Sandpoint

History

Salish Tribes, specifically the Kalispel and the Kootenai, built encampments on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille every summer, fished, made baskets of cedar, and collected huckleberries before returning to either Montana or Washington in the fall. The encampments ended before 1930.

The region was extensively explored by David Thompson of the North West Company starting in 1807. Disputed joint British/American occupation of the Columbia District led to the Oregon boundary dispute. This controversy ended in 1846 with the signing of the Oregon Treaty, whereby Britain ceded all rights to land south of the 49th parallel.

In the 1880s, the Northern Pacific Railroad brought European and Chinese settlement to the area.

In August 1888, 29-year-old author and civil servant Theodore Roosevelt visited Sandpoint on a caribou-hunting trip in the Selkirk Mountains. Roosevelt documented what a rough-and-tumble environment "Sand Point" was at that time (and for many decades following).

Sandpoint was officially incorporated in 1898.

Timber harvesting and railroads drove the economy for nearly a century as loggers moved in from the over-harvested Great Lakes region. Several lumber companies operated in the region from as early as 1896 to present, the most notable being the Humbird Lumber Company which operated from 1900 to around 1944. The lumber companies bought land from the Northern Pacific Railroad and built a major mill at Sandpoint and adjacent Kootenai. Lumber company-owned railroads extended into many of the local drainages including Grouse Creek, Gold Creek and Rapid Lightning Creek. Although the trees were never exhausted in the area, Humbird Lumber succumbed to the low timber prices of the Great Depression.

"Stump ranches" were sold by Humbird to many families who slowly cleared much of the valley land of tree stumps. Farming and ranching became the third largest business in the area, behind lumber and railroads, prior to the "discovery" of Lake Pend Oreille as a sports fishery in the 1950s. The economy was given a boost during World War II from Farragut Naval Station, a training center for the US Navy located at the southwestern end of Lake Pend Oreille.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.79 square miles (12.41 km2), of which 3.98 square miles (10.31 km2) is land and 0.81 square miles (2.10 km2) is water.

Sandpoint has a fairly typical inland Northwestern humid continental climate (Köppen: Dsb), with cold, snowy winters and dry summers with large diurnal temperature swings from hot in the day to very cool at night. The record low was −37 °F (−38 °C) on December 30, 1968, while the record high was 106 °F (41 °C) recorded on June 30, 2021. The wettest month was December 1933 with 11.99 inches (304.5 mm) of total precipitation and the most monthly snowfall 68.8 inches (174.8 cm) in January 1969.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Sandpoint had a population of 8,639. The median age was 42.3 years. 22.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.9 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 3,758 households in Sandpoint, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.3% were married-couple households, 19.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 36.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 4,295 housing units, of which 12.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.0%.

Income and poverty

The median income between 2016 and 2020 for a household in the city was $46,712. The per capita income for the city was $28,210. The percentage of persons below the poverty line (2016–2020) was 14.7%.

Households and housing

The median value of owner-occupied housing in the city was $228,800. The homeownership rate (2006–2010) was 49.6%.

Education

Of the population over 25 years of age (2006–2010), 89.9% had graduated high school, 25.6% had achieved a bachelor's degree or higher.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 7,365 people, 3,215 households, and 1,811 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,850 inhabitants per square mile (714.3/km2). There were 3,769 housing units at an average density of 947 per square mile (365.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 95.5% White, 0.1% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.9% of the population.

There were 3,215 households, of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.7% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86.

The median age in the city was 38.8 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 25.9% were from 45 to 64; and 16.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

Economy

Since 2002, Sandpoint has been home to aircraft manufacturer Quest Aircraft.

Education

Sandpoint is part of the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Sandpoint High School and Lake Pend Oreille Alternative High School educate students in grades 9 through 12.

Forrest Bird Charter School educates grades 6–12.

Transportation

Sandpoint is at the intersection of three major highways that connect the Idaho Panhandle to adjacent states and regions. U.S. Route 95 travels north–south and bypasses downtown Sandpoint using a divided highway on the waterfront; it continues south towards Coeur d'Alene and southern Idaho, and north to the Canadian border. U.S. Route 2 runs through downtown and joins with U.S. Route 95 on its east–west route that connects Spokane, Washington, to northern Montana. State Highway 200 travels on the north side of Lake Pend Oreille towards Thompson Falls, Montana.

Amtrak serves Sandpoint station with daily passenger trains on the Empire Builder, a transcontinental line that begins in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the west and continues east to Union Station in Chicago, Illinois. Sandpoint station is the only Amtrak station in Idaho. Sandpoint is on the BNSF Railway's Spokane Subdivision, part of the Northern Transcon, and is 80 miles (130 km) by rail northeast of Spokane. Traffic flow was improved in 2023 by paralleling a 2.2-mile (3.5 km) segment including the lake crossing that had been constricted by a single-track bridge.

The local public transit system is operated by the Selkirks–Pend Oreille Transit Authority (SPOT), which began service in June 2011 and has two routes in Sandpoint. SPOT also operates paratransit service and inter-city routes within Bonner and Boundary counties. The agency does not charge a fare for passengers and derives its funding from federal grants and matching funds from the city government.

Local media

Radio

KSPT AM 1400 (News/Talk)

KRFY FM 88.5 (Alternative)

KPND FM 95.3 (Adult Hits)

KTAQ-LP FM 97.7 (3ABN Radio)

KIBR FM 102.5 (Country music)

KTPO FM 106.7 (KPND 95.3 repeater)

FM 105.3 (Sandpoint's Hit Music)

Television

Television stations serving Sandpoint originate from the Spokane, Washington market:

KREM 2 (CBS)

KXLY-TV 4 (ABC)

KHQ-TV 6 (NBC)

KSPS-TV 7 (PBS)

Print

The Bonner County Daily Bee, daily paper since 1965

The Sandpoint Reader, weekly paper since 2004

Notable people

Forrest Bird, aviator, biomedical inventor, recipient of Presidential Citizens Medal

Allie Brosh, humorist blogger and novelist

Leon Cadore, baseball pitcher who pitched a 26-inning game in 1920; graduate of Sandpoint High School

John Craigie, folk singer, lived there for a summer and wrote the song "All of July" about Sandpoint

James C. Fry, United States Army major general, recipient of Distinguished Service Cross

Mark Fuhrman, former LAPD detective primarily known for his role in the O. J. Simpson murder case

Tinker Hatfield, athletic shoe designer and Nike Air Jordan architect

Nate Holland, two-time Olympian, five-time X Games gold medalist, US Snowboard team

Nell Kruegel Irion, city councilor and first woman to run for Congress in Idaho

Jerry Kramer, National Football League right guard, author

Joe Mather, Major League Baseball outfielder

Patrick F. McManus, outdoor writer and humorist

Viggo Mortensen, actor and producer

Alex R. Munson (1941-2025), chief judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (1988-2010). He became a resident of Sandpoint after his retirement.