Christie's Pioneer Store

Thomas Halvor Christie, known as T. H. Christie was born of Halvor and Mary Christie.  Halvor and Mary Christie immigrated to Windom, Minnesota from Christianna, Norway in the midst of the Civil War in 1863.  Later the couple moved to Driscoll Ridge, near the community of Huffs Gulch in 1892.  Huffs Gulch was the earliest name for what is now known as Troy.  T. H. Christie had four brothers and married Maggie Raun on February 15th, 1892.

Interior of Christie's Pioneer Store in Troy, Idaho.  Image courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 15-03-026.

In 1903 T. H. Christie was highlighted in the History of North Idaho: "Mr. Christie is a merchant, handling a mammoth stock of general merchandise in Troy, and he has secured by his sagacious business methods and uprightness, a large patronage."

Exterior of a sale at Christie's Pioneer Store in Troy, Idaho.  Image courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 15-03-027.

T. H. Christie was civicly involved in many different organizations.  Fraternally he was associated with the I.O.O.F. Lodge No. 29, the Elks Lodge of Moscow, Lodge No. 249 and the K. of P. Lodge No. 11 in Troy.

An image of Main Street in Troy, Idaho.  The sign in the center right of the image reads: "T.H. Christie's Dry Goods, Groceries, Boots, Shoes" no date.  Image courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 15-02-21.

In 1906 Ulrich Rietmann constructed this building, opening with Christie's Pioneer Store on the first floor with rental rooms above.  By 1909 Christie's Pioneer Store had moved to a different space and the lower floor mercantile space was vacant.  In 1927Alfred Ekhom bought the building for use as a department store and tailor shop.  In only two short years the building's use changed again to be split in two, in the northern section there was a moving picture theater while in the southern section there was a bakery.  In the 1940s the upstairs rooms were transformed into apartments while the first floor housed retail stores.




References:

History of North Idaho: An Illustrated History Embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai, and Shoshone Counties State of Idaho (Western Historical Publication Company, 1903) 665.

Julin, Suzanne, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Troy Downtown Historic District, August, 30, 2009.

Johnson, Stella E. History of Troy. (Troy, ID: Stella E. Johnson, 1992) 9, 163-165.

Thank you

Thank you for your interest in my project, Mobile Interpretation on a Shoestring Budget, at the 2014 AAM Emerging Innovators Forum.

I believe that QR Codes can be a cost effective way to increase your museums mobile interpretation.  I have seen QR Codes used in museums to augment exhibit tags, on buildings to augment historic preservation plaques, on coasters (if you are hosting a quiz night at a bar for instance) and virtually anywhere you can print.  QR Codes are an exciting medium to get your institutions message across to a younger audience.  QR Code reading apps are free and can be found in most app stores.  If you have any further questions about using QR Codes to create mobile interpretation at your museum please feel free to contact me, I would be happy to help your organization move into mobile interpretation.

I would welcome any feedback on my presentation, or any feedback or experiences you might have using QR Codes.  I would be very interested to hear about how your institution is using QR Codes as well.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Zachary Wnek
zwnek@latah.id.us
208-882-1004
360-509-3919 (mobile)

Nob Hill Residences

When the Potlatch Lumber Company (PLC) built the largest white pine mill in the world at Potlatch, the new western enterprise opted to create a company town to attract a steady workforce. Part of the social experiment meant that corporate bosses would bring their families to live in the new town. The south hill, overlooking the Palouse River, was chosen as the area in which to build 18 homes, 10 of them constructed in 1906 for upper management. One reason for locating the homes on Nob Hill was that the prevailing winds blew smoke from the sawmill toward the north hill in town –where the workers lived –and away from the exclusive Nob Hill residences.

Nob Hill residences in Potlatch, Idaho, no date, courtesy of the Potlatch Historical Society.

Nob Hill was laid out on a grid, with all the largest, most expensive homes facing a small park. Most of the homes were designed by C. Ferris White, a Spokane architect hired by PLC to design the company town’s first buildings. William Deary, PLC’s first general manager, claimed 330 Cedar as his residence, with construction costs amounting to $6,342. Allison Laird, who replaced Deary as general manager after Deary’s death in 1913, lived at 310 Cedar, in a home costing $4,171. The homes were spacious, with large porches, many built-in cabinets, and indoor plumbing. Steam heat was piped in from the mill. Interestingly enough, company managers never owned the homes they lived in, but instead rented from the company.

Nob Hill residences in Potlatch, Idaho, no date, courtesy of the Potlatch Historical Society.

Although the Nob Hill residents lived apart from the worker class, there was no encouraged social division. Town residents, workers and managers alike, shopped at the Mercantile, recreated at the town’s gymnasium, and worshipped at the same churches. All children attended company-owned schools, and the same doctors served all social classes. At the same time, long-time resident Joe Cada remembers his fascination at delivering newspapers to Nob Hill and getting a peek into the fine homes with their nicer furnishings. Cada recalled that many who lived on Nob Hill were always gracious in dealing with him, and as he later ran the furniture section at the Mercantile, he remembered selling them their new furniture.


References:

Petersen, Keith C., Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1987).

Joe Cada, interview by Barbra Coyner, August 13, 2001, Potlatch Historical Society, Potlatch, ID.

St. Mary's Catholic Church

A potlatch is a northwest Native American Feast where gifts are dispersed by the chieftain to show his material wealth. Often the chieftain challenged a guest to "exceed him in power" by giving away or destroying more goods. If the guest did not outdo the chieftain, he was then diminished in power and took a "lower place on the totem pole," and the chief remained in power. At the Potlatch the tribe hosted horse racing, archery, spear throwing, and displays of beadwork, clothing and blankets.

One of those potlatch sites along the Palouse River, just behind the present baseball park in town, later became the area where the Potlatch Lumber Mill was built. The mill grew to be the largest white pine lumber mill in the world. Potlatch was a company town, in 1905, planned much on the order of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois where every resident worked for the company.

St. Mary's Catholic Church in Potlatch, Idaho, 1907-1910, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-06-018.

In the years 1906-7 two hundred residences were built by the company, along with a fire department, school, boarding houses, general store, gymnasium, hotel, and Catholic Church.  Alcohol and prostitution were prohibited and marriage encouraged as homes were only rented to married couples.

You are standing before the St. Mary's Catholic Church, built in the fall of 1907, under the direction of Father Henrickx who was the priest in the Moscow parish. In 1906 he had reported that there were 30 Catholic families and 15 converts in Potlatch so he would come to Potlatch and us the Potlatch Mercantile Company store and the basement of the school for Sunday Mass. The first resident pastor was Father A. Aufmkolk from 1908-1909. After Father Aufmkolk, there was a series of 35 pastors, serving the church, an average of 2.9 years each.

The church is a one and one-half story building on a concrete foundation, with a three story bell tower on the west side. It was constructed by the company at the cost of $3,942. The congregation used the building rent-free and when the town was sold in the 1950's the company donated the church to the congregation. Rooms built onto the back in 1914 served as a rectory until 1927. The metal statue of Mary in the yard was created around 2011 by Dennis Frei, a Potlatch artist in memory of a long time member.


References:

A History of St. Mary's Catholic Church for the Centennial Celebration 1907-2007, Personal Collection of Shirley King.

Discussion between Shirley King and Ginger Rankin, April 2014.

Petersen, Keith C., Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1987).

Petersen, Keith, Inventory Sheet for Group Nominations, Idaho State Historical Society: Historic Resources of Potlatch: Workers' Neighborhood Historic District, May 1985. 

Administration Building

Built in 1916-17, the Administrative Building became the hub of all the operations for the company town, saw mill, railroad and logging activities.  The Administration Building replaced office space that had previously been in the Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway depot.  Mr. Allison Laird promoted the idea of new offices after William Deary died in 1913, yet there is no record of who the architect of the attractive building was. 

Panoramic view of the city of Potlatch, no date, courtesy of the Potlatch Historical Society.

Once it was built, the Administrative Building was the pulse of the company town.   Many former company employees remember going to the pay window on the main floor to collect their paychecks, minus the charges made to the company store, and the $1 charge for the company’s hospital coverage plan. The building housed an efficient staff of executives and support staff.  Allison Laird directed the Potlatch Lumber Company, and Walter Gamble served as head of the W. I. & M. Railway. Miss Mabel Kelley was the legendary head secretary in charge for many years, presiding over the steno pool and keeping all company entities running smoothly.

Potlatch administration building, no date, courtesy of the Potlatch Historical Society.

The Potlatch Lumber Company was no ordinary lumber mill operation, but rather a complete cradle-to-grave enterprise that furnished worker housing, shopping, recreation, health care and indeed even burial services. As the company’s fortunes declined, most of the homes and buildings were sold off in the 1950’s, with the Administrative Building eventually becoming Potlatch City Hall.

Potlatch administration building, no date, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-03-101.

The building directly across from the Administrative Building on Sixth Street is the company town gymnasium, designed by A.M. Holmes, and built in 1916 after the first gymnasium burned to the ground in 1915. The gym boasted a hard rock maple basketball court, smoking and reading rooms, with showers and lockers in the basement. It remained a community center for many years, hosting boxing tournaments, indoor baseball, roller skating, school lunch programs, and for a time, city jail and animal impoundment facilities.




References:

Petersen, Keith C., Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1987).

Potlatch Corporation Records, various types of records, Potlatch Historical Society, Potlatch, ID.

Potlatch Historical Society.

Bovill Opera House

The exact construction date of the Bovill Opera House is unknown, however it is known that the opera house was in use by 1911.  The opera house survived both major fires in Bovill in 1912 and 1914.  Almost immediately after completion the Bovill Opera House was the hub of respectable social activity in Bovill and the surrounding areas.  The opera house gave the community a less rambunctious form of entertainment as the other forms of entertainment in Bovill consisted of billiards halls and bars.  The Bovill Opera House has two levels, the theater is in the first floor while the dance hall is in the upper floor.  The Bovill Opera House was initially used for dances, silent films, student plays, vaudeville shows, private social gatherings and community activities.  The opera house began showing moving pictures before Bovill had electricity and installed a generator outside of the building to produce the power necessary to display the pictures. 

Bovill Opera House, c.a. 1920, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 02-06-007.

By the 1930s the Bovill Opera House hosted ‘talkies’ or movies with speaking roles.  During the 1930s the dance floor upstairs was converted to a miniature golf course and then into a roller skating rink.  The Bovill Opera House closed during World War II.  After World War II, Lloyd Hall ran the theater, showing older movies, until the popularity of television overcame the financial viability of the theater.  The Opera House closed for daily operation in 1955, however it was opened occasionally in the 1970s and 1980s as the Bovill Historical Museum.  The opera house is currently under restoration by the Bovill Improvement Group interested in once again making it the hub of community activities.

Bovill Opera House, 1978, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 02-03-022.

References:

Julin, Suzanne. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Bovill Opera House. Missoula, MT, December 8, 2009.


Otness, Lillian W. A Great Good Country: A guide to Historic Moscow and Latah County, Idaho. (Moscow: Latah County Historic Society, 1983), 140.

Bovill Opera House, 1978, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 02-03-029.

Bovill Opera House, 1978, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 02-03-030.

Cordelia Lutheran Church

This Cordelia Lutheran Church was built in 1883, seven years before Idaho became a state.  The church was built on one acre donated by Andrew S. Olson, an original member of the congregation.  The church bought an additional acre adjacent to the church for use as a cemetery, for which they paid the sum of $25.  This church was built by the Swedish Lutheran Augustana Synod and holds the reputation as the smallest Lutheran church in Idaho at only 18 x 24 feet. 

Cordelia Lutheran Church, c. 1940, Courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 25-06-48.

The Augustana Synod, founded in Wisconsin, sent Peter J. Carlson to establish Swedish Lutheran churches throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Trained as a carpenter in Sweden, Carlson personally designed and helped build 13 frontier churches, he also initiated the construction of many more.  The Greek Revival design of this church is similar to the first church Carlson constructed in the western territories at Astoria, Oregon.
 

Cordelia's first pastor, Peter J. Carlson, Courtesy of www.cordeliachurch.org .

The Cordelia congregation quickly shrunk to only one committed family by 1903 and services ceased between 1913 and 1920.  The daughter of Andrew Olson donated funds in May of 1948 to restore the church which had fallen into disrepair.  The church has faced possible sales, moving and demolition but remains intact at its original location.  The Cordelia Lutheran Church is currently owned by the Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Moscow and preserved by the Friends of Cordelia organization.  The church hosts summer concerts, weddings and festivals.

Cordelia Lutheran Church, c. 1980, Courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 25-07-02.

References:

Houser, Michael. Friends of Cordelia Newsletter, Oct. 1994, Volume 1 Number 2 “Cordelia Church is Built,” Private Collection.

Otness, Lillian W. A Great Good Country: A guide to Historic Moscow and Latah County, Idaho. (Moscow: Latah County Historic Society, 1983), 165.

Rognas, Liza R. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Cordelia Lutheran Church, February 24, 1995.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, which now houses the Bovill Branch of the Latah County Library, was originally built in Elk River, Idaho.  Elk River, Idaho was founded in 1910 to serve the needs of the workers of the Clearwater Timber Company.  This church was built in Elk River in 1928 and was designed by the Boise architectural firm of Tourtellotte and Hummel, a firm with many significant buildings throughout Idaho including the Idaho State Capitol.  This church is very similar to the Parma Catholic Church also designed by Tourtellotte and Hummel.  The church in Elk River had a few differences and has more ornate details.  The Clearwater Timber Company closed their mill in Elk River in 1933 and many houses were moved out of the town on skids in the years following.  This church was moved to Bovill, a 17-mile trip, in 1935.  The church has served as a mission for the Catholic Church which began under the Bovill parish and later under the Potlatch parish until 1997.  As a mission church this church had no permanent priest, rather had a building in which a traveling priest would preach in.  There were many pastors who preached in this church including Father Zuur from 1918-1921 and in 1933 Father John Kunkel lead the congregation.

In 1997 the church was no longer of use to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise and was put up for sale.  The church was purchased by the Bovill Library Historic Preservation Committee.  The church was slowly renovated to suit the needs of the library through fund-raising and volunteer labor.  The building opened again as the Bovill branch of the Latah County Library District in July of 1999.

References:

Bovill Library Website:  http://www.latahlibrary.org/branches/bovill.asp  Accessed 4/30/2014

Bishop Edward Kelley. Unpublished priest biographies and church history. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise Collection, Boise, ID.

Margaret Planagan to Judith Austin. Letter. Latah County Historical Society, Moscow, ID.

The Official Catholic Directory, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New York, NY., 1920, Google Books, accessed 4/30/2014, p.232.

The Official Catholic Directory, 1983, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New York, NY., The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise Collection, Boise, ID, p.232.

Wright, Patricia, Inventory Sheet for Group Nominations: Idaho State Historical Society Boise, Idaho: Tourtelotte and Hummel Architecture, 1980.