Laclede, ID

Laclede is a Bonner County census-designated place on U.S. 2, where Riley Creek meets the Pend Oreille River. It had 434 residents in the 2020 census and carries a post office serving the surrounding forested country. The community sits about a dozen miles downstream from Sandpoint, with the river, highway, and Riley Creek shaping the local map. Riley Creek Recreation Area lies about a mile south, with boat access, campsites, and a trail along the Pend Oreille.

Laclede grew from a river crossing called Seneacquoteen, used by Native Americans and later travelers on the Wild Horse Trail. In the 1860s it served as a supply point and ferry crossing; a steamer, Mary Moody, was built there in 1864. The Laclede Ferry continued until 1957. A lumber era followed: after A.C. White’s mill burned in 1922, he moved the operation to Dover and barged dozens of Laclede buildings upriver. Laclede today is a small highway-and-river place where a ferry landing, lumber town, and recreation area share the same valley.