Pottsville Seven requests bridge photos

WALLACE — The Pottsville Seven are looking for the communities' help with photos of a specific wooden bridge from Pottsville Park that crossed over the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and led to a log cabin.

Jim See, a member of the Seven, explained to the room that they are looking for funding to construct the new bridge with monetary assistance, “I spoke with Idaho Heritage Trust about funding for a new bridge, and they told me that if I had a picture of the original bridge, a drawing, or original plans, they would be able to provide the funds to construct the original bridge.”

Pottsville, also known as East Shoshone Park, was once described in the Spokane Falls Weekly Review in 1890 as “one of the quietest, most peaceful-looking little places in the world. Four miles beyond Mullan, Pottsville stands in a little clearing chopped out of dense forest of cedar, at the foot of the mountain up and over which the Northern Pacific is building its road to Missoula.”

This quiet, peaceful place continues to revel in its rich history as a group of local men has taken it upon themselves to restore the area to its former glory.

The group calls themselves the Pottsville Seven who meet monthly with the Shoshone County Board of Commissioners and the United States Forest Service to discuss the progress made, money raised, future plans and what the community can do to help.

The seven members include See, Ron Hayes, Bud Koski, Kjell Truesdell, Sam Davis, Nick Hogamier and Mitch Alexander. They have raised a total of $17,370 to help restore the area, including upgrades and rebuilds to the kitchen facilities and bathrooms and maintaining the area.

If you have photos of the bridge that can help in its rebuild, email those to jims@mullanschools.com.

Anyone who would like to donate to the project can do so at Mullan Community Foundation, P.O. Box 472 Mullan, ID 83846, with the notation Pottsville Park.