Groups aims to help people remember the Samuels

WALLACE — It was almost 50 years ago that the grandest building in Wallace was torn down.

And while the legacy of the Samuels Hotel lives on in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to see it with their own eyes — the history of the building, however, has been lost on many of the generations that followed it.

Fortunately, Wallace residents Courtney Frieh, Jim See and Dick Caron have been working on adding a new monument that will allow visitors and residents alike the ability to know about the incomparable Samuels and its impact on Wallace.

“Erecting an educational sign about the Samuels Hotel is important because the hotel was a landmark for both Wallace and the whole Inland Northwest,” Frieh said. “Not only was it an extremely large, beautiful, impressive structure, it was the site where much of Wallace’s rich history unfolded. Its glamorous lobby was a hub for business negotiations where mines were bought, sold and traded. It was the site of the infamous Rossi murder and illicit prohibition activities. The lobby housed a variety of bars, banks, beauty salons, clubs, cafes and businesses over the years. An educational sign will pay homage to this important hotel and will inform tourists and locals alike of its historical significance and beauty.”

A small park, that was gifted to the city in 2008 by the Magnuson family, sits where the building once stood — on the corner of Seventh and Cedar streets, the space almost seems too small when you think about just how big the Samuels was.

Five floors of rooms, including the lobby that Frieh spoke about, the Samuels was the foundation of business activities on the east end of Shoshone County.

As the building began to age (and really show its age), declining occupancy rates and rumblings of a new interstate highway led to the unfortunate demise of the edifice — which likely would still be standing today had it just waited a few more years.

“At that time, there was also little interest in historic preservation and Wallace had not yet been designated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places,” Caron said. “However, occupancy rates had been declining for years and the cost of repair and maintenance was prohibitive.”

With that in mind, keeping the building around made little sense and it was brought down in 1974.

Now, as generations have come and gone, the mystique of the Samuels and its legacy is being preserved in a new informational monument that is being put together by See, Frieh and Caron with some help from the Idaho Humanities Council.

The IHC has provided the group with grant money for Samuels Hotel Sign Project, which includes the erection of an educational sign about the Samuels Hotel.

“The sign will be similar in design and materials as other signs in Wallace, such as the Wallace Hospital Park and the Pulaski Trail signs, but we hope the sign will be stately and reflect the significance and beauty of the structure,” Frieh said.

The group estimates that the sign will cost anywhere from $10,000-$15,000 and plan on unveiling the sign in 2022 near the annual Fall For History festival in Wallace.

More than 100 years ago, in 1908 to be exact, George M. Teale, a writer for the Overland Monthly magazine, wrote the following about the hotel: “The city of Wallace is a veritable little jewel of a city, set snugly in it’s beautiful velvet case of green-clad mountains…there are many beautiful homes here with every modern convenience…but the pride of the city, and the whole district for that matter, is the new Samuel’s Hotel.”

114 years later, that pride in Wallace’s most magnificent building will once again be celebrated.