West Kitchen Pavillion, Shoshone Park – Mullan
Mullan, Shoshone County
- Grants: 2024 – Replace the existing metal roof with wood shingles
Location: Shoshone Park, 2366 Larson Rd., Mullan, ID
The West Kitchen Pavilion was constructed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Shoshone Park, indicating its history as a US Forest Service facility. The pavilion stands at the entrance to Shoshone Park, a pristinely forested 8.6-acre park with a stream running through the grounds. It is completely surrounded by typically majestic Rocky Mountain scenery. The pavilion is one of two such structures, both outfitted with large grills and piped drinking water. The East Kitchen Pavilion was restored in 2007, while the West Kitchen Pavilion has been closed by the Forest Service for more than four years for safety reasons.
Locally, the park is known as Pottsville, which comes from an 1889 historic town that no longer exists, as well as a former railroad stop that Mullan residents used to travel by train to the park in pre-automobile days. The Masons first developed the park in the 1910s, and the CCC further improved the park in the 1930s by constructing the kitchen pavilions, the cabin and garage, and other attractions. Mullan and Silver Valley residents, in addition to state and regional visitors, enjoy the simple beauty and exotic splendor of this forested park located at the base of Runt Mountain, a peak in the Bitterroot Mountains.
As of 2024, the West Kitchen Pavilion is currently unusable, but hopefully for not much longer, with the completion of the restoration scheduled for late summer of 2025. This project is part of a larger restoration campaign that began in 2021, which is led by a partnership between the Forest Service and the Pottsville 7, a citizens group that is a division of the Mullan Community Foundation (MCF). Plans are to restore the cabin, garage and bridge; replace restrooms, board walks and horseshoe pits; create an interpretive trail, eliminate hazard trees, and remove brush and old wood rounds. A point of particular historical interest onsite is the Captain John Mullan historic cabin. Mullan was a 19th Century military commander who built a wagon road, which is used today as a hiking and snowmobiling trail and runs adjacent to the park.
After the facility is restored, the public will be able to reserve the West Kitchen Pavilion for use for large group gatherings as in the past. Shoshone Park regularly plays host to children’s birthday parties, Special Olympics, local club meetings and events, family and school picnics, weddings, reunions, and pick-up games of soccer and frisbee.
