The Coeur d'Alene Hardware Company - Wallace, ID - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The "museum" is actually the Wallace Chamber of Commerce. At their site on River Road just south of I-90 they have put together displays of mining machinery, geology and rock displays, some sculpture and a memorial to the firefighters who lost their lives in the Great Fire of 1910, which burned several towns in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana.

Also at the Chamber's outdoor museum are a couple of historical markers imparting a bit of information concerning various aspects of mining, the central theme of the museum and the reason for the existence of Wallace.

This one covers the history of The Coeur d'Alene Hardware Company, a local company which began manufacturing mining and other industrial equipment, eventually shipping product worldwide.

The Coeur d'Alene Hardware Company

The Coeur d'Alene hardware company manufactured many of the large mining equipment pieces in this exhibit area. From its beginning as a basic hardware store in the town of Murray in 1884, to the present day (2016), it evolved into a world-class manufacturing business.

Over the years, many branch stores in nearby towns were opened, only to close years later as better transportation and mine productivity changes came about. For most Of its existence, the home office, main retail store and manufacturing facilities remained in Wallace.

Its mining equipment was shipped by rail and/or by ship to customers all over the world. The company also branched out into production of logging machinery and specialty design and fabrication work. It owned the patent on many of those designs. The huge locks for the John Day Dam on the Columbia river were built by the company, as were the support structures for many of the huge radio telescopes that capture sounds from deep space.

The company went through a number of name changes over its lifetime, including "Coeur d'Alene Iron Works" on the jaw crusher near this sign. Eventually, the manufacturing facility and main office in Wallace closed, and the operation moved to Spokane, where it currently operates as a distributor of steel products under the name "The Coeur d'Alenes Company."