Opinions of Mullan, Osburn, Wallace areas outside of CDA? (Kellogg: houses, asbestos)

[movintime]

Wondering, as many homes listed but wondering why so many? Thx Idahoans from an Arizonan & soon to be, I hope, PNW resident.

[elousv]

Depends on what you want to do. They are all smaaaaalll towns 600-1500 people. Wallace is like the ATV mecca if that is important. Close to ski areas. Easy access to forest. There is a Walmart in Smelterville, car dealer in Kellogg. If you are looking for more amenities it is a 45 minute ride (good conditions) and includes traversing 4th of July Pass to get to CDA. The other direction to Missoula is a 2hr haul and goes over much higher Lookout Pass. I just visit the area, no clue on the vibe of actually living there.

[movintime]

Originally Posted by elousv

Depends on what you want to do. They are all smaaaaalll towns 600-1500 people. Wallace is like the ATV mecca if that is important. Close to ski areas. Easy access to forest. There is a Walmart in Smelterville, car dealer in Kellogg. If you are looking for more amenities it is a 45 minute ride (good conditions) and includes traversing 4th of July Pass to get to CDA. The other direction to Missoula is a 2hr haul and goes over much higher Lookout Pass. I just visit the area, no clue on the vibe of actually living there.

Good feedback! Looking for a semi-retirement home, & can still work from home p/t if needed. We both want quiet yet semi-close to amenities.

But I'm open to further north in ID -- yet g/f likes more stores closer than say, the Bonners & Moyie areas can provide us since being further out there. I even think of NW MT & Eureka for us, & maybe Troy, but not Llibby due to asbestos cleanup still ongoing from yrs ago.

WA state (tho NE WA is good) is out due, most likely, to the "other side of Mountaint" (no, not a typo in Taint) politics (aka Olympia) & all the negative I heard from there re any conservative or patriotic individual moving there. The left owns & operates the west side of the "Mountain", & thus is a no-no in my bk.

Thx again for this quick reply.

[Drathen]

Originally Posted by elousv

includes traversing 4th of July Pass to get to CDA.

Sorry to thread jack, but I'm curious as to what you mean by this? I'm also researching a possible relocation in the distant future and was curious. Thank you

[elousv]

It is not a huge pass, just making people aware of it. It is only 3000 ft. or so but around here a 1000ft. can make a big difference in snow amounts. A good chunk of the 90 between CDA and Wallace is national forest and up and down hills with curves and shady spots.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by elousv

It is not a huge pass, just making people aware of it. It is only 3000 ft. or so but around here a 1000ft. can make a big difference in snow amounts. A good chunk of the 90 between CDA and Wallace is national forest and up and down hills with curves and shady spots.

To expand on what elousv says, the Fourth of July pass is the first mountain pass you hit when you head east out of CdA along the 90, (~15-20 miles). It is a mountain lover's playground. Absolutely stunning up there, any time of year. One of the places that make Idaho special.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_of_July_Summit

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at the summit.
https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/...-of-july-pass/

MTB riding in the summer.
https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/...rth-july-pass/

.

[redwood66]

movintime I think that looking in those areas you would need to decide if you can make it work without commuting to CDA or farther daily for work. I knew an RN who drove from Kingston to Deaconess Med Center in Spokane 3 days a week for the night shift. And she did this for several years even in winter in a 1980's 280Z no less! Crazy if you ask me but she had to. The interstate is kept quite clear though. The Silver Valley in Mullan, Osburn, and Wallace is narrow and any houses on the south side in the shade of the mountain range do not get sun all winter. It is an EPA remediation site because of all the years of mining, however most of the valley has been remediated but there are Superfund storage sites at each end with the newest one being east nearer to Lookout Pass.

[Dangerous Dave]

Of all the towns in Silver Valley, Wallace has about the most charm and you're not a long drive from the Walmart. Easy Costco trips to CdA in good weather. AWD a big help going over the pass in the winter.


To be honest, I haven't been in the old downtown part of Kellogg in years, for all I know things may be improved there. Not that it was so bad last time I was there, I just like Wallace more.


If you're going to need employment, that'll be a concern.

[his_little_one]

what is the current population in Wallace? the information I've been able to find indicates 760 people. Also saw that there is an EPA remediation site there - not sure what that means? is there health care close by? what types of shops are there? we are looking for retirement home

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by his_little_one

what is the current population in Wallace? the information I've been able to find indicates 760 people. Also saw that there is an EPA remediation site there - not sure what that means? is there health care close by? what types of shops are there? we are looking for retirement home

Wallace was home to Idaho's largest mine, the Sunshine mine, for over 100 years. All mines create a lot of acids and toxic stuff, and Wallace is a superfund site. It's been in superfund remediation for a long time- 20 years or more.

While Wallace was once much larger, the population shrunk to less than half after the closing, as the mine was the largest employer in the valley. The Sunshine at its peak employed over 2000 people.

In the 1970s, a fire in the mine killed 200 miners. It was the largest industrial accident in Idaho history.

Mullen and Osborn are both former mining/logging camps. The Silver Valley once had many more similar camps, but the Big Burn destroyed some of them, and others were gradually abandoned as the jobs disappeared over time. Mullen burned, but was re-built.

The settlement in the valley was some of the earliest in the state. The Sunshine mine was the reason why President Lincoln created the Idaho Territory during the Civil War. The silver and gold that came out of the mine largely financed the Union war efforts, and Lincoln created the territory to keep it out of the Confederacy.

Arizona was a territory when the war broke out and it joined the Confederacy. Its gold mines helped fund the Confederate effort, and both sides prepared for a war in the far west, but after an early battle over Arizona, the Confederacy was never able to mount sufficient resistance to the Union troops that occupied the mining areas as the war progressed.