HPG Finalizes Purchase of Potlatch Depot
Jim C. West, President of the Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway History
Preservation Group (WI&MRyHPG) announced the closing on July 23, 2001, of
his group’s purchase of the former WI&M Railway depot at Potlatch, Idaho,
from the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad of Pittsburg, Kansas. The
WI&MRyHPG purchased the depot and three acres of property at Potlatch for
$1,000 as the first step in the restoration of the depot for public use. The
depot project is a finalist for an Idaho Transportation Department grant of
$471,000 for this restoration.
The historic depot, designed by Spokane architect C. Ferris White as a part of the company town of Potlatch, Idaho, was constructed in early 1906 as headquarters for the WI&M Railway and its owner, the Potlatch Lumber Company, during the construction of the town and Potlatch sawmill. Generations of Potlatchers arrived and departed here on trains of the WI&M until cessation of passenger service in 1955. The depot continued as the railroad’s headquarters until it was sold to the Milwaukee Land Company in 1962 to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Milwaukee Road. Under Milwaukee Road and subsequently Burlington Northern Railroad ownership, it continued as operating base for the short line until the 1996 purchase by the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad. The PR&CC vacated the premises in 2000 to set the stage for the sale and restoration, and the railroad generously included the land in the purchase as part of its contribution to the community. Many of its employees are second generation railroaders from Potlatch and maintain a personal interest in the depot.
In 2000-2001, Senior and Graduate School students at the University of Idaho College of Architecture performed projects to suggest and design new uses for the 95 year old structure to again serve the Potlatch community.
The mission statement of the WI&MRyHPG is:
“To locate. preserve, and archive all items of a historical nature relating to the history of the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway Company; to issue publications on this and related subjects; to encourage public interest in the history of the WI&MRy and the Potlatch Lumber Company; and, to acquire objects and property appropriate for a museum and/or any of the purposes listed above.”
The group also publishes a quarterly newsletter, the White Pine Quarterly, on details of the history of the railroad and related rail operations of the Potlatch Lumber Company.
Memberships in the WI&MRyHPG and contributions of both financial and in-kind support of the depot restoration can be obtained by contacting West at 215 South Idaho Street, Post Falls, Idaho 83854.
Credits: Text provided by Tom Burg, used here with permission.
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