- Overview
- Post Falls
- Nearby Attractions
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Post Falls is located four miles east of the Washington-Idaho border along Interstate 90. Nearby is Spokane, Washington and Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. It is in close proximity to numerous lakes, rivers and mountains, which makes it an inviting place to visit. Post Falls is located on the Spokane River and on the Coeur d'Alene branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. |
 Camping Maranatha Park - (208) 773-7342 2402 W Seltice Way, Post Falls, ID 83854-9332 |
 Historical Society Post Falls Historical Society (208) 773-9888 306 N Spokane St #C, Post Falls, ID 83854-7016 |
 Visitors Information Coeur D’Alene-Post Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau - (208) 773-4080 PO Box 908, Post Falls, ID 83877-0908 |
History
| History of Post Falls From an issue of the "Spokane Times" dated December 25, 1879, we quote the following: "Mr. Frederick Post, owner of the grist mill at this place, left on last Tuesday to go to his old place at what is known as the Upper Falls. Mr. Post located there some eight years ago (1871), and began the construction of a sawmill at that point. He had the necessary machinery for a gristmill and sawmill. He finally gave up for the time the completion of his project there, and moved the machinery for the gristmill to this point. He now returns to complete the sawmill partially finished then. He informs us that there is almost a natural mill race formed in the solid rock at the side of the fall, where, by the use of blasting powder, he will complete the work of nature." Although there were but few settlements made at Post Falls for a number of years later, its history may be said to date from the completion of this sawmill, early in 1880. At this time the northern boundary of the Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation was, at this point, the Spokane river, and Mr. Post purchased of the Indians the mill site and adjacent lands. The mill and town sight proved by later survey to be located on the northeast quarter of section 3, township No. 50, range 5, west of Boise meridian. As this mill has been the life of the town, it is appropriate that we give its history in brief outline. At the time of its completion, Mr. Post had business interests in Spokane that required his attention, and the mill was leased to other parties for a number of years. It was first leased and operated by a Mr. Lewis and later by Fred Bish. These two in turn ran the mill until 1886, when Mr. Post himself took charge of it. He conducted it for about three years, when it was again leased to Fred Bish. In the summer of 1892, Mr. Bish and a companion were working at a boom of logs just above the falls, in a rowboat, which was tied to the logs. The fastenings broke and the boat and its occupants went over the falls. Both lives were lost. After the accident, the mill was leased to S. D. Bader, who operated it until 1894, when Mr. Post sold out to the Spokane & Idaho Lumber Company, of which H. M. Strathern was president. The other members of the company were J. M. and C. Patterson. In November 1901, the Patterson interests were purchased by Daniel McGillis and Chester D. Gibbs, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In December of the same year, the name of the company was changed to the Idaho Lumber & Manufacturing Company, Mr. Strathern continuing as president of the company. The mill plant was destroyed by fire December 30, 1902. As an evidence of the importance of the mill as a factor in the prosperity of the town, it may be stated that at the time of the fire Post Falls had a population of six hundred. Two months later the population was but little more than half that number. The mill had a capacity of seventy thousand feet of lumber in twenty-four hours and was valued at eighty thousand dollars. The company carried fifty-seven thousand dollars insurance. Although definite arrangements have not been completed for rebuilding the probabilities are that another mill will be erected. The site is an exceptionally good one on account of the immense waterpower available and the excellent boom facilities. Just above the falls, the river is wide and deep, with a slow current. Logs are floated down the river from Lake Coeur d'Alene, and the boom will accommodate at one time fifteen million feet. It is considered the finest mill site in Kootenai County. In connection with the plant was a planning and lath mill and a sash and door factory. When Mr. Post sold the mill in 1894, he reserved the perpetual right to power sufficient to pump water for town use, having put in a system of water works in 1885. In 1892 mains of distribution pipes were renewed. The water works plant now belongs to Mrs. Alice Martin, a daughter of Mr. Post. Frederick Post, the pioneer of Post Falls and also a pioneer of Rathdrum and one of the pioneers of Spokane, where he build the first flouring mill and where there is a street (Post) named for him, is still living at Post Falls with his daughter, Mrs. Martin. Post Falls has the distinction of having the only flouring mill in Kootenai County. This mill was erected in 1889 by Dart Brothers. It was owned and operated by Dart Brothers and J. H. Sullivan, the latter a resident of Seattle, until December, 1902, when it was sold to the Cable Milling Company, of which E. J. Dyer is president, E. G. Russell, vice president, B. O. Graham, secretary and treasurer, and Leon H. Graham, manager. The mill has a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels of flour per day and operates an electric light plant for lighting the building. During the year 1900, it ground one hundred and forty thousand bushels of wheat and shipped one hundred and fifty cars of mill products. A woolen mill was built here in 1895 by Cane Brothers from Massachusetts. It was well equipped with machinery, but never did any weaving. It manufactured hosiery principally while running, but has been closed for sometime and nothing is known of the future intentions of the owners. It is now the property of Mrs. Smith, of Spokane. Among the early settlers at Post Falls was James H. Kennedy, who took up a soldier's homestead October 17, 1884. The legal description of this land, which joins the town site, is Lots 1, 2, 3 and 7, section 4, township 50, north, range 5, west of Boise meridian. Mr. Kennedy opened a blacksmith shop in 1886 and is still conducting it. M. S. McCrea had a general store here before the railroad was built, in 1881. Maj. George A. Manning and son, C. F., and W. J. Butterfield established a general store in 1889. Mrs. George Stafford, the wife of the Northern Pacific section foreman, handled United States mail in 1888, through an arrangement with the railroad company, but she was not a regularly appointed postmistress. The post-office was regularly established in 1889, with W. S. McCrea as postmaster. Among the other early postmasters were C. F. Manning, A. M. Martin and Charles McCrea, all of whom conducted general merchandise stores. C. H. Walizer opened a real estate agency in 1890 and H. L. Tauton a hardware store in the same year. School matters early engaged the attention of the settlers at Post Falls, and they succeeded in securing the formation of a district (No. 7) in the summer of 1886. The first board of trustees were James H. Kennedy, John Green and J. R. Compton. The first term of school commenced November 22, 1886. It continued three months and was taught by Oliver L. Kenedy. This term was taught in a building that had been erected by James H. Kennedy and J. R. Compton, as a residence for William Dillard, with the understanding that it could be used two years for a schoolhouse. The second term in the same house was taught by Laura Agnew. The first schoolhouse, which is now used as a wood shed for the present school, was built in March 1888, and Blanche Parsons was its first occupant in the capacity of teacher. She was followed by F. D. Cook, Mary Baslington, Mr. Sprague, Frank Reeves and Mrs. Frank Reeves. This schoolhouse was built by subscription and by donation work. For furnishings, money was raised by giving dances. They were well patronized and funds were soon collected and the house properly equipped. An election, at which bonds were voted for the erection of the building now in use, was held June 15, 1890. In the present building, Warren Lucas and Miss A. E. Nichols were the first instructors. The cost of this building was four thousand dollars in 1890. The school property, including grounds, building and furniture, is now valued at about three thousand five hundred dollars. The members of the present school board are S. Young, chairman, A. M. Martin, clerk, H. M. Strathern, treasurer, and A. J. Shanks. During the past school year the schools were under the charge of W. O. Cummings, principal, salary eighty-five dollars; Pearl Boleman, intermediate department, salary fifty dollars; Bertha Ross, primary department, salary forty dollars. Miss Ross has an assistant in Cora Kennedy. All these instructors are efficient workers and the schools are a credit to the town. By an act of the county commissioners May 28, 1891, the town was incorporated and the following board of trustees appointed. Thomas Ford, W. J. Butterfield, C. M. Brown, C. H. Walizer and H. L. Tauton. On the fourth of June in the same year, an organization was effected by the election of C. H. Walizer chairman of the board and H. L. Tauton clerk. The first town election was held April 4, 1892, at which time the same board was elected, with the exception of W. J. Butterfield. C. H. Clayton was elected in his place. Until 1901, the corporation was never able to enforce any of its ordinances, owing to the fact that legality of the incorporating act was questioned. In 1901, the legislature passed a special act legalizing the corporation and the acts of its several boards of trustees. The present town board consists of S. H. Smith, chairman; S. E. Bennet, clerk; H. M. Strathern, treasurer; A. J. Manor and Captain James Fisher. The city marshal is S. A. Irwin. A. J. Manor has been postmaster since 1901, and James H. Kennedy is serving his third term as justice of the peace. Beside the destruction of the sawmill, Post Falls has had one other fire. This occurred in December 1895. McCrea Brothers' livery barn was destroyed; loss, eight hundred dollars. The second story of the barn was owned and occupied by the Knights of Pythias. This story, with furnishings, cost about six thousand dollars, and was insured for one thousand dollars. A blacksmith shop was also burned. A review of the business houses of the present day includes the following: A. J. Manor, general merchandise, established 1898. General stores are conducted by George A. Manning, G. L. Scott, W. S. Butterfield, M. D. Wright and C. W. Brown. The Post Falls Mercantile Company was established in December 1902, by G. O. Dart and John Young. A meat market is conducted by N. C. Ballard; a general store by J. F. Enders; blacksmith shops by James H. Kennedy and J. W. Jamison; a general store by A. N. Tucker, established 1890; a real estate agency by C. H. Walizer; a hardware store by H. L. Tauton; hotels by Samuel Young and J. H. Daner; a livery by H. W. Enders; a barber shop by A. L. Hawthorne; C. H. Warren and John Mitchell are painters and paper hangers. Lodging houses are kept by M. S. Warren and L. A. Dillard. Post Falls is located on the Spokane River and on the Coeur d'Alene branch of the Northern Pacific railroad, eight miles south of Rathdrum and twenty-five miles east of Spokane. It is in the center of quite an extensive agricultural, stock and fruit region, that is every year becoming more productive. An irrigating ditch from Hayden Lake to the Spokane River at Trent, a small town eight miles from the state line in Washington, will pass near Post Falls in traversing the valley and will add very materially to the productiveness of the section. The falls in the river were formerly known as Little Falls, and Upper Falls; but the name was changed to Post Falls in honor of Frederick Post, the builder of the mill and founder of the town. The power generated by the falls is next to incalculable, and this force will doubtless be utilized in the future. There is no better site anywhere for mills and factories, and when there is added to this advantage of location, the unfailing support that it must always receive from the surrounding farming community, one cannot but realize that the citizens of Post Falls have good grounds for faith in the future prosperity of their town. An Illustrated History of North Idaho - Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903 |
WWP
| The Post Falls Development of the Washington Water Power Company |
Ten miles from the outlet of Lake Coeur d'Alene on the Spokane River, is the town of Post Falls, Idaho, where is located one of the hydro-electric plants of the Washington Water Power Company. Lake Coeur d'Alene is a body of water some 45sq. miles in area, situated among the foothills of the Bitter Root Mountains in the western part of Idaho. The lake is 2120 feet above sea level and receives the drainage of a large part of the Bitter Root Mountains, being fed principally by the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe Rivers, and is in turn the source of the Spokane River. In the low-water season there is fall of about 9 inches between the outlet of the lake and the headwaters at Post Falls, while in flood seasons the difference has been over 8.25 feet, the lake itself having risen over 18 feet above the low-water mark. In the design of the Post Falls development two principal objects were sought: (1) The erection of a hydro-electric plant to be operated in parallel with the Spokane hydraulic and steam plants, and (2) the building of a controlling works for the storage of water for use in the low-water seasons, while at the same time permitting a free passage of water during the season of flood. Before the commencement of actual development, work was started on the construction of one of the permanent 60,000-volt transmission lines, which was later to be used as a tie line between the Post Falls and Spokane plants. A temporary step-down substation was erected and electric energy furnished from the Spokane station for operating rock crushers, concrete mixers, cableways, cofferdam pumps, as well as for lighting, providing of great value in the elimination of troubles incidental to the operation of numerous small engines and boilers and long lines of steam piping during freezing weather. The Post Falls plant is connected to the Spokane plants by two entirely separate 60,000 volt transmission circuits, one a direct tie line, and the other having branches, one to the Coeur d'Alene silver mining district in Idaho, 100 miles away, furnishing energy to all the principal mines and mills, and the other to the "Palouse Country," in southeastern Washington, where energy is used for operating flour mills and for municipal and commercial lighting, etc. An additional 60,000-volt line, 117 miles in length, which is now under construction, will furnish energy in the territory to the west of Spokane, lying in the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River. In Spokane, energy is distributed for the operation of more than 200 miles of interurban electric railways and 90 miles of city lines; for the operation of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways shop, to iron works and factories of all sorts, as well as for municipal and commercial lighting. The Post Falls development, with the exception of the controlling works in the North Channel, was designed in its entirety by the engineering staff of the company in Spokane, under the immediate direction of Mr. C. S. MacCalla, who was also in charge of construction. The North Channel works were designed by Mr. A. O. Powell, late of the U.S. Engineer Office, St. Paul, Minn. With the exception of the rock excavation and a small amount of concrete work, which was done under contract, the entire development was made by the construction forces of the company under the immediate direction of W.C. Weeks. Electrical World, New York, May 23-30, 1908 Photographs provided by Washington Water Power |
Facts
| Statistics & Facts | |
Population: |
Approximately 17,247 (2000) |
| Approximately 7,349 (1990) | |
| Number of families: | Approximately 2,790 (1990) |
| Land Area: | 15.099 sq. kilometers |
| Surface Water: | 0.167 sq kilometers |
| Time Zone: | Pacific |
| County: | Kootenai |
| GPS Info: | latitude 47.7 N x longitude 116.9 W |
| Zip Code: | 83854 |
| Elevation: | 2,169 feet above sea level |
| Distance: | To Washington DC is 2,196 miles. |
| To the Idaho state capital, Boise is 285 miles. (As the crow flies) | |
| All About Kootenai County
The following article on "Kootenai County, Idaho: Its Resources and Points of Attraction to Capitalists, Homeseekers, and Pleasure-Seekers," was prepared by Bartlett Sinclair for the immigration convention at Boise: Kootenai county is the most northerly county of Idaho. British Columbia, Washington, Montana are respectively its northern, western and eastern boundaries; Latah, and Shoshone counties border on the south. Thus surrounded by territory rich in mineral and agriculture it partakes of both of these characteristics. In length it is 140 miles, in width an average of 40 miles, and in shape it is practically rectangular. Its area is about 5400 square miles, or 3,500,000 acres. Of this vast region, about one-fifth is surveyed. In the exercise of a pardonable pride it has become quite the thing for western citizens to compare western counties, not with the counties of eastern states, but with the eastern states themselves, and even groups of states. Kootenai county is larger than Connecticut, Rhode Island or Delaware, and nearly as large as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Vermont. In general terms Kootenai county may be described as mountainous and agricultural. The field notes of the government surveyors describe the land as good agricultural and grazing land. The unsurveyed lands, excepting mineral and timber and stone lands, will fall under the same class. |
Museums
 Museums |
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Idaho |
Golf
 Golf |
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Idaho Coeur d’Alene Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course – (208) 765-0218 2201 South Fairway Drive Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815 Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course – (Private) – (800) 688-5253 900 Floating Green Drive Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 (Rates: $165 – $210) Ponderosa Springs Par 3 Golf – (208) 664-1101 2814 East Galena Drive Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 Post Falls Highlands Golf & Country Club – (208) 773-3673 701 Inverness Drive Post Falls, ID 83854 Highlands Golf & Country Club – (Private) – (800) 797-7339 5550 E Mullan Avenue Post Falls, ID 83854 (Rates: $25 - $27) Priest River Priest Lake Golf Course Inc – (208) 443-2525 Lamb Creek Priest River, ID 83856 Ranch Club Golf Course – (208) 448-1731 Highway 2 Priest River, ID 83856 Rathdrum Twin Lakes Village Golf Course – (208) 687-1311 5500 West Village Boulevard Rathdrum, ID 83858 Sandpoint Elks Golf Club of Sandpoint – (208) 263-4321 Highway 200 East Sandpoint, ID 83864 Hidden Lakes Golf Resort – (208) 263-1642 8838 Lower Pack River Road Sandpoint, ID 83864 Hidden Lakes Golf Resort – (Private) – (888) 806-6673 151 Clubhouse Way Sandpoint, ID 83864 Washington Chattaroy Antier Springs Golf – (509) 292-4653 PO Box 800, Chattaroy, WA 99003 Cheney Fairways Golf Course – (509) 747-8418 9810 W Melville Road, Cheney, WA 99004 Deer Park Deer Park Golf Club – (509) 276-5912 1201 N Country Club Drive, Deer Park, WA 99006 Liberty Lake Liberty Lake golf Course – (509) 255-6233 24403 E Sprague Avenue, Liberty Lake, WA 99019 Meadowwood Golf Course – (509) 255-9539 24501 E Valleyway Avenue, Liberty Lake, WA 99019 Valley View Golf Course – (509) 928-3484 1402 N Liberty Lake Road, Liberty Lake, WA 99019 Spokane Chester Creek Par 3 – (509) 921-1967 4403 S Dishman Mica Rd, Spokane, WA 99206 Creek at Qualchan Golf Course – (448-9317 301 E Meadowlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224 Downriver Municipal Golf Crs – (509) 327-5269 3225 N Columbia Circle, Spokane, WA 99205 Eagle Ridge Short Course – (509) 443-9751 5840 S Meadowlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224 Esmeralda Golf Course – (509) 487-6291 3933 E Courtland Avenue, Spokane, WA 99217 Hangman Valley Golf Course – (509) 448-1212 2210 E Hangman Valley Road, Spokane, WA 99223 Indian Canyon Golf Course – (509) 747-5353 4304 W West Drive, Spokane, WA 99224 Manito Golf & Country Club – (Private) – (509) 448-2045 5303 S Hatch Road, Spokane, WA 99223 Spokane Country Club – (Private) – (509) 466-2121 2010 W Waikiki Road, Spokane, WA 99218 Wandermere Golf Course – (509) 466-802 13700 N Wandermere Road, Spokane, WA 99208 |
Parks
 Parks & Recreation |
Q'EMILN PARK: (pronounced "ka-mee-lin") located at 12201 W. Parkway Drive (at the south end of the Spokane St. Bridge), this 78.5-acre park features a swimming beach, seasonal boat launch, BBQ pits, picnic shelters, horseshoe pits, playgrounds, volleyball court, restrooms, and 40 acres of hiking trails. |
POST FALLS LANDING REGIONAL
For inquiries regarding condominiums,
please contact BryanShort.com
please contact BryanShort.com
301 N. Spokane St.
Post Falls, ID 83854
©2008 Post Falls Landing, All rights Reserved
Post Falls, ID 83854
©2008 Post Falls Landing, All rights Reserved