11 Westside
Wallace, ID 83873, USA

11 Westside (House), Wallace, Shoshone County, ID

Historical Signficance:

The house at 11 Westside is a compatible element of the Wallace Historic District and is located in a residential area containing homes constructed between 1910 and 1920.

The City of Wallace was first settled in 1884. It is located along the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and at the mouth of three side creeks and gulches amid North Idaho's steep Panhandle. The founding of the town followed the discovery of fabulous lead-silver deposits in the surrounding mountains. As mining activity quickly grew, so did the town. By 1887 the population was 500, which grew to 2,816 by 1920 (U.S. Census Bureau).

The town flourished from mining activities, and Wallace became known as the Silver Capital of the World because more silver has been extracted from the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, with Wallace as the hub, than any place on earth.

Much of the town was located on a cedar swamp, which was drained as growth occurred. The west end of town containing this house was drained and developed last. Northern Pacific Railway first owned this land in west Wallace. NP leased to private individuals this land, on which built many homes. NP deeded the land to the homeowners in a period from 1920 to 1925. This addition to the town is known as the NP First Addition.

Dating the exact construction of most of the houses is difficult because the first deeding of the property occurred after the homes were built. The Minnesota State Historical Society, Archives Manuscripts Division, which possesses defunct NP's records, could not locate copies of the original leases. Early fire maps and photographs show no homes built in that area prior to 1910, Most of the homes, then, were constructed from 1910- 1920.

These dates were confirmed by Harry Olson, who has lived in west Wallace since 1922. He said in an interview most of the houses in west Wallace were already constructed when he moved there in 1922. He was 10 years old at the time.

Olson remembers nothing distinctive about west Wallace other than it being an ordinary residential part of town. Its residents were a mixture of business and working people, including miners, a druggist, county commissioner, and even "bootleggers." The streets were paved in the addition about 1920, Olson said. A flood in 1933 caused considerable damage to the streets and homes, he said.

As mining activity in the district began to decline in the 1970s and 1980s, so did the number of jobs and demand for homes. The 1988 population of Wallace was 1,460 (source: Association of Idaho Cities). The character of some homes changed as they went from owner-occupied to rentals. Some deteriorated from lack of care. (Some had been rentals for most of their existence.)

Because of the fast growth of the town in a short time span, Wallace contains a unique homogenous blend of architecture, which led to first a few buildings, then the downtown district, then the entire core of town listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mining towns tend to have a transient population, and many homes have had numerous owners as a result. The house as 11 Westside is no exception and is named by its street address.

The first recorded deeding of the house was from NP to August Olson on Jan. 26, 1924. His wife, Dorothy Olson, was deeded the house on July 29, 1924, in probate court after August died. On Feb. 27, 1930, Dorothy Olson-Mann and new husband Harry Mann deeded the house and lot to Howard and Irene Leighty. The house was deeded to Elizabeth "Bessie" William, on July 29, 1937. Elizabeth Williams Elwood and husband Robert El wood deeded the house to Harry L. Day, July 1, 1940. Other recorded deeding were to: Carmine and Monica Lippa, July 8, 1940; Monica Lippa, May 17, 1963, in probate court after Carmine died; Mary Lippa (Carmine’s daughter)} March 16, 1967; James Clark, March 19, 1970 (recorded date); Hecla Mining Co., March 19, 1970 (recorded date); James and Lois Clark)Aug. 4, 1978 (recorded date); Mr. and Mrs. Michael Roberts, Dec. 1, 1987 (recorded date); and to J. Kimball Barnard of Spokane, Wa., Dec. 1, 1987 (recorded date).

11 Westside (House), Wallace, Shoshone County, ID

The house at 11 Westside is a compatible element of the Wallace Historic District and is located in a residential area containing homes constructed between 1910 and 1920.