,429 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,699. About 12.8% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Wallace is accessible via Interstate 90, State Highway 4, and a local airport. The nearest airport is Shoshone County Airport (S83), in the nearby city of Smelterville.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, commonly called the Milwaukee Road, ran transcontinental passenger trains through Wallace from 1911 to 1961. The Olympian (1911-1947) and Olympian_Hiawatha (1947-1961) transported passengers between Chicago and Seattle. The rail depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8] After the Milwaukee Road discontinued and abandoned the route, much of the Olympian Hiawatha route became a rails-to-trails parks including sections in Montana, Idaho, and Washington. In Wallace, this rail line became The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. The trail runs from east of Mullan to the Washington-Idaho state line west of Plummer.[9] In Washington, the rail line became Iron Horse State Park and the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.[10]
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 passes through Wallace on an elevated freeway viaduct built in 1991. Until the freeway opened, I-90 traffic used a surface highway previously designated U.S. Route 10. The highway used the main city streets through downtown. Wallace had the last traffic light on a coast-to-coast Interstate highway, a fact that is displayed on signage in downtown Wallace proclaiming it to be "The Last Stoplight". On September 15, 1991, the Idaho Department of Transportation moved I-90 to a freeway viaduct above the north side of the town. Prior to this the interstate turned into arterial streets on the western outskirts of town and followed the main road through town before becoming a highway again on Wallace's east side. The section of US 10 through Wallace is now designated Interstate 90 Business.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) originally planned to build I-90 as an at-grade freeway. This plan would have demolished most of downtown Wallace. In the 1970s, city leaders undertook an effort to list downtown on the National Register of Historic Places with the result that now every building in downtown Wallace is on the National Register of Historic Places. The FHWA had to redesign I-90 to bypass downtown because federal law protects historic places from negative effects of highway construction.[3][4][5] The elevated viaduct is the FHWA's solution to this problem.
Center of the Universe
|
On September 25, 2004, Mayor Ron Garitone proclaimed Wallace to be the center of the Universe. Specifically, a sewer access cover was declared to be the precise location of the center of the Universe. A specially made manhole cover was made to mark the spot. It bears the words "Center of the Universe. Wallace, Idaho." This prompted British comedian and writer Danny Wallace to visit Wallace. He wrote about his visit in the book Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe, published in 2006.
The event is celebrated on the third Saturday of September.
In popular culture
- The 1997 film Dante's Peak was filmed in and around Wallace during the summer of 1996, with the large hill next to town digitally altered to look like a volcano. One scene shows Pierce Brosnan driving a pickup down Main Street to escape the volcanic eruption. You can also see a sign that says Wallace in one of the scenes with the community standing around for the celebration. Many scenes take place in the historic downtown area, visible from the nearby Interstate 90. The 1980 epic Heaven's Gate also filmed several scenes in Wallace.
- Actor/screenwriter Michael Norell was born in Wallace. Norell is famous for his role as Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Henry "Hank" Stanley on the television series Emergency!.
- The fire-fighting tool called a Pulaski is widely credited to a forest ranger from Wallace, Ed Pulaski.
- Actress Lana Turner was born in Wallace, as was politician Bill Thomas and Oregon State football coach Mike Riley.
References
- ^ "Profile for Wallace, Idaho". ePodunk. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
- ^ Pyne, Stephen J. (2008). Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 9780878425440.
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
- ^ a b "Wallace Historic District NRHP" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ^ a b "Wallace Historic District boundary increase" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ^ Moffatt, Riley. Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850-1990. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 94.
- ^ "Subcounty population estimates: Idaho 2000-2007" (CSV). United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
- ^ "Northern Pacific Railway Depot" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ^ Google Maps (GPS: 47.472395,-115.9153)
- ^ "Iron Horse State Park". Washington State Parks. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
Author and historian Tim Egan's book, "The Big Burn" features Wallace's great fire of 1910 and details the beginning of Teddy Roosevelt's National Forest Service.
Author Kathleen Mulroy's historical inspirational romance, "The Silver and the Cross" (Comfort Publishing, 2010), is set in 1890 Wallace.
External links
Municipalities and communities of Shoshone County, Idaho, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| CDP | ||
| Other communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |