Historical Presentation of New Meadows Given; Volunteers Needed
On May 14, Adams County Historical Society President, Rich Nine, gave a “Brief History of Meadows Valley” presentation to board members and guests. A delicious potluck dinner, complete with pie and cake for dessert, was served while the presentation got under way.
The oldest documented event that the society has a record of is Packer John Welch going through the valley that was then called Salmon Meadows, carrying supplies from Lewiston to gold miners at Warren and Burgdorf. In late fall of 1862, his team got trapped by heavy snow. Packer John built a cabin by Goose Creek to store the supplies until spring while he returned to Lewiston. This event could have gone unnoticed if the Civil War hadn’t been going on at the time. President Abraham Lincoln created the territory of Idaho wanting to gain more votes for his war effort. This cabin, called “Goose Creek Cabin” at the time, was used to hold the territorial delegate election in 1863.
Pioneers started settling the valley in 1877. A prominent one was Calvin White (no relation to the White’s in the valley now). Calvin ran a hotel and mail service. Other early settlers were Charles and William Campbell. They arrived in 1879 and started Circle C Ranch and their descendants are still in the valley.
Along with cattle ranching, logging was one of the first industries in the valley and there were several sawmills. Crops were also grown such as potatoes, peas, strawberries, and hay.
The first school was built in 1883. Rich showed a picture of kids lined up on horseback in front of one of the schools, (this reminded me of my mother telling me about riding her horse “Bubbles” to school.)
Meadows was the name of the first settlement in the valley, with a population of 25 in 1900. In 1902, it had an apothecary, a bank, a meat market, a church, a school, a post office, a hotel, a newspaper, a dry goods store, a racetrack, a barbershop and a band! A lot of the buildings are still standing.
The land around the current location of Zim’s Hot Springs was homesteaded in 1889 by John McGlinchy. In 1906, the Yoakum Brothers acquired it, built a bath house and hotel where they hosted social gatherings and dances. They had anticipated becoming the primary townsite for the valley. In 1947, Zimmerman acquired Yoakum Hot Springs. It was known statewide for family gatherings and was very popular for high school senior retreats.
To try to get money for the railroad, The Coeur d’Or Development Company was promoting travel to the “Golden Heart of Idaho” which included the valleys of middle, Indian, Salubria, Hornet, Council, Price, Meadows, Long, and Round Valley, plus Seven Devil’s Mining. The P&IN reached Meadows Valley in 1911 but did not go further north.
Colonel Edgar Heigho, was the president of the development company. They platted the village of New Meadows and included the construction of five brick buildings, four of which are still in use. The buildings are: the train depot, which is in the National Register of Historic Places; Heigho’s residence, now the Hartland Inn; a bank, which has been a post office, a meeting place for the International Order of Odd Fellows, Rebekah’s and Theta Roh and is now privately owned; a 53 room hotel located approximately where the Subway is now, and was said to have been the finest in Idaho but it burned down in 1929 and was not rebuilt; and the Beaumont School, which is now apartments.
Katherine Avenue was the main street at the time. Streets were named after most of the Heigho family members. Morris Krigbaum told a story about how Colonel Heigho wasn’t happy with his son Cedric so his name is on the shortest street in town.
In June of 1944, National Geographic Magazine featured Circle C Ranch as being the largest family-owned cattle ranch in Idaho and that they shipped out 125 carloads of cattle.
Another iconic name in Meadows Valley is Jack Morgan. He began his logging career in 1946 with the Boise-Payette Lumber Co.. Jack, and his brother Ed, purchased the logging division, formed J.I. Morgan, Inc. and moved it to New Meadows. By the mid 1960’s, J.I. Morgan Inc. had grown to become one of the largest logging companies in the western U.S.
Maurice G. Hitchcock bought the sawmill at Tamarack (now Evergreen Forest Products) in 1963 and his descendants are still running it.
In 1936 Union Pacific Railroad purchased the P&IN Rail Line. Train service was discontinued in 1978 and Adams County Historical Society was born with the purpose of saving and restoring the depot. The first officers were: Dale Smith, Myrna Kirby, Nita Branstetter, and Lynn Simmons. Efforts were made to raise money. Meanwhile the building sat dormant for a while, then were revitalized in 1989 thanks to the Krigbaum’s, along with David Spann, Sean McConner, Susan McCarty and Nita Branstetter.
With very generous help from the City of New Meadows, that sold the depot to the newly formed historical society for $1, and Will Kerby of J.I. Morgan, Inc., ACHS has gained ownership of the depot and the land under it so they could apply for grants and restorations could begin.
A committee was formed in 2006 for the purpose of recording memories of longtime residents. These videos can be viewed at historicpindepot.com along with more history of the valley and rail line. There is also a book, “Links to Our Past”, written in 2012, that is sold in the depot office, on the Website, and is available to check out at Meadows Valley Public Library.
The Historic P&IN Depot is an asset to the community, being available for exhibits, meetings, family celebrations etc., but needs more volunteers to help keep the depot functioning and expanding programing and use. Examples of needs are: someone to plan and organize events, exhibits, and meetings; monitor professional associations; watch for building maintenance needs; apply for grants; organize promotions and publicity; and catalog objects such as photos, archives and library material using museum software. One way to begin helping is to attend meetings. The next meeting is on June 10th at 3:00 p.m..
Also, everyone got a tour to see the beautiful new display lighting and refinished floor in the lobby. Exciting work is now being done to the concrete porch!
