We have never been to this part of Idaho, so off we went.
The unique small town of Bonners Ferry lies in the Kootenai River Valley, nestled between two mountain ranges. Meandering through this valley is the beautiful Kootenai River. Today, Bonners Ferry, the county seat of Boundary County, is a darling town of more than 2,600 residents, with many more living in the surrounding countryside. It is about 30 miles from Canada and if we could, that we be our next stop. Sadly, Canada's Welcome Mat isn't out currently. Next time!
Many historical accounts credit David Thompson, an explorer and trader with the North West Company, as the first white man to set eyes upon this valley in 1807, but the local Kootenai Tribe gives the honor to Spanish explorers, as early as 1644.
Fabulous history lessons can be found throughout the quaint Old Town.
In 1863, when gold was discovered in the East Kooteneys in Canada, Edward L. Bonner saw the need for a ferry crossing the river, to aid the pack trains and the miners who were heading for Wild Horse Creek in British Columbia. The resulting ferry and town were eventually named for this early pioneer.
While at the museum (it was closed due to COVID), we learned from the outside exhibitions that this area was home to the Kootenai Valley resettlement tract which comprised the only Farm Security Administration project in Idaho. The FSA was a New Deal agency created in 1937 to combat rural poverty during the Great Depression in the United States. It succeeded the Resettlement Administration (1935–1937). The FSA stressed "rural rehabilitation" efforts to improve the lifestyle of very poor landowning farmers, and a program to purchase submarginal land owned by poor farmers and resettle them in group farms on land more suitable for efficient farming.
In 1939, thirty-seven farm families, selected from a list of several hundred applicants, began moving into their homes. The small 100-acre farms included a house, a hip roof barn, a chicken coop, farm equipment and some livestock. Purchasers were given 40 years to repay the government. We saw evidence of these special farms everywhere we went.
And isn't this an amazing post office for a town of less than 3,000? The Bonners Ferry Main Post Office was built in 1938 (pop. 1,400) and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It got this designation due to the fact that it represents an outstanding and well-preserved architectural example of the progression of federal architecture from the first two decades of the century through the transition of style which ended with the onset of World War II. I just think it's cool.
posted under |
0 comments:
Post a Comment