The Community Library

This Power Point presentation uses old photographs and historic materials to discuss the Philadelphia Smelter, which was built in 1881 on the bench where Warm Springs Creek goes into the Big Wood River. It was financed by wealthy Philadelphia businessmen who invested over $1 million in the mining industry in the Wood River Region. A related company built a smelter in Muldoon in the Little Wood River basin. With the arrival of the Oregon Short Line Railroad at Hailey in 1883, the smelter was significantly expanded, and the company purchased a number of local mines, including the Muldoon, North Star, Silver Star in Little Smoky Mining District over Dollarhide Summit, several along Warm Springs Creek, and others. A related company owned 1,000 acres of property north of Ketchum. The Oregon Short Line expanded its Wood River Branch to Ketchum in 1884, because of the Philadelphia smelter, and its depot was located near the smelter so ore could be transported directly from there out of the valley to outside markets. in 1884, H.C. Lewis built the Trail Creek Toll Road over Trail Creek Summit to bring ore from the mines around Challis to the Philadelphia smelter for processing. New roads were also built over Dollarhide Summit and Galena Pass to bring ore to the smelter from mines located west and north of Ketchum. The Philadelphia smelter processed most of the ore mined in the entire region, was one of the largest enterprises in Idaho, and was the Valley’s largest employer. The Philadelphia Smelter was closed in 1892, along with most of the Valley’s mines, because of the International Silver Depression that lasted from 1888 to 1898, which ended the halcyon days of the Wood River Mining Era.

This Power Point presentation uses old photographs and historic materials to discuss two of the hot springs resorts that brought legions of visitors into the Wood River Valley in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Both resorts required significant investment to develop, were actively promoted by the railroad, served both locals and tourists, and were important parts of the valley’s social calendar. The Hailey Hot Springs Resort, located in Croy Canyon, was developed by Robert E. Strahorn, a publicist for Union Pacific Railroad, who was instrumental in bringing the Oregon Short Line Railroad into the Wood River Valley. The resort hotel burned down in 1899, after being visited by dignitaries such as Jay Gould and others who traveled on their private railroad cars. Guyer Hot Springs Resort, located on Warm Springs Creek just west of the ski lift, was the center of Ketchum social activities in the 1890s and early 1900s. The resort ended in 1929, when its owner brought hot springs water to a newly constructed Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge on Main Street. The hot springs water was used for heating the Lodge’s units, and to fill its giant swimming pool, where many valley residents swam in the summer. The old Guyer Hot Springs Hotel was torn down in 1937, and used to build the St. Georg Hotel on Main Street, which became Ketchum’s finest. The St. Georg burned down in 1939.