COEUR d’ALENE — Parks officials officially unveiled the picture plaques on the donor wall at McEuen Park Thursday.

The new plaques depict the story of how McEuen Park has transformed over the years that Coeur d’Alene became a city by the lake.

Tinka Schaffer, of the Panhandle Parks Foundation, said the project took a lot of work and research and she credited historian Robert Singletary and the Museum of North Idaho Committee for much of that work.

“Finding those pictures that developed a chronological flow of how that land has changed took a few months,” she said, adding choosing which pictures told the story best was a difficult process as well.

The eight picture plaques start with to a pre-Coeur d’Alene photograph of Coeur d’Alene Tribal members. Schaffer said the foundation worked closely with the Tribe to find that photo, and the Tribe also paid $2,000 to sponsor the plaque.

“We went to the Tribe to get a picture that depicted how it was before Coeur d’Alene existed,” she said adding the foundation sought out sponsors for each picture.

In fact, Schaffer said, it took a few more months to get all eight picture plaques sponsored.

The next picture plaque depicts the Third Street docks dating back to the 1880s through the 1990s. It is sponsored by Troy and Jan Tymesen and family.

The third photo depicts the old Coeur d’Alene Lumber Co. mill that sat on the McEuen Park land from the 1880s through the 1920s. It was sponsored by Idaho Forest Group.

Then there is a photograph of the Third Street train depot on that same land, taken in 1917. The Swallow family sponsored the fourth plaque.

The fifth picture is of the Mullan Field Community building that stood at the location from the 1930s through the 1950s. It was sponsored by Doug and Dee Eastwood.

The sixth photo depicts military housing that followed the community building from the 1940s through the 1950s. That photo was sponsored by Anderson Palmer George and Walsh PLLC Attorneys.

The seventh photo is a picture of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Mullan Field from 1940s through the 1950s. It was sponsored by St. Luke Episcopal Church and Lisa Nunlist and Steve Flory.

The final picture depicts the American Legion Baseball diamonds after the property became known as McEuen Field from 1967 through 2012. That one is sponsored by the Sports Cellar.

Schaffer said there are still sponsorship opportunities for businesses, families or individuals on the granite donor plaques that adorn the donor wall. There is room for 380 lines on the donor wall. One line costs $500.

“It is a great holiday gift idea,” she said adding people could purchase a line to honor their family or loved ones.

The granite plaques are engraved periodically throughout the year as the foundation accumulates enough sponsored lines to cover at least one-fourth of a plaque.

A box with donation information is affixed to a light pole north of the donor wall. Schaffer said interested donors can also visit the Panhandle Parks Foundation website at http://www.panhandleparksfoundation.org or call (208) 446-4813.