Elevated Section of I-90 at Wallace

Location: Wallace, Idaho, 49 miles east of Coeur d’Alene on I-90.

History: Wallace in the late 1800s was the third largest town in the state, as a headquarters for the mining supply business, with a population of 2000. In 1981 (when the population had shrunk to half that size due to closure of area mines), Wallace began to cope with the rerouting of Interstate 90, which travels through the middle of town. This stretch had the only stoplight on the highway between Seattle and Boston. The elevated, highly visible route at the north end of Bank Street was chosen for the Interstate by the state highway department, rather than a tunnel through the mountain behind town, because it was about $38 million cheaper.

Interesting points: Construction of I-90 required relocation of the historic Northern Pacific Railroad depot in 1986. The depot was moved approximately 200 feet south across the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. The building was restored and the new site landscaped a part of the Interstate project. The depot and site was then turned over to the city of Wallace for use as a railroad museum. The Wallace historic district features a number of restored buildings. The Coeur d’Alene District Mining Museum opened in 1956 in Wallace. It documents the history of mining in the area with photos, artifacts, antiques, mineral specimens and life-size displays of hard rock mining techniques and tools.

A guided walking tour of historic Wallace can be found on the Web at http://wallace-id.com/