Hauser, ID

Hauser is a city in Kootenai County at the southern end of Hauser Lake. The 2020 Census counted 761 residents. Washington lies just west across the state line, and Idaho Highway 53 runs along the southern edge, connecting Hauser east toward Rathdrum and west toward the Spokane metropolitan area. The lake, highway, and state line give this small North Idaho city a distinctly borderland geography.

Hauser’s city history starts with a place residents called “The Village,” which grew around the railroad and the lake. Northern Pacific acquired the Spokane Falls and Idaho branch line in 1888; a building used by rail workers later became a general store and then Curley’s Hauser Junction. The lake itself was once called Sucker Lake and Mud Lake before taking the Hauser name in honor of Montana governor Samuel Thomas Hauser, a friend of railroad baron Daniel Chase Corbin. Today city hall, the lake road, highway, and rail line still tell the story of a community built around movement and water.