Historic Wallace Idaho

Colonel William R. Wallace

After starting the Oreornogo claim (later to be known as the Hecla) in 1883, Colonel William R. Wallace purchased eighty acres of land at the confluence of the major canyons near Burke. The land was covered with large cedars and was swampy. He purchased the land with Sioux scrip that was later declared illegal tender, causing property ownership disputes that lasted for years. He built a cabin in 1884 and called the new community Placer Center. His wife, Lucy, arrived in the following year, changed the town's name to Wallace, and became its first postmaster for a population of fourteen people.

Colonel Wallace died in 1901, in Whittier, California. The newspaper epitaph only mentioned that he was a cousin to General Wallace, the author of Ben Hur. Idaho's first Territorial Governor in 1863 was named William H. Wallace, but was not related to the town's founder.

The historic mining town of Wallace Idaho will celebrate its namesake and his long forgotten grave marker with a gala celebration, parade and re-dedication ceremony on our first Wallace Founders Day on June 24, 2017. The headstone of our town's founder was in limbo for decades, but it will finally be given a place of honor in the community following a parade with marching bands, civil war re-enactors, biker escorts, military and police personnel, dignitaries and others. Click on the newly acquired headstone to learn how it was discovered and returned home.