Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes brings hope to Harrison

Things are looking up in Harrison, and it’s about time. Being a small town at the end of almost 30 miles of narrow, winding road from Interstate 90, with no industry or commerce, and little to offer besides worn-out buildings and an outdated dock, Harrison had long been on the trail to nowhere.

A friend moved to the vicinity of Harrison from Bellevue, Wash., 10 or so years back. A friend of hers came out to visit for the first time and shook her head in wonder at the change in locale and remarked, “From Mercedes-ville to suspender-ville.”

In the past six years, however, Harrison has exchanged that trail to nowhere for the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. Harrison’s prospects have suddenly started improving, from the days of a major steamboat stop and along a rail line moving people and lumber, to decades of isolation, disrepair and virtual ghost-town status, to a community now running to catch up with a small-scale boom in ecotourism.

Lots of lakefront residents consider themselves a part of Harrison due to proximity and mailing address, but if dealing just with those actually living within the bounds of the city, past census demographics have been bleak.

From early 1900s boom-town with a population of more than 1,200, there were only 267 people and 77 families living in Harrison in 2000. While the rest of the county was experiencing modern boom-town growth – 17 percent increase in five years in the county, 42 percent increase for Post Falls – Harrison’s population had only grown to 282 by 2006. Twenty-one percent of Harrison’s households contained children, but 53 percent of those were living below the poverty line.

Words such as grandeur were used to describe Harrison in its heyday, but that was more than 100 years ago, when it had just been named for the immediate past president of the United States. It experienced a heady ride from squatter’s cabin in 1890, to incorporation in 1899, to largest city in Kootenai County in 1903 – it now ranks 10th out of 14. It had as many as 10 sawmills, seven shingle mills, a railroad and two steamer lines, all of which employed hundreds of men. Harrison’s adult women outnumbered men by the largest gap in the county (100/85) in 2000.

At its prime, Harrison had 20-some stores, two hotels, four churches, more than a dozen saloons and an opera house seating 400. But in 1917, a two-day fire swept through town, destroying several mills, half the houses and most of the business district. Harrison was never the same. Most businesses did not rebuild. Mills that were not destroyed moved away. Later, the steamers stopped running, and in 1932 the railroad abandoned its route through Harrison.

Harrison dwindled into the new millennium. There were few children and many elderly – matching the retirement towns of Fernan Lake Village and Hayden Lake. Instead of their wealth, though, Harrison had the highest level of poverty in the county. Even so, events outside the workings of the town conspired to bring economic potential again to Harrison.

The railroad that had once so profited from passenger, mining and timber business in North Idaho was being called upon, once the last trains stopped in 1991, to give back to the area by taking responsibility for the 72 miles of abandoned track bed left badly contaminated from its initial construction with heavy metal-containing mine tailings.

As a result, the rail bed was capped with toxin-trapping asphalt and a hiking, biking and skating trail, the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, was created. Suddenly, where once a lucrative train route had enriched Harrison, now hungry, thirsty and weary hikers, bikers and skaters are opening the way for enterprising businesses to again bring profit to the town.

John Kolbe, whose entrepreneurial spirit has spearheaded much of the trail-oriented development in Harrison, opened a bike rental shop in anticipation of the trail in 2001. His business has since expanded into bike repair and sales, and he’s added an espresso coffee bar. A neighbor, Russell Riberich, has opened a boat and kayak rental store, and the two are now jointly marketing their businesses. A nearby ice cream shop is nonstop busy. “There’s still a shortage of restaurant and lodging facilities, but the town is working on catching up,” says Kolbe. “Trail users are screaming for services.”

People anxious for new outdoor opportunities have flocked to the trail which stretches from Mullan to Plummer and runs along and through several rivers, numerous lakes, two state parks, three small towns, an old swing railroad bridge and lots of areas previously inaccessible. The scenery and the wildlife are incredible. Kolbe describes the system as “the finest rails to trails in the country, if not the world,” and he’s seeing both a national and an international draw as a result.

The Harrison Marina Trailhead, one of several access points in the Harrison area, funnels trail users through downtown. Tourist traffic is seasonal, and new small businesses still struggle, as they do anywhere, but the overall situation is improving. One of the largest benefits has been a lengthening of the tourist season beyond the boundaries of the normal boating season that Harrison previously relied upon, according to Mayor Josephine Prophet.

Now, Harrison has an active Chamber of Commerce with an attractive and informative Web site ( www.harrisonidaho.org) that touts Harrison as “an active resort town in the warm summer season.” It further promises, “You’ll find camping and lodging, dining and entertainment, bike rentals and repair, arts and gifts, and amenities to accommodate you, your family and friends.”

Coincidentally, Harrison has a recently expanded state-funded marina and has a full calendar of events sure to draw more outside dollars to the town: a wooden boat show in June, July 4th fireworks, the Old-Timers Picnic in July that draws as many as 4,000 visitors, a kids fishing tournament in August, a September car show and chili cook-off, its Fall Festival in the Park in October and Winter Fest Celebration in December.

Hopefully for Harrison, the trail to nowhere is no more. The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes is its new chapter in a long and varied history that began with prosperity through environmental exploitation and is now prospering again, but this time thanks to environmental appreciation.