F.A. Blackwell and His Railroad
Frederick Albert Blackwell, born in Maine in 1852, gained lumber and railroad experience as a young man in Pennsylvania. His sharp business sense earned him respected financial backing of wealthy Pennsylvania entrepreneurs. He came west at the turn of the century and built the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane Railway Electric Line. Investing heavily in timberlands, Blackwell's Pan-handle Lumber Company owned 100,000 acres in northern Idaho by April, 1907. He needed a railroad to get the trees he would cut near Spirit Lake and in the Pend Oreille River Valley to a lumber mill.
On April 1, 1907, Blackwell and his colleagues incorporated the Idaho and Washington Northern Railroad in the state of Idaho. By August 23, 1907, twenty-eight miles of 75 pound rails were laid. There were two coaches to Spokane, and then rails that went to Clagstone, Idaho.
In October, new rails were laid through Rathdrum, and it wasn't long until the village of Spirit Lake emerged. Spirit Lake became a new town site, and with eighty acres cleared for the mill, it gave great promise to the village. Just six months later, 27 million feet of lumber was processed and hauled out. On December 12, 1907, the Spirit Lake depot was opened for business, and it wasn't long until it was declared one of the fanciest depots in America.
From the History Marker