Jail reminder of Rathdrum’s importance

For the original Kootenai County Jail, built in Rathdrum in 1892, there is no record of any famous felon having been incarcerated there, nor are there reminiscences of spectacular jailbreaks.

The old jail still stands east of the Moose Lodge, which sits on the site of the original Kootenai County Courthouse, on Second Street, near the edge of the older part of Rathdrum. The jail is a recent addition to the National Register of Historic places. Nancy Renk, of Sandpoint, prepared the application.

The jail retains most of its original structure, except for the loss of the bell tower, which rose above the center of the building. The exterior design of the brick building was simple and serviceable, without decoration. In her nomination, Renk states “…the bell tower probably was removed before the 1960s.”

The interior design of the building provided for a front section that housed county offices, jail facilities and five special cells – not a large area considering the dimensions – corresponding roughly to that of a rail car and with its depth about that of two cars. A rear section of similar size housed the steel, reinforced jail cells.

According to the nomination form, there was also a women’s ward, built later on the north side of the structure, but it was removed in the 1970s.

Newcomers and those unfamiliar with the history of North Idaho may not be aware that Rathdrum, not Coeur d’Alene, was the first seat of Kootenai County government, and that the community of 1,000 on the completed Northern Pacific rail line was larger, in 1884, than either Coeur d’Alene or Spokane Falls.

Prior to 1892, booming mining operations in Shoshone County to the east had provided the impetus for growth because Rathdrum’s location on the rail line made it a convenient shipping and supply depot.

However, the importance of Rathdrum began to wane after Northern Pacific constructed a branch line to Coeur d’Alene in 1886 connecting with the steam boats plying the lake and the Coeur d’Alene River, providing direct access to the mineral riches of the Silver Valley.

As Coeur d’Alene grew in both population and importance, Lake City political leaders championed the idea that Coeur d’Alene, not Rathdrum, should be the county seat. However, a move to change the county seat was blocked in 1885 and county commissioners went ahead with the construction of the courthouse in Rathdrum.

The community had serious concerns that the existing jail was inadequate despite attempts to upgrade it. Finally, in 1891, taxpayers petitioned for a new jail, and the commissioners agreed. The cost of the project was $5,500 plus architect’s fees of $200 and other alterations amounting to $1,800.

Despite the expenditures for both the courthouse and jail, pressures remained to move the county seat to Coeur d’Alene. There was also a common and popular belief that Kootenai County, which extended southward, beyond the 46th parallel, should be divided into two parts.

In 1906, the bill to make that division passed the Legislature and the county was split, with Sandpoint designated as the county seat of the newly created Bonner County. As a result, the war between Coeur d’Alene and Rathdrum for the county seat heated up. It was a war Rathdrum lost when voters overwhelmingly approved the move to Coeur d’Alene.

The register nomination form tells the story. “Within days of the election results, county officials moved records and furniture to a temporary courthouse in the new county seat.” And, “…Coeur d’Alene celebrated with a parade.”

The nomination form also observes that: “In March of 1910, Kootenai County sold the original courthouse and jail to W.H. Edelbright for $450.” It is noted that he converted the courthouse to an armory for the National Guard and that the city had intended to use the jail for a City Hall. However, it served as a maintenance building until 1999.

Even though there may have been no notorious happenings surrounding the old jail, it does provide a prominent, physical connection to a period of fast growth and rapid change for which Rathdrum could be classified as a poster child.

In 1892 there were upheavals in the Coeur d’Alene mining district when high shipping costs and low silver prices closed mines. It was also a year of labor unrest in the Upper Valley with the formation of unions and the dynamiting of the Frisco mine. Grover Cleveland was president, unusual in that he was the only president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms in office.

It was also the year in which Francis Bellamy wrote and published his “Pledge of Allegiance to My Flag,” a statement whose wording has been changed twice, provoking controversy.

The original Kootenai County jail stands as a reminder of that time, the remaining, visible evidence of the days when Rathdrum was the seat of a vibrant county awash in sudden change.