Wallace

Colonel William R. Wallace founded a mining camp here in 1884 that started life as “Placer Center” before it was renamed after him; the town incorporated in 1888 and became the Shoshone County seat in 1898. The Silver Valley around it has produced more than 1.2 billion ounces of silver, which is the entire reason this narrow mountain valley has a town in it at all, and Wallace still calls itself the Silver Capital of the World.

The town has taken its share of hits. The Great Fire of 1910 burned down roughly a third of Wallace, and it rebuilt on the strength of wartime lead demand rather than any particular optimism. A fire in the nearby Sunshine Mine in 1972 led directly to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, whose rules now apply to every hardrock mine in the country; the district museum covers that history.

Wallace fought for its own survival again in the 1970s, when Interstate 90 was planned straight through downtown. Because the entire commercial district had just been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the highway builders had to route the interstate up onto an elevated viaduct over the town instead of bulldozing it. Wallace kept the last traffic light on the entire coast-to-coast interstate system as a badge of that stubbornness, right up until 1991, when the viaduct finally opened and took the light down with it.

The Center of the Universe, at the intersection of Bank and 6th Streets, is a manhole cover and a road sign, and it is exactly as much fun as that sounds. The cover is stamped with a compass rose and the stock symbols of Wallace’s four historic mining companies, and the whole thing exists because Mayor Ron Garitone got tired of federal paperwork calling his town a pollution site and decided to out-absurd it. It costs nothing, takes two minutes, and sets the tone for the rest of downtown better than any museum could.

1313 Club Historic Saloon & Grill occupies the Heller Building, rebuilt in 1891, which has served at different times as a hotel, a bus depot, a barbershop and a café before it became a bar and grill. The restaurant’s website, as quoted in a Spokesman-Review travel feature from July 2010, gives two stories for the name: the original bar area was 13 feet high by 13 feet wide, or 13 bars and 13 brothels were already going in Wallace when it opened. Either story is a fair introduction to how this town talks about itself.

It's on Bank Street, in the same few blocks as the Center of the Universe manhole cover, so there's no reason to drive between the two.

3 breweries within 10 miles of Wallace, 2 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

No professional or college team plays in Wallace, and nobody here is under the impression that one should. The Silver Valley’s sports culture runs through Kellogg's Silver Mountain gondola and the Route of the Hiawatha, not a scoreboard.

An hour or two covers downtown Wallace on foot; add half a day if the Route of the Hiawatha or Silver Mountain's gondola is part of the plan.

Seasonal operations: the Route of the Hiawatha operator lists its 2026 season as May 22 through September 20, and the Northern Pacific Depot Museum is listed as open April 15 until October 15. Other attractions post their own seasonal hours, so check each operator’s site before planning a visit outside summer.

Public parking is listed by the City of Wallace at the Northern Pacific Depot Museum and at two locations under the interstate, and the city says all downtown parking is parallel from November 15 to March 15 to make snow removal easier. The city’s site does not state street-parking fees or time limits, so it could not be confirmed that downtown parking is free; check with City Hall before planning around it.

The Route of the Hiawatha requires a paid trail ticket, and a shuttle runs between its Pearson and Roland trailheads — the Forest Service says tickets are required, and the operator’s ticket page lists the adult trail pass at $20^* Monday–Thursday and $40^* Friday–Sunday and holidays, with the shuttle included on the higher-priced days and optional on weekdays; it notes that prices may change from year to year. The operator says reservations are recommended but not required, and its packing guide puts the tunnels at around 45°F even on hot summer days, so a warm layer is on its gear list.

10 public campgrounds within 25 miles of Wallace, 9 of them bookable ahead. Public campgrounds run by federal agencies. State-park and private campgrounds are not included.

*Fees subject to change, please check ridethehiawatha.com for updated information.

The Center of the Universe

Address

Intersection of Bank St and 6th St, Wallace, ID 83873

Hours

Outdoors, viewable anytime

Price

Free

Link

wallaceid.fun

We checked seasonal opening, operating status and fees on 2026-10-14. These change without notice — confirm with ridethehiawatha.com, npdepot.org, wallace.id.gov and fs.usda.gov the week you travel.

Straight-line distance from Wallace, not drive time.

• Coeur D'Alene Airport - Pappy Boyington Field (COE) — 46 miles
• Felts Field (SFF) — 67 miles
• Pullman-Moscow Regional (PUW) — 75 miles