Potlatch

History

In 1903, Frederick Weyerhaeuser incorporated the Potlatch Lumber Company (eventually becoming the Potlatch Corporation), naming his son Charles as the President. The directors of the company selected Canadian lumberman William Deary to build a mill somewhere within the company's timber holdings. The townsite was chosen because of proximity to the company's large holdings of Western White Pine on the Palouse River. Potlatch was chosen as the mill site, and in 1904, crews working under W.A. Wilkinson of Minnesota began constructing what would be the largest white pine sawmill in the world. Because of the remote placement of the mill, Potlatch was built as a company town to provide housing and commerce for the mill. A total of 143 houses were built in 1906, with 58 more built the following year; other building constructed during that period include boarding houses, an ice house, a Catholic church, hotel, school, and general store. In 1981, the mill was shut down, shortly after the town was sold to the residents. Business and political leaders of Potlatch are making a concerted effort to attract companies involved in the firearms industry; they have set aside for such businesses, located on the former site of the mill. Approximately a mile (1.6 km) west of the mill, State Highway 6 connects with U.S. Route 95, Idaho's primary north-south highway.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. Potlatch is north of the confluence of Rock Creek and the Palouse River, on the edge of the Palouse ecoregion.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• POTLATCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · POTLATCH · 270 students · 15:1 ratio
• POTLATCH JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · POTLATCH · 210 students · 14:1 ratio