Potlatch

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Potlatch, Idaho stood out as the new frontier for the Weyerhaeuser’s latest logging and lumber mill ventures, and by the early 1900s, a lumber mill and company town were built. Within a few years, the sawmill would be hailed as the largest white pine mill in the world.  Although white pine was coveted because of its strength and ability to float, mill interests had seriously miscalculated the area’s river flows.  Consequently, the abundant white pine could not be floated to the mill, but was instead hauled to the Potlatch Lumber Company mill by the company’s own short line railroad, the Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway.

Potlatch, Idaho April 17, 1906, image courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-01-02.

The Company Town era earned Potlatch national recognition, and the company store, the Potlatch Mercantile, rivaled any major department store in Seattle.  Baseball, too, was a big item, and in 1914, the American and National Leagues All-Star teams stopped for an exhibition game at the bustling mill town.  The community was praised for its fine schools, cultural aspects, work ethic and spirited citizens.  Surrounding towns such as Princeton, Harvard and Onaway also contributed to the robust business climate and neighborly lifestyle.  Farming, logging and milling provided mainstay jobs in the area.

Aerial photo of the Potlatch mill in Potlatch on September 19, 1955, image courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-01-20.

But in 1981, the mill whistle sounded its last blast, and by 1983, the renowned sawmill at Potlatch was completely dismantled.  Despite predictions of the town folding, the little community has survived, and agricultural crops such as barley and timothy hay contribute to the current economy, along with the state-of-the-art Bennett Lumber Products mill at Princeton. 

References:

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

Potlatch Historical Society.

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.

American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81

This large log building is the American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81. The American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81 formed in 1920, one year after the end of World War I. As their membership grew and became increasingly active, they decided to construct a central meeting place. This cabin finished in 1929, was built to honor the memory of Potlatch men who died in World War I, and was named for one of those men, C.J. Robinson.

Alfred Johnson near the American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81, c. 1950, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-03-289.

The American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81 was one of the very few buildings not owned by the Potlatch Lumber Company. However, the timbers were donated by the company and were hand hewn by volunteer axmen. So many lodges and civic and social organizations grew up in the town, encouraged by the company, that one of the most daunting jobs in Potlatch was the scheduling of meeting places. The American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81 saw constant meetings, dances, and parties.  The Great Depression brought changes to the social life in the town and the cabin was no longer a beehive of activity. Later it was leased for a restaurant and at this date it is rarely used.

American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81, no date, courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-03-288.

References:

Petersen, Keith C. Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company. (Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1987), 148, 154.

Idaho State Historical Society. Inventory Sheet for Group Nominations: Historic Resources of Potlatch. Boise, ID, n.d.

Dedication plaque on the American Legion Cabin Robinson Post #81, courtesy of Virginia Rankin.

The W. I. & M. Railway Depot

Built in 1906, the W. I. & M. (Washington, Idaho, and Montana) Railway depot was the first commercial building in the company town of Potlatch, which was created to serve the Potlatch Lumber Company.  The company was the first major western expansion of the Weyerhaeuser timber syndicate, and the Potlatch sawmill was for years the largest white pine mill in the world.  Designed by Spokane architect C. Ferris White, the depot was the hub for sawmill, logging, railroad and company town activities. 

Courtesy of Images of the Past CD distributed by the Potlatch Historical Society, and originally sponsored by Potlatch Corporation

The W. I. & M. Railway, at 47 miles long, extended from Bovill, Idaho to Palouse, Washington.  Unfortunately the name of the W. I. & M. was a bit too ambitious since the road never reached Montana.  Railroad tracks historically ran along either side of the depot, so trains could easily transfer freight to the company town buildings, or haul lumber and logs to and from the mill.  The large brick building near the depot was once the produce cellar for the company store, and is part of the Commercial Historic District added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.  The smaller wooden building next to the depot housed repair facilities for the railroad. 

Railroad workers at the W. I. & M. Railway Depot in Potlatch, ID, date unknown.  Courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-03-079.

During its history, the depot has been owned by the W. I. & M. Railway, the Milwaukee Road, Watco, and currently a non-profit, the W. I. & M. History Preservation Group (WIM HPG), which took ownership in 2001.  For many years, the building was left to languish in disrepair, but in 2007, the WIM HPG began major restoration efforts.  Exterior work was completed in 2007, and interior work continues as funding becomes available.  The depot is part of the Commercial Historic District.

References:

Potlatch Historical Society

Petersen, Keith. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory Sheet for Group Nominations, Commercial Historic District, Potlatch, ID, May, 1985.

Otness, Lillian W. A Great Good Country: A guide to Historic Moscow and Latah County, Idaho. (Moscow: Latah County Historic Society, 1983), 116-117.

W. I. & M. History Preservation Group, www.potlatchdepot.blogspot.com

Courtesy of Images of the Past CD distributed by the Potlatch Historical Society, and originally sponsored by Potlatch Corporation

A W. I. & M Ry. train at the W. I. & M. Railway Depot in Potlatch, ID, date unknown.  Courtesy of the Latah County Historical Society, 12-03-001.

In 2006 the W. I. & M. Railway Depot began a massive renovation of the depot, most of the work was completed and done in 2007.  This image shows the depot under renovation in 2007.  Image courtesy of www.potlatchdepot.blogspot.com.