Local historical characters honored at Cd'A library

Regional historian Robert Singletary will give a presentation at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The program will feature the lives of three noted local historical characters: community leader and mining executive Stanley Easton, lumberman Frederick Blackwell; and J.C. White who owned the famous Red Collar Steamboat Line.

The program is part of a lecture series sponsored by the Museum of North Idaho and the library. It is free to the public.

Easton, an experienced miner and a graduate of the California School of Mines, took over the Bunker Hill Mining Co. in Kellogg as general manager in 1903. Easton’s outstanding contributions to Bunker Hill and the mining industry earned him national prominence. He was involved in numerous community, state and national organizations. The Boy Scouts was one of Easton’s primary interests. He helped with the first scout camp on Lake Coeur d’Alene, which was named Camp Easton.

Blackwell, an ambitious 37-year-old lumberman from Williamsport, Pa., came to North Idaho in 1902. He immediately built a beautiful home in Coeur d’Alene and began to purchase large amounts of timberland. By 1910 he had developed one of the largest lumber empires in the Inland Northwest. In addition to his timber enterprises, Blackwell was also instrumental in developing the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Electric Railroad, the Idaho and Washington Railroad, The Coeur d’Alene Bank Trust Co., the Hotel Idaho and Blackwell Park, which later became the Coeur d’Alene City Park.

White came to North Idaho during the 1880s and was involved in the construction of railroads and road. During the early 1900s he became interested in steamboat transportation. He helped put the city of Coeur d’Alene and Lake Coeur d’Alene on the map with his development and promotion of his Red Collar Transportation Co. Many of the Red Collar Line steamboats and their captains became legends on Lake Coeur d’Alene.