Wallace (Idaho)

Wallace is an historic mining town in North Idaho in the United States of America.

Get in

Interstate 90 passes through town.

Get around

See

Every downtown building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Wallace used to be famous as the home of the Only Stoplight on I-90, until uncaring road builders finished the overpass around town, and finished the town's claim to fame.

• Oasis Bordello Museum, 605 Cedar St, ☎ [phone]. Apr 20-Oct 30, every day 9:30AM-5:30PM. When the final occupants of the Oasis Rooms left in January 1988 (the last recorded date in the "hotel" registry), they seemed to have left in a hurry. Clothing, makeup, toiletries, food and personal items were all left behind. An accurate and tastefully-presented twenty-minute tour of the upper rooms explains the mystery of the ladies' hasty departure and gives a glimpse into the town's bawdy past with details that range from poignant to hilarious. The main floor is an unusual gift shop adorned with Robert Thomas murals that depict the realities of mining in an earlier era. The two-story brick building began its existence in 1895 as a hotel and saloon, and is one of the few structures in Wallace to survive the famous 1910 fire. At that time, Wallace men outnumbered women by nearly 200 to 1. The Oasis was one of five brothels operating without hindrance on Wallace's main street until 1973. 
• Sierra Silver Mine Tour, 420 Fifth St, ☎ [phone]. This is the only tour of its kind in the Northwest. It offers a rare and exciting opportunity to personally experience the underground world of mining in the richest silver district on earth. The tour begins by boarding a sixteen passenger trolley. On the short trip to and from the mine portal, a narrated tour is given of Historic Wallace. Hard hats are issued at the portal and an experienced miner is your guide as you walk through the main drift of the mine. Displays and exhibits are explained so people of all ages may safely observe equipment in operation and see modern and historical techniques used to mine silver, lead and zinc. 
• Wallace District Mining Museum, 509 Bank St, ☎ [phone]. The Silver Valley is the richest silver mining region in the world. The museum artifacts and exhibits portray the life of the period. Videos are shown daily in the thirty-seat theater. 
• Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum, 219 Sixth St, ☎ [phone]. This two-story museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Do

• Each year in early May, the town celebrates Depot Day in conjunction with a Classic Car Show with entries from throughout the inland northwest.

Buy

Eat

1313 Club, The Fainting Goat, Blackboard Café are all on Bank St.

Drink

Sleep

• The Beale House Bed and Breakfast, 107 Cedar St, ☎ [phone], toll-free: [phone]. 
• Ryan Hotel, 608 Cedar St, ☎ [phone]. 
• Wallace Inn, 100 Front St (off I-90), ☎ [phone]. 

Connect

Go next

Not far from Wallace, Kellogg has metal sculptures of a dragon and knight, a gold panner, an elk (in front of the local chapter of the ELKS), a big panther (which is the high school's mascot) in front of the local pool, a miner and donkey, and the best was the Red Baron. All seemed to be made of scraps of metal from different things, but they are large! Mine tours (approx. 30 min.) are given at Crystal Gold Mine. Kellogg was the site of one of the worst U.S. mining accidents; a statue of a miner holding high a rock drill guards dozens of impromptu headstones at the Sunshine Mine Disaster Memorial.

Routes through Wallace

Spokane ← Coeur d'Alene ←

W  E

→ Superior → Missoula