Note: This piece was written and shot for the Murrow Rural Reporting Plunge. For more info, please see https://rural.murrowbpj.com/
ST. MARIES, IDAHO— Priscilla Derry has no desire to leave the small town of St. Maries, Idaho, even after 83 years.
She said the quietness of the small north-central Idaho town has kept her from leaving. Even though she has traveled and experienced life elsewhere, nowhere feels like home the way St. Maries does for Derry.
“I just feel like I have everything here that I need and want,” Derry said.
Nestled in the St. Joe Valley where the St. Joe and St. Maries rivers meet, the town was and continues to be fueled by the timber industry. Hunting, fishing, water skiing and all types of outdoor activities also prove to be popular, Derry said.
With a population of over 2,350 people, Derry said the town is continuously growing because real estate is cheaper and Benewah County has looser building code restrictions. She predicts it will not be long until St. Maries resembles a town like Coeur d’Alene, though she is not happy about that.
“This is a little town and I’d like for it to stay that way,” Derry said.
Derry graduated from St. Maries High School in 1959 in a class of 54 students. She said her high school years were the best years of her life.
“We lived in the best of times; we didn’t have to take the keys out of our car, have to lock our doors,” she said. “We didn’t have to worry about being kidnapped or anything. It was just a quiet community.”
Out of the 54 students in her graduating class, 26 stayed in town. She said it is typical for students to either go work at the sawmill, work in the woods or go to college after graduating, though most of the boys in her class stayed around because they liked to hunt and fish.
While living in St. Maries, Derry was the city treasurer for 13 years, the city clerk for one year and now gives tours at the Hughes House Historical Museum built in 1902 filled with thousands of treasures, antiques and records from St. Maries history.
The Hughes House Historical Museum in St. Maries, Idaho, on Oct. 5, 2024.
During her time as a city employee, Derry noticed what she called “small-town problems.” For around 20 years, she said the town had a rough time with dogs running at large and off leash, though that is under control now. There were lots of potholes in the street and the town struggled predominantly with water problems.
“Within the last three to five years, we finally got rid of our old water pipes that were in the roads, and they were old because they were made out of wood and wrapped with wire,” Derry said. “It took us probably 60 years to get rid of all of them.”
Groceries and gas are more expensive than other places in Idaho as they are trucked in from out of town, but still, Derry praises her hometown and has no plans to leave.
“I’ve traveled around and seen other places, but I haven’t found any place I like better,” she said.
