Rails, Mail and a New Depot: Newport's Railroad Week
Crews start the Idaho & Washington Northern depot while a new mail contract promises daily service and earlier Spokane mail.
Workmen in the employ of Contractor P. L. Peterson arrived at Newport this morning and started work on the new depot for the Idaho & Washington Northern. A large gang of men will be here in a few days and work on the structure will be rushed to completion within six weeks.
The Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad Co. has been awarded a general mail contract for carrying mail to all points on its line. The service under the new contract will begin May 20. This will give a direct service to Spirit Lake and other points on the line that have heretofore been served only three times a week by a 'star route' from Rathdrum. All the stations between Rathdrum and Newport will now be served daily, instead of tri-weekly. It will give Newport two more mails daily, and bring the Spokane mail here about three hours earlier in the day.
“It will give Newport two more mails daily, and bring the Spokane mail here about three hours earlier in the day.”
In 1908 a new depot and daily mail were the infrastructure wins that told a town it was connected to the world. Small communities still measure their future by transportation links and delivery schedules, even as the technologies change.
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