Benewah News
St. Maries Museum sports period memorabilia
Nov 15, 2004, 12:30

By Ellen Larsen,

St. Maries Museum.

The St. Joe River is the highest navigable river in the world at 2,128 feet above sea level. The town of St. Maries grew out of a logging settlement at the confluence of the St. Joe and St. Maries Rivers.

In 1902, a building was erected on Main Street as a men’s club but after four years it became Doc Thompson’s treatment center. Raleigh Hughes restored the house in 1926, and as part of the Centennial celebration in 1989, it became a museum, now known as the St. Maries Hughes House Historical Museum. (Without pollution in the area, the air is clear, so you can say long names like this without a problem.)

Upstairs, there are rooms filled with period clothing and war memorabilia and in the downstairs area, there is a model of the good ship Idaho that was 147 feet long and capable of transporting 1,000 people. This ship was known as “the most palatial boat on the lake,” as well as reputedly having the largest capacity for people. The boat was used for apple storage until it took fire and sunk. However, boat travel was shut down quickly as roads were built.

Ponderosa Pine seeds travel to space and back to be planted in St. Maries. The tree now stands about 20 feet tall.

The museum is home to a pipe organ with a history of the couple who played it and their part in the social life of the town. Old pictures, scrapbooks and newspapers abound inside the museum. Outside, a caboose from the Milwaukee Railroad is waiting to be become part of the story. Tablets tell how the seeds of a Ponderosa Pine taken on the first space voyage, were planted upon arrival back on earth, and the tree is now about 20 feet tall.

A number of museum volunteers are ready and willing to tell you all you want to know about the artifacts and the history of the area. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday 12-4. Call 208-245 4938 for special tours.

There is a lot to do around St. Maries: Fishing, snowmobiling on thousands of trails, kayaking on 120 miles of open river and lake waters, hiking and biking to name a few. The Marble Creek Interpretive Center and Heyburn State Park are not far away with more hiking trails and Marble Creek Interpretive Center has steam donkeys and other logging history items.

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