Spalding Historic District: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park

National Park Service; Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: Spalding is a unit of Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE) situated in north central Idaho, approximately eleven miles east of Lewiston. Located within the Clearwater Plateau, the 81-acre Spalding Historic District Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) is positioned on a large delta on the south shore of the Clearwater River near the mouth of Lapwai Creek. The CLI includes land owned and/or managed by the National Park Service and is part of a larger National Register-listed Spalding Historic District boundary. Spalding has a long and complex history, and the landscape today reflects multiple periods of development. Archeological evidence suggests that the ancestors of the Nez Perce people occupied the Lapwai Creek delta over many generations. The Nez Perce continue to have strong cultural associations with the area today. In 1838, as part of the great migration west, Presbyterian Missionaries, Henry and Eliza Spalding established a mission on the delta. The Spaldings operated the mission until 1847 when the deaths of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and 11 others at Waiilatpu (Whitman Mission) in Oregon Territory caused them to abandon their claims at Lapwai Creek. Thirteen years after the mission was abandoned, in 1860, the Nez Perce Indian Agency was established on site. The Indian Agency permanently relocated their operation in 1902 to Fort Lapwai, approximately four miles south of Spalding. Nearby, the town of Spalding was established in 1898 and developed into a short-lived, but thriving community. As part of this development, Watson’s Store opened its doors in 1911 and served the local community until 1964. The significance of the town site and store is primarily associated with Nez Perce acculturation, which is a theme that is evident throughout the long history of Spalding. In 1935, Spalding Memorial Park was established to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Spaldings’ arrival in the Northwest. With establishment of Nez Perce National Historical Park in 1965, much of the development that comprised Spalding town site became part of the new national park. Today, the administrative headquarters for the park are located at Spalding. This includes offices, a visitor center with services and maintenance operations. The site is significant at a national level under Criterion A for its association with early Nez Perce culture, western migration, and settlement of the west by in the mid-nineteenth century. The historic district is also significant at a national level under Criterion A for its association with the Nez Perce Indian Agency, which was established by the U.S. government at Spalding between 1860 and 1902, and for its association with the Spalding town site which included Watson’s Store, both of which convey the Nez Perce acculturation that occurred at the site. Under Criterion B, the district is significant at a national level as a result of its association with Henry and Eliza Spalding who established a mission on site in 1838. Later, they were buried at Spalding, and in 1925, the Presbyterian Synod of Washington placed an 8-foot tall blue-granite marker over the grave.

Spalding Historic District: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Nez Perce National Historical Park

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