With the coming of the railroad, the rustic charm of Spirit Lake drew many visitors, particularly from Spokane. Many arrived at the elegant Fountain Park and headed to the steamboat to take a ride up the lake. The rock part of the fountain is still visible on the south side of Maine Street as you go down the hill to the lake.

The Spirit Lake Navigation Company offered summer steamer tours, as well as renting rowboats and canoes. 

Boats were needed to get to the various campsites on the lake. One such camp, called Shingobe Park, rented house tents near the head of the lake.

A hundred years ago, this was the view towards the rail station from across the Mill Pond. The lake's current public access area is on the right side of this photo. Several smaller buildings occupied the land to the left of the bridge before the office for Panhandle Mill (Fireside Lodge) was moved to that location by the Hohman family.

This 918-foot timber piling bridge was built in 1912 and used for 40 years. A Chautauqua was a traveling group that featured educational shows in the form of ballets, concerts and lectures. From 1912 to the Depression Era, this was an annual event in Spirit Lake.

Spirit Lake is unusual in having a sealed clay bottom over highly drainable gravel, which results in rapid draining if the seal is broken. Several series of years, where dry conditions led to the Mill Pond drying out and cracking, made it become like a sieve. 

In the photo above a cofferdam blocks the water from entering the Mill Pond while the construction took place. 

Read more about the subsurface work.