Wallace by iPhone
From the Wallace Chamber of Commerce:
Danger, intrigue, passion, great wealth, heroics and comedy are set against the breathtaking backdrop of northern Idaho’s Bitterroot mountains. Those are the elements of the 12 decade story of Wallace. The entire town of Wallace, Idaho is on the national Historic Register.
I think that you all know me well enough by now that I'm not one to take pictures of the traditionally photographed parts of a town .... even one as pretty as Wallace. I'm funny that way. Wallace has hundreds of buildings that date from the town's early silver-minig daysand most of them are still in use. The downtown area is quite lively and hosts a great many restauarnts, pubs and shopping opportunities for visitors but it managaes to NOT feel like a hokey tourist spot. Locals and tourists sit side-by-side in most places.
I always swing by the place after I finish a hike to Stevens Lake and I'm never disappointed. The place that I normally stop at, The Silver Corner, was undergoing renovations so I wasn't able to get their greasy burger that hits the spot after a hike so I had to go without this time. Thus, I had some extra time to walk about and find things that drew my eyes.
Wallace may be slightly behind the times but that's to be expected for small Idaho towns and, in some ways, that can be quite a benefit. They don't have a Starbucks or fast food joint on every corner. Walmart is not gonna move in, either. There's room for improvement or upgrading in some areas but the lack of development has allowed so many of the great pieces of its history to stay in place and for them to be revered and allowed to be a part of the present and future. Everywhere you look in this town you'll find countless angles and colors and reminders of its colorful past. This was my first time really taking time to photograph some of these things and had I more time, I could have spent many hours poking around.
I'll be back again just after the first snows to hike to the lakes again and I'm certain that I'll be coming back to Wallace again. This time, I'll make certain to create extra time to take it in properly.
