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History of Sandpoint & North Idaho
Page 4
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from Page 3)
So Bonner County is among the latest of the state’s 44
counties, having been cut off from Kootenai County by an act of the Legislature
on February 2, 1907. This is an important factor when deciding to look up
records from before this time. In researching a home built in 1896, I had to go
to Kootenai County. While our historical society and county records have
abundant material for research, for many things before 1907, Kootenai County is
where the records are.
The Panida Theater was built in 1927 as a place to provide
entertainment such as silent movies, vaudeville and eventually sound movies. The
town of Sandpoint grew and the economy flourished.
Soon thereafter, the depression hit hard in Sandpoint
shuttering many businesses, lumber yards and banks. Many left town altogether
but those that persevered, turned their efforts towards the arts, culture and
recreation and other ways to make a living. Fishing became a prosperous endeavor
with record sized fish being pulled from the waters of Lake Pend Oreille.
During World War II, the construction of the Farragut Naval
Training Station in Bayview brought 300,000 seamen to the area for boot camp
training. Many either stayed in the area, or came back after their tour of duty
drawn by the beauty of the area and the great opportunity they saw.
Jim Brown founded The Pack River Lumber Company in 1940 and
it soon became a dominant force in the local economy.
 In
the 1940s and 1950s as Sandpoint recovered from the depression, optimism
pervaded the air as radio and the movies came to town. KSPT brought music to the
region in the '50s and soon thereafter, the Motor Movie, a drive-in opened its
gates.
In the summer, the area was booming with lake activities
and movies and theater at the Panida.
However, the town was dead quiet in the winter, until Jack
Fowler stopped for gas in Hope on his way home from a ski trip to Big Mountain
in Montana. He looked up and saw a snowy bowl in what is now called Schweitzer.
He thought to himself that it looked like a great place to put a ski area and
then he wouldn’t have to drive so far for their ski vacations. He got a group of
local and regional businessmen together, sold stocks to raise enough money,
hired Sam Wormington from Canada to come and run the resort and Schweitzer Basin
opened December 4, 1963, with $4 day passes for one rope tow and a mile long
chair lift.
Suddenly, Sandpoint began to lose its anonymity as visitors
flocked to the ski area from all over the Northwest as well as Chicago and
Minneapolis. It was then that Sandpoint became a year round community offering a
simple, quiet life for those who wanted it.
The 1970s brought hippies and environmentalism as well as
arts and more theater to the area. This spelled the downfall of the lumber
industry. Jim Brown, of the Pack River Lumber Company, wisely diversified his business and, as one of
the original founders of Schweitzer Mountain, bought out the rest of the
shareholders to make Schweitzer a privately owned venture. To this very day one
can still see the occasional psychedelic bus or love bug traversing county
roads. Now the hippies are augmented by the winter ski bum, and the warm weather
off-road cyclists.
Schweitzer has since been purchased by the Harbor Mountain
Company based in Seattle and continues to expand its facilities and ski terrain.
Around this time the Hope Peninsula became an art colony.
Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz moved there from Los Angeles in 1973. The
Peninsula also had a cluster of buildings owned by the Max Factor
 family,
and the Kienholz’s drew upon the beauty of the area as inspiration. A close
friend and principal benefactor to Kienholz was Klaus Groenke, also a former
resident of the Hope Peninsula. Groenke is one of the richest German real estate
developers and is the managing director and part owner of Trigon Holding GmbH, a
Berlin based international real estate company. He is also reported to be a
leading share holder in Coca Cola Company, and a regional board member of the
Deutsche Bank Berlin/Brandenberg. It is reported that the reason that the Hope
Peninsula has a paved road it that he had it done so his guests would not have
to drive on a dirt road out to his estate. Half his
estate was sold in 2005, however, formerly Mr. Groenke's land boasted a series
of
triangulated satellite
dishes, extensive antennae
arrays, and
curious metal "art."
These giant sculptures dotted his property, many of which were originally
purchased for millions of dollars, and some could be seen by Lake Pend Oreille
boaters. A few were the "Tableaux" that Kienholz was famous for. One of the most
famous features is the Plexiglas-encased full section of the Berlin Wall,
graffiti and all, easily seen right in front of the front gate. The Hope
Peninsula is also the home of the Ruen property: a 194 acre jewel that the
family cannot agree on what to do with. It also has Sam Owen Park and is a
nature preserve, with hundreds of friendly, tame deer that tourists love to
interact with, and many other protected animals such as dozens and dozens of
wild turkeys.
Local art gallery owner, Jim
Quinn of the Timberstand writes in his blog: “Throughout
the years art colonies have developed by region because they give skilled but
lessor known artists the opportunity to work side by side with more accomplished
painters. One of the earliest and better known colonies is The New Hope Colony.
They were associated with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the concept
of painting en plein air. Many members of this group, Daniel Garber, Fern
Coppage, Walter Emerson and many others are very collectible in today's market
especially since they followed in the footsteps of artist Edward Willis Redfield
who influenced an entire generation. Some other well known colonies are -
Woodstock, New York, The Hoosiers, Colonies of the South, Southern Women
Artists, etc...
In today's world
art colonies continue to develop in places like Jackson Hole, WY, Sun Valley,
Idaho, Sandpoint, Idaho and many other places known for their natural beauty.”
Today with the Artist Studio Tour, many galleries, and hundreds of artists, the
county has become a true artist’s haven.
The
Pend Oreille Arts Council was formed in 1978 and with it,
summer theater was born. The Panida Theater closed its doors until it was saved
by a community fund-raiser and reopened in 1985. A bridge was constructed across
Sand Creek and housed the public market. It is now home to Coldwater Creek’s
flagship store. The 1980s brought more local flair to the area as the Farmer’s
Market was founded and the Festival at Sandpoint began welcoming top name
musicians to the area at its wonderful setting on the shores of the Pend Oreille
River.
In the 1990s nearby Coeur d'Alene and Hayden Lake attracted nationwide publicity
when white supremacist Neo-Nazi groups (most notably the Aryan Nations) set up
headquarters in the area. Many Sandpoint residents reacted negatively to such
groups; some formed the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force in opposition. In
2001 the Aryan Nations lost a lawsuit filed against them. The lawsuit bankrupted
the organization and forced them to give up their Hayden Lake property and
disband.
Politically we are a mixed bag.
After the Civil War many Southern Democrats moved to Idaho Territory. As a
result the early territorial legislatures were solidly Democratic. In contrast
most of the territorial governors were appointed by Republican Presidents and
were Republicans themselves. This led to sometimes bitter clashes between the
two parties. In the 1880s Republicans became more prominent in local politics.
Since statehood the Republican Party
has usually been the dominant party in Idaho. In the 1890s and early 1900s the
Populist Party enjoyed prominence while the Democratic Party maintained a brief
dominance in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Since World War II most
statewide elected officials have been Republicans, but Democrats have had at
least one elected official in a statewide office at any given time. Curiously,
Idaho has no political party registration. Fiercely individualistic, North
Idaho's hippie past displays more as a group that often wants to be simply left
alone. Many Californians, Oregonians, and Washingtonians have migrated to the
area, many leaning towards environmental politics, as well as a NIMBY attitude.
Surprisingly, while Southerners immigrated here in droves after the Civil War,
in recent years they have again been one of the strongest groups to come to the
area.
As stated Idahoans have usually
voted Republican in presidential elections, but sometimes elect Democrats to
Congress or the statehouse. The state has become increasingly Republican in the
21st century, however. The dominant Republican in the 20th century was US
Senator William E. Borah, an isolationist-progressive who opposed US entry into
the League of Nations but advocated world disarmament and supported prohibition,
the graduated income tax, and some New Deal reforms; as chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee from 1924 to 1940, he was one of the most
influential legislators in the nation.
One measure of the conservatism of
Idaho voters in the 1960s and 1970s was the showing by George Wallace's American
Independent Party in 1968 (12.6% of the total vote) and his American Party in
1972 (9.3%, the highest of any state). In 2000 Republican George W. Bush
received 69% of the vote, while Democrat Al Gore won 28% and Reform Party
candidate Patrick Buchanan captured 2%. In 2002 there were 679,535 registered
voters. While there is no party registration in the state, some polls placed the
number of voters that consider themselves Independent as more than Republicans
or Democrats. The state had four electoral votes in the 2000 presidential
election.
A Democrat, Cecil Andrus, served
four terms as governor, retiring in 1994. In winning the governor's office in
November 1994, Republican Phil Batt ended 24 years of Democratic control of that
office. He was succeeded by another Republican, Dirk Kempthorne, following the
1998 election; Kempthorne was reelected in 2002. In May 2006, Republican Jim
Risch took over the helm as governor. In mid-2003, the state legislature had 28
Republicans and seven Democrats in the senate, and 54 Republicans and 16
Democrats in the house. In 2002 elections, Idaho voters again elected two
Republicans to represent them in the US House. Its US senators, Larry Craig,
reelected in 2002, and Mike Crapo, elected in 1998, are also Republicans. In the
House are C. L. (Butch) Otter and Mike Simpson, both Republicans. Butch
represents our area.
In recent years
Sandpoint and Bonner County have seen tremendous increases in housing values.
The quality of life here, on beautiful Lake Pend Oreille and under Schweitzer
Mountain has been reported in so many national publications that many are
migrating here and sharing in that life.
The National Press that Sandpoint,
Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, and Lake Pend Oreille have received in the last
couple of years has been astonishing. Astonishing only if you haven’t been here.
In the spring of 2008, Sandpoint and Schweitzer was named in AskMen.com as one
of the US Top 10 resort Towns. Our area has been featured in USA Today and Smart
Money Magazine. Sunset magazine called us the “West’s
best small town.” National
Geographic Adventure magazine voted Sandpoint one of the 10 best adventure towns
in the nation. Outside magazine featured
Schweitzer
& named Sandpoint the “cool
Northwest’s hot property.”
Schweitzer was named to Ski Magazine's Top 25 Resorts in January of 2008, and
later that year OntheSnow.com voted Schweitzer the best ski resort in the
Pacific Northwest. Forbes.com loved our telecommuting, MSNBC said it again, &
Cabin Life, Cabin Living called Sandpoint “the quintessential Western outdoor
lover’s town.”
Why do all of these publications
find Sandpoint so alluring? Some say it is because of the true small town
appeal, with less than 10,000 residents. For others it is the breath-taking
scenery. We have perhaps the most beautiful by-way in America, the second
largest lake in the west, & it takes less than half an hour to get to the top of
Schweitzer Mountain, a top-rated ski haven over looking Lake Pend Oreille.,
which was featured in 48° North Sailing Magazine. Summers have more sports than
many cities & year-round the fine people of the community have festivals and
happenings that make the heart sing. But if what you are looking for is privacy
along with friendly people, there are truly few places left like North Idaho.
Some of our festivals and events are
much like other communities. We have an annual Mardi Gras, which breaks up the
winter nicely. We have two Oktoberfests: one at Schweitzer and one at Idaho
Club. We have a number of art events, including Art Walk, Plein Air, and the
Arts and Crafts Festival. We have a
Wooden Boat Show, fishing tournaments, and lots of water events. The
4th of July brings cool fireworks at the water's edge, and we have the expected
Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations. However, our most famous event began in
1982 and has grown into an internationally recognized music festival. The
Festival at Sandpoint is graced by many world-class and famous
musicians every year, with a
history that makes us proud.
Still we have
controversies. We have more issues than we have ever faced before. And...we are
faced with challenges, such as population growth and a booming economy. Some of
the local controversies we face are the planned bypass around the city, the Rock
Creek Mine, and the widening of Highway 95. But as many have discovered, these
are but minor events in a place that many have come to know as paradise.
Compiled from various sources
For Idaho
History try this page at
VisitIdaho.org
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