Amenities

Bathroom, picnic tables, boat ramp, shore launch. Five parking spaces.

History

Pringle Park is the site of the Hope Lumber Company. The mill was established in 1901 and operated for 20 years, closing in 1921. At its peak, the mill employed 200 men — in a town with a population just shy of 500. In fact, the mill and its supporting enterprises were the basis for a new town, which came to be known as East Hope. East Hope supported the mill and its employees, while nearby Hope supported the railroad, the crews, shop workers, and track gangs.  

Hope Lumber Company was the largest mill in the area, eventually being outstripped by the Humbird mill complex in Sandpoint. The mill stretched from this location to just across Strong creek to the east.

After World War II, the property went through a few changes with the local shift away from lumber and into tourism. In 1948, Hurschell Weaver built and ran Hurschell’s Lighthouse restaurant nearby, which was then run by the Hawkins company in several forms from the mid to late 1950s. The story is, people would come to the restaurant partly for the salad dressing, which they would cart home in jars for their own personal use. Thus, the Litehouse company was born, and is still headquartered in Sandpoint.