A Day in Wallace, Idaho

Entering the Silver Valley, just west of Wallace, we stopped at Old Mission State Park in Cataldo, Idaho. The Mission is the oldest historic building in Idaho. It played a key part in the development of the Northwest. It was begun in 1850 by Jesuit Priests and members of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe. The Coeur d'Alenes heard that the neighboring tribes had a "medicine man" of great powers, so they welcomed the "Blackrobes", Catholic Jesuit priests among them.

The altar and paintings were all hand carved by
Father Antonio Ravalli. 

The Parish House stands next to the Mission.

Wallace, Idaho, is America's only city entirely listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1884 over 1.3 billion ounces of silver have been mined here, $90,000,000 in the last 12 months alone. This area is the richest silver district on the planet, hence the name "The Silver Capital of the World." The city was also extremely well known for booze and brothels, the last one closed in 1991.

Wallace is famous for having the very last traffic signal along Interstate 90 which runs between Boston and Seattle. The reason for this was the highway commission wanted to bulldoze the entire town to make room for I-90. The town said "no" and held up the project in court for 17 years, in the meantime establishing the whole town on the National Register. This resulted in creating an elevated portion of the highway passing over Wallace, at an additional cost of $43 million.

SUNSHINE MINE DISASTER
On May 2, 1972, fire broke out in the Sunshine Mine, carbon monoxide, heat smoke and gas spread swiftly through the tunnels. Ninety-one miners perished in the country's worst hard rock mine disaster since 1917. The Sunshine is the largest silver mine in the nation at a mile deep it has 100 miles of tunnels.

Sunshine Mine Memorial

Main Street Wallace

The Center of the Universe
Well really its in the Center of Wallace.

Thought we would take an underground mine tour.

The mine tour included a trolley tour of Wallace.

Hard Hats on and Ready to Go

The guide, a retired miner, demonstrated mining tools.

We took a drive up Burke Canyon to visit the ghost mining town of Burke. The canyon was so narrow that mines, mills, railroad and even the hotel had to share the same thoroughfare. The hotel, the Tiger, made Ripley's Believe It or Not for having a river, road and 2 railroad tracks passing through it.

Picture of Burke, Idaho in its Heyday