Editing St. Maries, Idaho (section)

==History==
[[File:Steamer_Colfax_at_Highest_Draw_Bridge_in_U.S.,_circa_1910_-_St._Maries,_Idaho_(52424881273).jpg|thumb|left|The steamer ''Colfax'' departing St. Maries on St. Joe River c. 1910]]
The townsite was selected by Joseph Fisher, just southwest of the confluence of St. Maries River and St. Joe River, to provide a location for a sawmill, first built in 1889. The rivers and lake systems provided rapid transportation systems for floating logs to the mills and utilizing steamboats to transport finished products to market. From the city, the [[Saint Joe River|St. Joe River]] flows west, through several lakes and into the south end of [[Lake Coeur d'Alene]].

The [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad#Pacific Extension|Pacific Extension]] of the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]] (Milwaukee Road) arrived in 1908.<ref name=rrfins>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9ahXAAAAIBAJ&pg=2279%2C2009804 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |title=Railroad is finished to St. Maries, Idaho – big opportunities |date=October 10, 1908 |page=5}}</ref> The city was established in 1913 when Benewah County was formed from southern [[Kootenai County, Idaho|Kootenai County]]. In 1915 St. Maries was named its county seat.