Potlatch, Idaho

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Potlatch is a city in the northwest United States, located in north central Idaho in Latah County, about Template:Convert east of the border with Washington. On the Palouse north of Moscow, it is served by State Highway 6, and bordered on the northeast by the small community of Onaway. The population of Potlatch was 804 at the 2010 census.

History

Company town

File:Potlatch, Idaho (1906).jpg

Potlatch (1906)

File:08393-Potlatch, Idaho-1906-Potlatch Mill-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag.jpg

Potlatch Mill (1906)

In 1903, Frederick Weyerhaeuser incorporated the Potlatch Lumber Company (eventually becoming the Potlatch Corporation),<ref name="schwantes">Schwantes, Carlos (1996). The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive history. University of Nebraska Press.</ref> naming his son Charles as the President. The directors of the company selected Canadian lumberman William Deary to build a mill somewhere within the company's timber holdings. The townsite was chosen because of proximity to the company's large holdings of Western White Pine on the Palouse River. Potlatch was chosen as the mill site, and in 1904, crews working under W.A. Wilkinson of Minnesota began constructing what would be the largest white pine sawmill in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Because of the remote placement of the mill, Potlatch was built as a company town to provide housing and commerce for the mill. A total of 143 houses were built in 1906, with 58 more built the following year; other building constructed during that period include boarding houses, an ice house, a Catholic church, hotel, school, and general store.<ref name="nrhp"/>

The company developed and ran Potlatch on a model mostly patterned after that used by Pullman Company for its company town in Illinois.<ref name="nrhp"/> It provide police and fire protection, a school, churches, a hospital, an inexpensive company store, and recreational amenities. It banned prostitution, prohibited alcohol, and encouraged its workers to marry by allowing only married couples to rent the houses it owned.<ref name="nrhp"/> The paternalism was profitable, even though rents were low: during 1943 the company showed a profit of $59,000 for its "townsite" services.<ref name="nrhp"/> Less than a decade later, with labor costs significantly reducing its townsite profit, the mill sold most of the homes and other buildings it owned, and Potlatch was incorporated.<ref name="nrhp"/>

On the west side of town, the mill began operating on September 11, 1906, and continued for over seven decades. Due to a depressed economy and declining lumber prices, the mill closed in August 1981.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=hdtmahd>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=tmldy>Template:Cite news</ref>

Following the mill's closure

In 1981, the mill was shut down, shortly after the town was sold to the residents.<ref name=schwantes /> Five years later, part of the commercial district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="nrhp"/>

After the mill's closure, Potlatch became a bedroom community for the university towns of Moscow and Pullman, Washington.<ref name="seatimes">Template:Cite web</ref>

Business and political leaders of Potlatch are making a concerted effort to attract companies involved in the firearms industry; they have set aside Template:Convert for such businesses, located on the former site of the mill.<ref name="spoke">Field reports: Ammunition company moves to Potlatch from The Spokesman-Review. Template:Retrieved</ref> Approximately a mile (1.6 km) west of the mill, State Highway 6 connects with U.S. Route 95, Idaho's primary north-south highway.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, all of it land.<ref name="Gazetteer files">Template:Cite web</ref> Potlatch is north of the confluence of Rock Creek and the Palouse River,<ref name="nrhp"/> on the edge of the Palouse ecoregion.

Climate

Potlatch has a dry-summer humid continental climate (Dsb) according to the Köppen climate classification system.

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Demographics

In August 1906 the town had a population of about 1,000; and a year later, it reached around 1,500.<ref name="nrhp"/> Template:US Census population

2010 census

As of the census<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, there were 804 people, 339 households, and 218 families residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 368 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 97.1% White, 0.1% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.2% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.1% of the population.

There were 339 households, of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.7% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.92.

The median age in the city was 32.9 years. 28.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.7% were from 25 to 44; 21% were from 45 to 64; and 14.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.6% male and 50.4% female.

2000 census

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 791 people, 332 households, and 222 families residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 357 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 96.59% White, 0.88% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 1.26% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.39% of the population.

There were 332 households, out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,021, and the median income for a family was $35,385. Males had a median income of $30,833 versus $21,964 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,449. About 11.1% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Roderick Asher - geologist
Guyle Fielder - former NHL player
Jane Goude - actress, born in Potlatch
Malcolm Renfrew - chemist
Pat Shea - former NHL player

References

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