Pottsville and Shoshone Park pt. 3
Evelyn Smith wrote of the development and use of Shoshone Park in 1985. “Pottsville Park, renamed Shoshone Park in recent years, has always been a popular picnic area. Work to make it a picnic spot was begun in 1910 by Mullan Masonic Lodge members, and they did the greatest amount of work to drain the swamp land, build the bridges, tables, shelters, teeter- totters and merry-go-rounds. They were helped by teams of people who often picnicked as work was being done.
“At that time there were few cars, so picnickers boarded the Missoula train and rode to the Pottsville stop on the Yellowstone Trail, where they got off, with picnic baskets loaded with home-made goodies, and walked down the trail, forded a little stream, and spent an enjoyable day in a beautiful spot. When the day was over, the tired but happy picnickers returned to the boxcar that was the “whistlestop” to flag the train down for the return trip to Mullan.”
Spokesman-Review, September 11, 1931 reported: “Shoshone County Parks Improvement Association formed on August 27th with delegates from a dozen lodges, civic, religious, and social organizations from Silver Valley communities. The Pottsville picnic grounds was the first place to receive attention, it being the most popular natural beauty spot.”
In 1932 J. H. Burns lead a group of volunteers to work on park improvements. Two carpenters were on the job to build umbrella sheds, tables and benches, rest rooms, etc., on the part of the grounds cleared the year before. A bridge will be built over the creek. Further plans call for the raking of the grounds and seeding of the barren places.
Construction of a 16 by 20-foot caretaker’s cabin at the Pottsville picnic grounds east of Mullan was authorized by the executive committee of the Shoshone County Parks Improvement Association according to Wallace Press Times, October 3, 1934. Construction was expected to begin within a week.
In 1937 a crew of 22 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) boys were building a campground shelter at Shoshone Park. A concrete floor and a pipeline and faucet were installed in the shelter. A rock chimney with two built-in stoves was also planned.
Two footbridges were built across the creek. Six additional small stoves were completed around the park.
A wading pool with a sand bottom for small children will be installed. A trail with small tables will be added in the fall on the south hill. Two more shelters and a large fountain are anticipated to be built in 1938.
Pottsville was founded in a beautiful setting at the base of the mountain below Lookout Pass near the area that would become Shoshone Park.
The Pottsville Seven is group of citizens working with the Shoshone County Commissioners and the US Forest Service to restore the park to its former glory. Members are Ron Hayes, Mitch Alexander, Bud Koski, Nick Hogamier, Sam Davis, Kjell Truesdell, and Jim See.
Information for this series was gathered from the Illustrative History of Northern Idaho by William S. Shiach, Railroads through the Coeur d’Alenes by John Wood, The History of Mullan 1885-1985 and A Century of Progress by Evelyn Smith, and Mullan and Spokane newspaper articles. Tom Harman and Butch Jacobson provided additional news articles. Photographs are from the Butch Jacobson Collection, John Wood, University of Idaho CCC Collection and the Washington State Historical Society.
