Last Saturday the 24th of January, Stacy and I, with around a hundred or so other people from the area, met at the intersection of Main Street and Kootenai Street in Bonners Ferry to reenact a ceremony that had occurred almost exactly 100 years earlier.
Monday, January 25th, 1915, Boundary County became an independent and separate county in the state of Idaho with the 'village' of Bonners Ferry designated the county seat. In honor of this centennial, it was decided to recreate the photos taken at that exact intersection at the exact time, 2:00 p.m.,that the proclamation was read to the happy residents of their newly formed county in 1915.
Although not mentioned, the above photo looks to me like the 'after' picture with the proclamation having been read and congratulations are going all around. To make it look as the old photos were taken, a photographer was up on a 15 foot ladder to get the recreated above the crowd shot. Although even the building which was used to take the original photos still stands, the second floor windows are now all sealed up so a ladder had to be used.
Above, after the reenactment, festivities moved to the warmth of the County Museum just down the street where the above cake was there waiting with coffee and cocoa to warm people up. The museum was where the high school jazz band played and stories were told of the community 100 years earlier.
It was actually a lot of fun to have been part of a 'new' history with this reenactment. After the reenactment was done in 2015, everyone turned and waved for the new intersection photo with the cameraman up on the ladder, so we will also be in that photo when it is published.
There is also a Troy ounce commemorative coin being minted and we've already got our order in for one.
The town of Bonners Ferry was established in 1893 and as the last "large" town (2,500 people now) before getting to Canada 30 miles North, it made sense to make the city the base of the new county.
All in all, it was a very nice way to spend part of a foggy, rainy, winter Saturday in North Idaho.
Monday, January 25th, 1915, Boundary County became an independent and separate county in the state of Idaho with the 'village' of Bonners Ferry designated the county seat. In honor of this centennial, it was decided to recreate the photos taken at that exact intersection at the exact time, 2:00 p.m.,that the proclamation was read to the happy residents of their newly formed county in 1915.
Top photo as with the photo below, were enlargements of those original photos posted so everyone could see what it had been like back in 1915. Snow on the ground, it had to have been even colder than the mid 30s and drizzly it was last Saturday with the snow mostly gone in 2015.
The military was in attendance, seen in the top photo, as was a band and civic and state leaders. The photo above was taken just before the festivities got going in 2015 as people milled around the intersection.
The building in the old photos is the same building in the photo above, still standing 100 years later. In 1915 it was the town bank, now it is a consignment art store with offices on the top floor.
Although not mentioned, the above photo looks to me like the 'after' picture with the proclamation having been read and congratulations are going all around. To make it look as the old photos were taken, a photographer was up on a 15 foot ladder to get the recreated above the crowd shot. Although even the building which was used to take the original photos still stands, the second floor windows are now all sealed up so a ladder had to be used.
Above, after the reenactment, festivities moved to the warmth of the County Museum just down the street where the above cake was there waiting with coffee and cocoa to warm people up. The museum was where the high school jazz band played and stories were told of the community 100 years earlier.
It was actually a lot of fun to have been part of a 'new' history with this reenactment. After the reenactment was done in 2015, everyone turned and waved for the new intersection photo with the cameraman up on the ladder, so we will also be in that photo when it is published.
There is also a Troy ounce commemorative coin being minted and we've already got our order in for one.
The town of Bonners Ferry was established in 1893 and as the last "large" town (2,500 people now) before getting to Canada 30 miles North, it made sense to make the city the base of the new county.
All in all, it was a very nice way to spend part of a foggy, rainy, winter Saturday in North Idaho.
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