Harry Magnuson
Harry Magnuson was known to everyone and was affectionately referred to, in my family, as "Uncle Harry." We're not related, and he would never have known me from Adam, but his presence was everywhere.
One of the feats that he is most remembered for is taking on the government in federal court to stop the I-90 project from going through the middle of downtown Wallace, which would have wiped out it's historic architecture.
In the early 1970's, State Highway 10 wound through the middle of every small town from the Washington state line to the Montana state line. I-90 bypassed every single one of them, and they all shriveled up and died. Even Coeur d'Alene was not immune, and even now, it's downtown is not the vibrant place it once was.
Taking advantage of the newly-passed 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, Harry Magnuson sued the government, claiming that an environmental impact statement had not been filed for the project, and he won a favorable decision in federal court. He and the late Nancy Lee Hansen then proceeded to obtain National Historic Register status for the entire downtown area, keeping the entire matter tied up until 1986. Up until that time, Wallace was known for having (among other things) the only stoplight on I-90 between Boston and Seattle. The stoplight was taken down with great ceremony and is currently located in the mining museum.
The man is a true Idaho Legend.
One of the feats that he is most remembered for is taking on the government in federal court to stop the I-90 project from going through the middle of downtown Wallace, which would have wiped out it's historic architecture.
In the early 1970's, State Highway 10 wound through the middle of every small town from the Washington state line to the Montana state line. I-90 bypassed every single one of them, and they all shriveled up and died. Even Coeur d'Alene was not immune, and even now, it's downtown is not the vibrant place it once was.
Taking advantage of the newly-passed 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, Harry Magnuson sued the government, claiming that an environmental impact statement had not been filed for the project, and he won a favorable decision in federal court. He and the late Nancy Lee Hansen then proceeded to obtain National Historic Register status for the entire downtown area, keeping the entire matter tied up until 1986. Up until that time, Wallace was known for having (among other things) the only stoplight on I-90 between Boston and Seattle. The stoplight was taken down with great ceremony and is currently located in the mining museum.
The man is a true Idaho Legend.
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