HomeMy Public PortalAboutBoise, Idaho: HistoryBy ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum .
Planned in 1863, the town of
Middleton was platted and
filed in 1865. attd got its post
office in 1866: ; -,
Its name no doubt refers to
its location halffivgy between
Boise and the .terry at the
mouth of Boise River, as well
as the fact that it wa4tW the
middle of an area of new
ranches and farms.
In 1868, "Uncle John" Egg -
leston is complimented in The
Statesman for having built
"the best farmhouse in the
territory" at Middleton.
An early description of Mid-
dleton as a town appeared in
The Statesman in February,
1$69 `MiddleGpn�is thriving —
Caldwell's rapid promotion
and growth, it is no wonder
that Middleton, just a few
miles away, felt the impact
even more.
Not getting the railroad
erased much hope that a
large city would 'ever develop
there, and led some of the
principal business men to
move out.
The Middleton photographs
reproduced here recall the
boost to local hopes and pros-
perity brought about by the
coming of the interurban rail-
way in 1907.
By that time Middleton also
was on a branch line of the
Oregon Short Line running to
Horseshoe Bend and being
continued northward to
McCall.
Middleton's depot had a
novel situation at the inter-
section of the streetcar and
railway tracks, as these two
early views of it show.
While these photos were at
first thought to be of separate
buildings, the unusual shape
of the drooping awning can be
seen in both. The station han-
died both freight and passen.
gers, and was neatly fitted
into the space where the
tracks crossed.
Both f reight and passenge'' s were handled at the "promising" station
A
dleton as a town appearea m
The Statesman in February,
1869. "Middleton is thriving —
has two stores, a blacksmith
shop and wagon shop, and a
butcher shop going up, and
everything looks lively."
Through the years it be-
came the habit of Judge Mil-
ton Kelly, editgr of The
Statesman from 1872 onward,
to take leisurely rides down
the valley to observe farms,
visit with the farmers, and
describe the progress he
noted.
He was a shrewd observer,
Nvell -read in agricultural mat-
ters, and fond of making sug-
gestions for improving meth-
ods and production.
Middleton's greatest claim
to fame in the early years
was easily the grist mill
erected in 1871. "Mr. A. Pack-
ard, from the flourishing little
burg down the river, informs
us that the frame of the Mid-
dleton flouring mill will be
raised this week.
It is the intention to have it
ready to grind the coming
harvest." In November, 1871,
the first ad for the new mill
appeared in the paper, listing
as proprietors J. M. Stephen-
son of Middleton and J. C.
Isaacs of Boise.
Isaacs was the brother of
one of Boise's principal mill-
ers, H. P. Isaacs, operator of
the War Eagle Mills.
In March, 1872, S. S. Foote
came to Middleton to run the
mill. He eventually owned it,
and had a partnership with
Packard. Their principal busi-
ness was in flour freighted to
the mining camps, but they
also ran one of the two gener-
al stores in town.
The other was operated by
Humphrey and Gwinn. The
town now boasted a hotel and
saloon in addition to the other
establishements listed for
1869.
Because the mill ditch, di-
verted from Boise River, had
become a stream half as big
as the river itself, there was
constant flooding and difficul-
ty in getting from the town to
the mill across the slough
which separated them.
Starting about 1880 the town
was gradually moved piece-
meal across to the mill side.
The coming of the Oregon
S h o r t Line in the early
eighties was a blow to Middle -
ton's importance in the lower
Boise Valley, since the main
line ran south of the river,
and the town of Caldwell was
established as a new com-
mercial center.
Considering the fact that
even Boise was uneasy about
Streetcar and rai i racks once intersected at the Middleton depot
DO NOT REMOVE FROM LIPID- RY
PAYETTE LAKES
PROGRESSIVE CLUB
Wholesale killing of game birds
prompted imports of new types
By ARTHUR HART
The introduction of new spe-
cies of game birds into Idaho
was tried very early, prima-
rily by sportsmen who wanted
to improve the hunting.
In late 1870 there was an ac-
tive Boise Valley Quail Associ-
ation, organized to import and
establish populations of bob-
white quail in southwestern
Idaho.
James Slater, spokesman
for the group, told The Idaho
Tri- Weekly Statesman that he
was going to release 39 Mis-
souri quail at noon Jan. 3, 1871.
The paper called the birds
"little feathered proteges" of
the club.
On Feb. 4, 1871, another ship-
ment of 75 bobwhites arrived
by stagecoach. All but 11 of
them survived the long and ar-
duous 1,500 -mile trip in the
dead of winter.
"The association have now
turned loose, altogether, 118 of
these famous music makers
and worm destroyers," The
Statesman said.
The new game laws enacted
by the Legislature in the 1870-
71 session were printed in the
paper on March 30, 1871.
From reports published ear-
lier, it is clear that the supply
of wildlife was being seriously
depleted and needed protec-
tion. Even with the new laws,
the slaughter was prodigious,
most people not yet appreciat-
ing the need to conserve what
seemed like a boundless re-
source.
In December 1881, a man
was selling wild ducks on
Boise streets for 25 cents
apiece. He had a wagonload of
ducks and geese he had shot
along the river, and claimed to
have killed 49 of them with
only six shells.
The Statesman didn't ques-
tion this boast, suggesting that
ducks were astonishingly plen-
tiful.
An .1882 report said the post
surgeon at Camp McDermitt,
Nev., had killed 92 sage grouse
in one day. No wonder game
laws were needed, or that
sportsmen began seriously to
import and propagate quail
from the East.
Early sage hen hunters near Delamar
H.C. Riggs, principal
founder of Boise and the man
who successfully led the fight
to establish Ada County and
move the capital from Lewis-
ton to Boise City in 1864, told
the Emmett Index in 1906 that
he had introduced Missouri
quail to Idaho in January 1871.
Whether Riggs was a mem-
ber of the Quail Association or
imported the birds privately is
not clear. In either case, the
date is consistent.
Cyrus Jacobs, another of
Boise's founding fathers, re-
ported in 1891 that bobwhites
were plentiful on his ranch at
Middleton and that they were
"descendants of some he im-
ported over 20 years ago."
These too could have been
part of the group mentioned in
The Statesman in January and
February 1871.
Ring- necked pheasants
reached the Pacific Northwest
from China in the 1880s. The
first mention of their introduc-
tion into Idaho is in 1892 when
William H. Ridenbaugh re-
ceived some eggs in May
which he hoped would be
hatched "by a gullible hen."
Many pheasants were re-
leased in Idaho after the turn
of the century. State Game
Warden W.N. Stephens gave
15 birds to Twin Falls County,
which liberated them in April
1909.
Kamiah had turned loose a
shipment of Willamette Valley
pheasants in 1904.
Public officials themselves
sometimes failed to realize
that times were changing for
game and its management.
Newspapers seemed to ap-
plaud the 1897 exploit of Attor-
ney General McFarland and
state Treasurer Storer when
they shot 200 ducks in one day
on Snake River near Black-
foot.
,(Arthur Hart is director of
the Idaho Historical Society.)
Ear/yEditors
Were Bullish
On Environment
Although many Idaho pion-
eers exploited fish and wildlife
in a manner shocking to mod-
ern residents, there were a few
far - sighted individuals who un-
derstood the importance of
preservation and propagation of
these resources.
James S. Reynolds, founder
and first eidtor of The States-
man, frequently blasted the un-
thinking men and boys who
killed robins, meadowlarks, and
other small birds in the vicinity
of town. Calling it "a cruel
sport," Reynolds wrote in 1869
that an eminent naturalist had
declared that agriculture would
be impossible without the help
of the birds. "A pair of spar-
rows have been known to carry
three hundred worms to their
nest in a day," Reynolds point-
ed out.
"In this country, which is
overrun one year by crickets,
the next by grasshoppers, and
the following probably by the
two combined, it behooves us to
do all in our power to preserve
the lives of our innocent and
useful birds."
The following spring, Rey-
nolds again complained that
people were still killing the
songbirds. "There is neither
sense nor wisdom in their
slaughter: it is done only to
gratify a taste for killing some-
thing."
Like many other Americans
of his time, Reynolds felt that
agriculture would be further
benefited if more bug- eaters
were imported. He praised the
recent introductions in New
York of English sparrows "at
great expense," and thought
Idaho -
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart,
the cost well worth it. Only
gradually did people come to
regard the sparrows as a mixed
blessing.
In 1881 another Statesman
editor noted that "Ogden and
Salt Lake are pleased with the
number of English sparrows in
those towns. It won't be long
until they will wonder how to
get rid of them, for they be-
come the veriest pests in the
world in a very few years after
introduction. We hope no one
will be public spirited enough to
bring them here."
When the English sparrow ar-
rived in Boise in 1888, apparent-
ly by migration and gradual ex-
pansion of its range rather than
by introduction, The Statesman
accepted the newcomers with
at least a touch of optimism:
"Those who remember the con-
dition of the trees in the east —
covered with caterpillars' webs
and denuded of leaves — will
give the little bird some
credit."
Other birds were imported to
Idaho too, mainly by sportsmen
who missed their favorite game
birds from former homes in the
east. Bobwhite quail were first
brought here in 1870 by the
Boise Valley Quail Association,
a group dedicated to giving
Idaho the benefit of "these fa-
CY JACOBS
... imported quail
mous music makers and worm
destroyers." Thirty -nine were
"emancipated among us" in
January 1871, and an additional
sixty -four in February. The
Statesman was fond of calling
them "the club's little feath-
ered proteges."
Cy Jacobs, one of the original
members of the quail associa-
tion, told a Statesman reporter
in 1891 that there were plenty
of quail "down the valley"
descended from those he had
imported twenty years before.
Jacobs had a ranch near Mid-
dleton at that time, and
Bobwhites are still seen in the
area today.
In 1891, W. H. Ridenbaugh of
Boise was reported to be trying
to get some Chinese pheasant
eggs hatched "by gullible
hens." Birds brought from
China had been introduced into
Oregon's Willamette Valley in
the mid- eighties, but the first
serious efforts to introduce
them to Idaho were made in
1904 at Kamiah and Weiser.
(Mr. Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
The newspaper ad battle
between Joseph Perrault
and Peter J. Pefly really got
warmed up as 1881 drew to a
close. Perrault had started a
saddle and harness shop on
Main Street in competition
with Pefly's "Pioneer" es-
tablishment and had started
a newspaper campaign
which forced the older busi-
ness to respond with ads of
its own.
Calling himself "the anti-
monopoly league," Perrault
lit into Pefly's shop with in-
sinuation and open ridicule.
Speaking of his own estab-
lishment, he said "the rea-
son of this great success is:
No machine harness made in
this shop — all work done by
hand. No sewing with a big
awl and small thread. No
harness or other work made
on which we are ashamed to
put our name or trademark.
No lying about our neighbors
to make sales."
Pefly, who had been gone
for several weeks on a buy-
JOSEPH PERRAULT
... power of advertising
ing trip came forth on Dec.
10, 1881, with an ambitions
ad of his own. It gives us a
picturesque catalog of what
such shops sold in those
days.
"Notice is hereby given
that in a few days I will ex-
hibit to the public 25 tons of
Saddlery, consisting of all
kinds of firstclass Leathers,
Collars, Robes, Blankets,
Hardware and 20 different
styles of the best Saddle-
trees made on the continent,
and the finest assortment of
Cow Boy Bits, Spurs,
Bridles, Reins, Reattas, Seal
Skin Chaps and Saddles ever
seen north of San Francisco.
Also a splended and select
lot of fine Horse Brushes,
Feather, Hair, Jute, and Pi-
ano Dusters, and in fact ev-
erything usually found in a
first class establishment in
my line, in any country. All
of which will be sold at such
prices as to defy all com-
petition."
Then, taking direct aim at
Perrault, who featured the
Denver Manufacturing Co.
line of "famous" iron saddle
horns,, Pefly said he was
closing out cheap "a lot of
old stock ... consisting of
Iron Horn Saddle - trees,
made by the Denver Manu-
facturing Co., Brass Dog Col-
lars, Dog Muzzles, wire and
leather, English Saddles,
and other articles of like
character."
If Pefly chuckled at the ef-
fect this would have on his
MAJ
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
The newspaper ad battle
between Joseph Perrault
and Peter J. Pefly really got
warmed up as 1881 drew to a
close. Perrault had started a
saddle and harness shop on
Main Street in competition
with Pefly's "Pioneer" es-
tablishment and had started
a newspaper campaign
which forced the older busi-
ness to respond with ads of
its own.
Calling himself "the anti-
monopoly league," Perrault
lit into Pefly's shop with in-
sinuation and open ridicule.
Speaking of his own estab-
lishment, he said "the rea-
son of this great success is:
No machine harness made in
this shop — all work done by
hand. No sewing with a big
awl and small thread. No
harness or other work made
on which we are ashamed to
put our name or trademark.
No lying about our neighbors
to make sales."
Pefly, who had been gone
for several weeks on a buy-
JOSEPH PERRAULT
... power of advertising
ing trip came forth on Dec.
10, 1881, with an ambitions
ad of his own. It gives us a
picturesque catalog of what
such shops sold in those
days.
"Notice is hereby given
that in a few days I will ex-
hibit to the public 25 tons of
LI
Saddlery, consisting of all
kinds of firstclass Leathers,
Collars, Robes, Blankets,
Hardware and 20 different
styles of the best Saddle-
trees made on the continent,
and the finest assortment of
Cow Boy Bits, Spurs,
Bridles, Reins, Reattas, Seal
Skin Chaps and Saddles ever
seen north of San Francisco.
Also a splended and select
lot of fine Horse Brushes,
Feather, Hair, Jute, and Pi-
ano Dusters, and in fact ev.
erything usually found in a
first class establishment in
my line, in any country. All
of which will be sold at such
prices as to defy all com-
petition."
Then, taking direct aim at
Perrault, who featured the
Denver Manufacturing Co.
line of "famous" iron saddle
horns,. Pefly said he was
closing out cheap "a lot of
old stock ... consisting of
Iron Horn Saddle - trees,
made by the Denver Manu-
facturing Co., Brass Dog Col-
lars, Dog Muzzles, wire and
leather, English Saddles,
and other articles of like
character."
If Pefly chuckled at the ef-
fect this would have on his
rival, his mirth was nipped
in the bud. Somehow Per-
rault got wind of the con-
tents of the new ad even be-
fore it was printed and ran
his rebuttal in the same col-
umn on the same day. (Poli-
tics probably played a part
in the battle, since Perrault,
like The Statesman, was Re-
publican and Pefly was a
Democrat).
Since Pefly's ad mentioned
25 .tons of new goods, Per -
rault's mentioned 26 tons. He
also said that "the old pio-
neer monopolist says these
goods are not so good as his,
you know, but the public is
respectfully invited to come
and see for themselves." He
then launched once more
into his sarcastic "It was
very mean of Perrault to
start an opposition store,"
etc.
While Pefly's Dec. 10 ad
ran without change for the
rest of the month, Perrault
came up with a new one on
the 15th headed "Horse
Sense," featuring a cartoon
woodcut of a comical horse
wearing glasses. "Put on
your goggles," it read, "and
read carefully the old mono-
polist's vaporing and you
will observe that he ac -,
knowledges that he can't
compete in a legitimate way
with the anti - monopoly
store."
A woodcut cartoon also il-
lustrated Perrault's blast of
Dec. 31 — a long poem by
himself entitled "The Old
Pioneer Monop's Lament."
Whatever effect Perrault's
campaign had on Pefly's
business, it did not hurt his
popularity. Only a few years
later he was elected mayor
of Boise.
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Boy printer put in long hours at newspaper
A.J. Boyakin
John G. Foster, whose 1877 diary
has just come to light, was a teen-
age apprentice printer learning his
trade in the traditional way. After
a few months with the Idaho Tri-
Weekly Statesman he went to work
for A.J. Boyakin, a renowned pio-
neer "typo" who had worked for a
dozen newspapers and started a
few of his own.
"Jud" Boyakin started work on
his latest venture "The Idahoan"
at the end of April 1877. He had an
old Washington Press (like the one
in the State Historical Museum)
and a teen -age apprentice.
Success with a new newspaper
depended heavily on Boyakin's
ability to secure advertising, find
capital or credit for paper and ink,
and to write and print each edition
on time. It also meant driving him-
self and his inexperienced help to
the breaking point.
On his second day on the job the
printer's devil worked 111/2 hours
distributing type. This was the
tedious but essential job of getting
all of the individual letters dis-
tributed into their proper spaces in
the type case so they were ready
for hand setting in the next issue.
The next day young Foster
began setting an editorial for the
first issue of the Idahoan. He
worked from 6 in the morning until
7 at night. Three days later he was
still setting the same editorial,
which he called "a description of
ddaho, its resources, etc."
"Jud is receiving a great deal of
encouragement in the way of adv-
"I do not know how this is writ-
ten."
The weariness of the boy can be
felt as he says "I have been on my
feet all day except when I eat my
breakfast and dinner." This was
one day before the first issue was
to be printed, and by next day, the
sense of excitement had mounted.
"There was a large crowd in the
office all the time. We got out the
first number of the Idahoan this
evening." Because of mechanical
trouble with the old press, Editor
Boyakin and apprentice Foster
worked from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.
getting the first issue run. Next
day was spent in rolling and fold-
ing papers, and delivering them
with the help of his younger
brother George.
"I set up very near all of the
reading matter that there was in
the paper yesterday," proudly re-
corded the boy printer.
Next day "I went to work as fast
as I could distributing for the next
Idaho '" ,..
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart
ertising," wrote his apprentice.
"He will have over two pages."
Next day, May 5, 1877, "I set for
awhile this forenoon and dis-
tributed all the afternoon. Another
day gone, and that editorial not fin-
ished. There will be about four col-
umns and a half of it." With press
time approaching, Foster worked
another long day on Sunday, May
6. He wrote that it is so dark as he
writes in his diary at bed time that
paper." From then on the office
routine is much the same until the
faithful diarist himself begins to
tire of writing the same thing each
day. He distributed type from one
issue, began setting for the next.
He helped run the press, and he
rolled and delivered the papers.
The process was repeated over
and over.
Another boy was hired for
awhile, but came to work drunk
one morning and "Jud turned him
off. He has not been seen in town
since." On press days young Fos-
ter usually worked from 7 in the
morning until 10 at night.
Printer's ink got into the boy's
blood, as it did to so many like him.
When he was appointed postmas-
ter of Baker, Ore., in 1918 he had
been running his own newspaper
and printing business there for
nearly 30 years.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
EPITAPH
PATRICK CONNOR , Ft. Boise cemetery marker for Connell
... Irish general
Ff. Boise Cemetery Marker's Epitaph's
Tell of Idaho -Irish Soldiers' Legacies
By AL DAWSON
"Wearin 'o the Green" on St. Patricks Day was very much in
evidence during the 1800s by members of the Irish nominated U.S.
Army stationed in territorial Idaho. On this one day, military au-
thorities overlooked the breach of regulations when Irish soldiers
appeared with shamrocks proudly attached to their uniforms.
These sons of Erin were a vital part of the ninteenth century
military, and it was their zeal that coined the phrase, "Fighting
Irish," long before it was adopted by Notre Dame in designating
their gridiron warriors. In Idaho, some of these men who traced
their roots to the Emerald Isle, were indeed outstanding. In the
Indian Wars two were given the Medal of Honor, and two military
commanders not only distinguished themselves on the field of
battle, but conveniently had themselves born in Ireland on ap-
propriately of all days, St. Patrick's Day.
During the Nez Perce War of 1877 when the military was humili-
ated following defeat after defeat at the hands of the warriors of
Chief Joseph; it was an Irish soldier who helped erase the tar-
nished image of the U.S. Army. He was Sgt. Michael McCarthy, a
non -com in charge of a troop of the U.S. 1st Cavalry. The troopers
on a fateful June day found themselves caught in an Indian am-
bush, cut off from their main unit, and outnumbered by the Nez
Perce eight to one.
All of his men killed except seven in the surprise attack, McCar-
thy nevertheless rallied his remaining force, directing them to a
clump of bushes, where they returned withering fire until their
ammunition was exhausted. As the Nez Perce closed in, there was
hand to hand fighting. Somehow the outnumbered troopers fought
their way clear and managed to mount their horses and attempted
to ride out. Two cavalrymen dropped from their saddles with bul-
lets in their backs. The remaining troopers crashing gun butts on
clinging Indian heads, miraculously were able to clear themselves
from the trap.
In the attempt, McCarthy's horse was shot from under him, he
scrambled to his feet, grabbed a dead soldier's mount, KOed an
attacking Nez Perce, and rode on under a hurl of bullets. Now,
completely alone, this Irish soldier galloped on with a howling
band of Nez Perce in hot pursuit. The sergeant was gaining on his
pursuers when this third mount was shot from under him, this
time McCarthy's leg was injured in the fall.
Still not giving up, as the war hoops of the Nez Perce came
closer this cavalryman managed to drag himself to a clump of
bushes where he hid. Seconds later the pursuing Nez Perce ar-
rived at the scene marked by the dead horse, then they fanned out
and started searching for their prey. The injured sergeant lay
quietly in the underbrush well concealed, except unknowingly his
outstretched injured leg was in view. Too late he discovered his
error, when a sharp eyed Nez Perce spotted the protuding black
boot. As the warrior walked toward the place of concealment. Mc-
Carthy managed to pull his injured leg out of the boot and was
able to drag himself away before the Indian arrived.
Then followed one of the most incredible bits of hide and seek,
as the injured soldier continued to elude his pursuers and was
eventually able to rejoin his company. For valor shown during this
engagement, Michael McCarthy was awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor. Another Irish soldier to be decorated with the
highest award the United States is able to bestow, was Pvt. Jer-
emiah Murphy. This soldier of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry received his
decoration for action beyond the call of duty in 1876 against the
Sioux.
Gen. Patrick Connor, although stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah,
along with his troops, played an important part in Idaho territorial
history. His campaigns in southern Idaho, especially tracking ma-
rauding Indians, and supposed gold raiding Confederate guerrillas,
has almost bt_ome legendary. This Irish emigrant who rose from
a buck private to a general, was born on St. Patricks Day, March
17, 1820, in County Kerry, near the lake of Kilarney.
Perhaps the least publicized, yet most colorful Irish Indian
figher of them all in our territorial hostory, was Major Patrick
Connell. Strangely this career soldier, named after the patron
saint who supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland around 432
A.D., was also born on the "old sod." Major Connell who is buried
in the old Fort Boise cemetery along with his family, was born in
Tipperary, Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1833. Emigrat-
ing to the United States as a young man, Patrick, followed the
pattern of many of his countrymen in entering the army.
He enlisted Feb. 14, 1855 and as a member of the 2nd Cavalry,
first saw service at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. Pvt. Connell
was then sent to Fort Mason in Texas, where later he was to face
a traumatic decision. When the Civil War broke out the authorities
in this part of Texas, turned the military over to the Confederate
cause. Young Connell was offered a commission if he would serve
under the southern banner.
Patrick Connell after some soul searching, decided he owed
loyalty to the government that had admitted him. With this re-
solve, he secretly left the area and reported to the Federal Army
headquarters for duty. For his loyalty he was commissioned a se-
cond Lt.
Epitaphs on the markers to graves in the OLD Fort Boise ceme-
tery tell other stories of the military "Fighting Irish." In Memory
of Henry O'Brien, Co. H, 23rd Infanty, born in Limerick, Ireland,
died at Fort Boise, March 24, 1866, age 29 years; Bob Calahan, Co.
H, 23rd Inf., born Carn, Ireland, died April 17, 1867, age 25 years;
Lawrence O'Tool, Co. F, 1st U.S. cavalry. And there are many
others. A great number of them, we may surmise, proud of their
ancestory, would have appreciated a shamrock on their last rest-
ing place.
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
Boise's streets in 1890
presented a wide variety of
scenes and attractions. For-
tunately for us, reading the
old newspapers 83 years lat-
er, there was so little real
news to record that the re-
porters put down all kinds of
picturesque accounts of
what happened along Main
Street.
Runaway horses were
common — sometimes re-
sulting in injury to humans
and animals, but most often
in damage to carriages and
wagons. The wheelwrights
could count on a steady
trade in repairs to vehicles
wrecked in this way.
The sheer volume of horse -
drawn traffic is reflected in
an item of November 4, 1890,
in which it was noted that in
one block on Main street the
reporter counted 22 teams
and 10 saddle horses, all
hitched to the rings in front
of business houses.
"Range stock in large
numbers are straggling into
town," noted a report of Sep-
tember, 1890, "and wander
about the streets in small
bands ... " This was a prob-
lem for the town marshal,
who passed the word that
these cattle would be im-
pounded and sold unless
their owners kept them con -
fined.
A large party of emigrants
from Missouri passed down
,Main Street in October, 1890
— part of a steady stream
that year. They camped
along the river south of the
bridge on Eighth street.
There also was a colony of
"squatters" at the other end
of Eighth, on Fort street, in
1890, consisting of ten fami-
lies living in tents. The hous-
ing shortage in the city was
further noted in the fact that
there were "a large number
of people living in tents and
covered wagons" in the
western part of town.
Tramps came to town fre-
quently in 1890. They were
promptly run out by the city
marshal, or arrested for va-
grancy.
The standard practice, for
either drunkenness or va-
grancy, was to fine the of-
fenders; since most could
not pay, they worked out
their sentences at two dol-
lars a day on the chain gang,
repairing the city streets.
Those who wouldn't work
were put on a diet of bread
and water until they got
hungry enough to do so. The
chain gang was thus a famil-
iar sight on Boise streets in
the Nineties.
Cowboys too sometimes
had to be arrested or run out
of town by the marshal
when they got drunk and
kicked up too much of a
fuss. They had a tendency to .
race their horses at break-
neck speed and fire their pis-
tols into the air — a tendency
the town would not tolerate.
One such buckaroo was
said to have been making
himself "altogether too nu-
merous." Of another, the re-
porter said he was "too
prevalent."
The corner of Eighth and
Main was still the city's
principal intersection in 1890.
The old Overland Hotel,
scene of the arrival and de-
parture of stagecoaches
since 1864, was also the"
scene of a public horse auc-
tars a day on the chain gang,
repairing the city streets.
Those who wouldn't work
were put on a diet of bread
and water until they got
hungry enough to do so. The
chain gang was thus a famil-
iar sight on Boise streets in
the Nineties.
Cowboys too sometimes
had to be arrested or run out
of town by the marshal
when they got drunk and
kicked up too much of a
fuss. They had a tendency to
race their horses at break-
neck speed and fire their pis-
tols into the air — a tendency
the town would not tolerate.
One such buckaroo was
said to have been making
himself "altogether too nu-
merous." Of another, the re-
poiter said he was "too
prevalent."
The corner of Eighth and
Main was still the city's
principal intersection in 1890.
The old Overland Hotel,
scene of the arrival and de-
parture of stagecoaches
since 1864, was also the
scene of a public horse auc-
tion in 1890. A number of
"street fakirs" also held
forth on the corner that fall.
Using showmanship and elo-
quence, they attracted large
crowds.
One had a ventriloquist as
an assistant, and another a
pretty girl. The products dis-
pensed included "nostrums,"
stationery, razors, and pen-
knives.
Ring- tosses at merchan-
dise was also lucrative for
the fakirs, and the whole
busy scene, was augmented
by an organ grinder who
played "Annie Rooney" and
selections from "The Mi-
kado."
Foot races at fifty dollars,
with the visiting "profes-
sional" giving the locals a
head start of three yards,
also separated a lot of Boi-
seans from their money on
the streets that year.
The "pro" always won
easily. "How many were bit-
ten on the foot race yes-
terday?" asked the States-
man next day. For most who
observed the Main street
scene in Boise City in 1890,
however, the entertainment
was free — and infinitely
varied.
The Overland Hotel at Eighth and Main saw an abundance of pioneer action during the Nineties
Horses brought beer to Frank Plentz's Shoshone customers in 1889
Germans cornered market
on, brewery trade in Idaho
Germans, not surprisingly, had a
corner on the brewery trade in
early Idaho. In nearly every com-
munity established in Idaho Terri-
tory there was a demand for this
staple beverage which some enter-
prising immigrant from the father-
land was soon in business to fill.
Leafing through the pages of
early directories we can identify
these men and their establish-
ments. Boise City had a trio of
well -known German brewers.
John Lemp is listed in the 1865
directory as proprietor of the
Boise Brewery, on Main street be-
tween 3rd and 4th streets. He be-
came the city's wealthiest citizen
and its mayor in 1875. Joseph Mis-
seldt and John Broadbeck were
successively proprietors of a brew-
ery near 6th and Main where the
new county building is now under
construction.
An 1889 directory of Idaho Terri-
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart
tory, published on the eve of state-
hood, identifies German brewers
outside the capital, in very small
towns as well as large: Albion's
Brewery was operated by John
Botzett. Henry Spielman held forth
at Bellevue.
Fred Albiez ran the brewery at
Challis — a stone structure now in
process of nomination to the Na-
tional Register, described in these
columns a few weeks ago. Nearby
Clayton, then a thriving place, had
the Koeninger Bros. & Co. Brew-
ery.
At Coeur d'Alene, William A.
Reininger slaked the local thirst
with the produce of his Rathdrum
Branch Brewery. Eagle Rock
Brewery, in the town of Eagle
Rock (now Idaho Falls), was man-
aged by Michael Weimann. Boom-
ing Genesee, only a year old, had 5
saloons and a brewery. The brew-
ers were Joseph Geiger and
Mathew Kambitch. They also ran
one of the saloons.
Von Berg & Schultz were the
brewers at Grangeville in 1889.
Hailey had a brewery and saloon
operated by John Hendel. Since
Hailey was on the railroad, his
local product was in competition
with imported beer.
The Salt Lake City Brewing Co.
maintained an agent in town
named Frank Bourgeois — obvi-
ously not German. Nearby
Ketchum had its own brewery,
named the Milwaukee Steam
Brewery. The proprietor had the
good German name of Robert Koe-
ninger.
Lewiston's brewery was owned
and operated by the Weisgerber
Brothers, Christ and John. They
also ran a saloon — a not uncom-
mon combination. Like John Lemp
in Boise, the Weisgerbers acquired
large real estate holdings. A Main
Street building in Lewiston's his-
toric district still bears their name.
McAuley, the post office for
Wardner Junction in the Coeur
d'Alene mining district, had a
brewery run by John Hermann,
even though the town had only an
estimated 500 people, according to
the 1889 directory. Moscow, with
1200 people, was booming as the
center of a great Palouse farm
area. The Legislature had just es-
tablished the University there. Jo-
seph Niederstadt ran the brewery.
In Payette the German -born
partnership of Jacob Hoffman and
William F. Stirm brewed the local
beer. Little Rathdrum in the north,
with only 250 people, had its Ger-
man brewer. Henry Reininger was
probably related to the William
Reininger who ran the Rathdrum
Branch Brewery at Coeur d'Alene.
Frank Plentz, proprietor of the
Shoshone Brewery, was the only
brewer to run a display ad in the
1889 directory. It is reproduced
here today since it shows so well a
horse -drawn brewery wagon of the
day. At Silver City the brewery
was operated by Fred Grete, and
at Weiser by Syvester Werneth.
Breweries operated by non -Ger-
mans were few. They were located
in Atlanta, Malad City, Soda Spr-
ings, and Wardner.
(Arthur Hart is director of the I
Idaho Historical Society)
Y �1I
In The
Statesman
"THIS IS THE BEST
SCHOOL BUILDING IN THE
STATE OF IDAHO," said T.
D. Cahalan, one of the school
trustees yesterday afternoon
to a reporter as they stood
on the walk in front of the
Washington public school
building in the north end;
and a visit to the school will
serve to convince most any
one that Mr. Cahalan is
quite right. The Washington
school house is not a large
one, there being only four
rooms in It, but it cost $8,000
and every dollar was ex-
pended with a view to the
health and comfort of the
school children.
While the building has but
four rooms, they are large,
and on each floor, extending
the entire width of the build-
ing, is a magnificent drill
room with a toilet and cloak
room. If necessary these
drill rooms could be used for
school rooms until an addi-
tion could be built, for which
Provision was made in the
construction of the original
building.
Besides the Washington
school the Whittier school is
almost barnlike. The latter
is barren and cheerless and
gloomy; the former is bright
as a dollar all the way
through. It is a much better
building in every way than
the Lincoln even. The
Central school building can-
not be compared to it owing
to its overmatching size, but
what there is of the Wash-
ington outshines the Central.
Picturesque characters often matched the picturesque names of Idaho saloons
Idaho saloons — picturesque, colorful
By ARTHUR HART
In 1902 Boise City had an Opera, a
Mint and an Arcade — all saloons.
For the lover of Idaho history who
also loves picturesque and colorful
names, Idaho's saloons have supplied
a rich and entertaining collection.
All three of the 'saloons listed
above were located on Main street.
"Pub - crawlers" of the turn of the
century didn't have to go far to make
the rounds, since there were 12 other
saloons on Main street alone. All
went by the names of their owners
except the Opera, Mint, Arcade,
Idanha, Capitol and the United
States.
The Overland was another famous
saloon, located at 8th and Main in the
Overland House since 1864. Overland
referred to the famous Overland
Road — the route of westward
migration from Oregon Trail days
until the 20th century. The backbar
and other furnishigs of the late 19th
century version of this famous drink-
ing spot are now installed itn he
Idaho Historicla museum.
In 1868, Main Street had saloons
called the Humbolt — named for the
route of the California trail across
Idaho
Yesterdays
Nevada — the Comet and the Rail-
road Car. This last name, suggestive
of the popular diners of the early 20th
century, reflected the building of the
transcontinental railroad — a job
completed May 10, 1869, with the
driving of the golden spike at Prom-
ontory Point in Utah.
. The Chicago was another Boise sa-
loon of the 1860s, and its customers
someties presaged the later gang-
land wars of that city by shooting up
the place. A character calling him-
self "the Montant Chief" demolished
the Chicago saloon in November
1869, leading The Statesman to state
editorially that "the days of Bowie -
knife braggadocio in Boise City have
passed away" and that such actions
should not be tolerated in future.
A list of saloons active in the 1870s
includes such picturesque names as
the Nonpareil, the Mount Hood and
the Crystal. Manuel Fontes, one of
Boise's early -day Mexican business-
men, opened for business at Riggs'
Corner, 7th and Main, in 1871 with the
name New Saloon.
Whenever a discussion of old -time
Boise saloons comes up, someone is
sure to recall James Lawrence's
Naked Truth. The name of the place
was explained by a sign in the bar
room that listed all of the evils of
drink and the horrible consequences
of patronizing the place. Customers
read the sign, nodded solemn and
sometimes tearful agreement, and
went on drinking.
The Bucket of Blood saloon made
the news with some regularity in the
1890s. Whether the name had any-
thing to do with encouraging it or not,
the Bucket of Blood was the scene of
frequent violence. A Statesman re-
porter described a typical evening in
the infamous place in an article of
June 30, 1892, in these lurid words:
"From all the dens in town, blear -
eyed females gathered to dance with
sodden -faced tinhorns. ... The cur-
tains of the den were drawn, but
from the recesses of the place the
screech of the music and the voice of
the caller could be heard.... It was a
'hard' crowd gathered together in a
'tough' place for a wild orgie — and
all on the main street of the capital of
the state of Idaho."
Other well -known saloons of the
'90s with notable names were the
Calumet, the Grotto, the Banquet,
the White House and the Are Light.
The Arc Light was operated by old -
time saloonkeeper Joe Kinney, who
chose the name for his newest place
to reflect the wonder of the age —
electric street lighting.
In 1915, a year before Prohibition
closed all Boise saloons, the city had
31 such places. In addition to several
already named above, there were
The Alcove, Bank Buffet, Bouquet
Bar, Brewery Buffet, Exchange Bar,
Irrigator Bar, Louvre Bar, Midway
Bar, Olympic Saloon, Standard Bar,
and Union Bar. Only the name Bou-
quet was revived with the repeal of
Prohibition in 933, and a new set of
names has come into use since that
time.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Idaho
Yesterdays
German beer breweries
kept ldah,oans supplied
By ARTHUR HART
"Joe Misseldt's beer is
laughing at the approach of
warm weather," wrote The
Idaho Tri- weekly Statesman in
April 1877. "Two Statesman re-
porters tried it yesterday and it
illuminated their diaphragms
with irridescent (sic) scintilla-
tions and rain -bow colored cor-
ruscations. No more water for
Joe and us."
Joe Misseldt was one of the
many Germans in early Idaho
who brewed lager beer. In
fact, there was at least one
German - operated brewery in
just about every mining camp.
Contrary to the popular no-
tion that Idaho's cowboys and
miners were mostly whiskey
drinkers, there is little doubt
that most of them drank beer.
Boise Basin in the 1860s had
several breweries. One
operated by Fischer and May -
denbauer was appropriately
named Miners' Brewery.
In 1867 the Miners' was sold
to John Brodbeck and Louis
Rud. When Joe Misseldt fell
into his well and drowned in
1878, it was Brodbeck who
purchased his Main street
brewery from the widow.
John
Lemp
Misseldt was sorely missed
by The Statesman after his un-
timely demise, since his brew-
ery was next door to the news-
paper's office for many years,
and the popular fat man kept
reporters well supplied with
free beer.
John Lemp was even better
known than Misseldt, and a lot
more successful.
On the same 1877 day the
item quoted above appeared,
The Statesman ran this: "Yes-
terday, after a long walk over
the Park grounds by members
of the Association, it being
quite warm, J.L., the Beer
King of Idaho, was induced to.
take a drink of water.
"The look of disgust with
which he said, `Water will do
very well for irrigating and
mill purposes, but for a drink it
is too thin,' was quite comi-
cal."
John Lemp's brewery was
on the north side of Main street
where the Women's Club is
today.
In July 1868 he built a beer
cellar which must have been
quite a showplace. It was 16-by
42 feet with a vaulted ceiling of
local sandstone 11 feet high.
"The arch is a masterly
piece of workmanship," The
Statesman reported. "
Later that year John Lemp
was chosen first president of
the newly formed Boise Turn-
verein club, a German- Ameri-
can society dedicated to ath-
letic drill, singing in harmony,
and (you guessed it) drinking
John Lemp's beer.
In 1875, Lemp was elected
mayor of Boise. By the turn of
the century he was one of the
city's wealthiest men.
(Arthur Hart is director of
the Idaho Historical Society.)
IDAHO YESTERDAYS
Oldtime Boise Saloon's
Roared with Violence
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
SaI.Ams were the most nu-
merous business estab-
lishments in most Idaho
t o w n s eighty years ago.
There were blocks in some
towns with more saloons
than all other businesses
combined.
This tells us something of
the tastes of the average
Idaho male of those days,
who was often a miner or
former miner, and decidedly
a product of the frontier.
Many Idaho men had come
to this part of the country
looking for gold, after having
already looked for it in Cali-
fornia.
They were used to knock-
ing about in a largely male
society, and to taking care of
themselves, come what
might.
By today's standards, those
so- called good old days were
pretty violent, and the aver-
age saloon saw more than its
share of murder, bloodshed,
and sin.
Alcoholism was common,
and drug addicts could be
found in every community.
There were always those who
got mean and troublesome
after drinking, and since
many of them carried weap-
ons, violence could be ex-
pected.
The Statesman commented
editorially on this problem as
early as 1872, when, it point-
ed out that "Drawing pistols
and knives, whenever a little
misunderstanding occurs, is
and has been too freely in-
dulged in in this city . "
Characters like 'Mogan the
Stiff" were regularly hauled
off to jail to sleep off their
jags, but others somewhere,
nearly every night, needed
the services of a surgeon,
clergyman, or undertaker.
Some saloons, like Boise's
famous "Bucket of Blood" on
�J
6
A
Main street, were notorious
for violence. The "Bucket"
made the news so regularly
... ionn ♦1..,♦ tt. _ mnc on in.
l i q u o r into case - hardened
stomachs.
"It was a "hard" crowd
gathered together in a
"tough" place for a wild
orgie — and all on the main
street of the capital of the
state of Idaho."
Two saloon pictures shown
here today suggest the atmo-
sphere of the average liquor
dispensary of the 1890's. The
interior view is of Al Rou-
let's place in the then bois-
terous railway town of Poca-
tello.
It is from the collection of
the Bannock County Histori-
cal Society. The other shows
Boise's Spider Web Saloon on
Main street between Seventh
and Eighth. Madison Smith,
one of the partners, is the
man in shirt - sleeves.
J a m e s Lawrence, the
s:ff>
other, is in the doorway be-
hind him. The faces and
dress of the motley - looking
crowd assembled for the pho-
tographer offer a cross sec-
tion of middle and lower
class Boise of that time.
A small boy, Chinese labor-
er, and an excessively shab-
by miner can be picked out
in this crowd.
* yt
Al Roulet, bartender and owner, pours a "tall one" in his Pocatello saloon
The Statesman commented
editorially on this Problem as
early as 1872, when it point-
ed out that Drawing pistols
and knives, whenever a little
misunderstanding occurs, I is
and has been too freely in-
dulged in in this city
Characters like '110gan the
Stiff" were regularly hauled
Off to jail to sleep off their
jags, but others somewhere,
nearly every night, needed
the services of a surgeon,
clergyman, or undertaker.
Some saloons, like Boise's
famous 'Bucket of Blood" on
�n
0
l�
_T/
Main street, were notorious
for violence. The Bucket"
made the news so regularly
in 1892 that there was an in-
dignant reaction in favor of
having it closed.
On April 5 it was reported
that "During the past week
there have been a number of
disturbances in the Main
street saloon known as the
Bucket of Blood." On Sun-
day night a number of log-
gers had a desperate "knock-
down- and- drag -out" battle."
On April 26, "A drunken
man became noisy, and some
Of the attendants felt con-
strained to knock him down
and kick him out into the
street. No arrests. , On June
30 followed this lurid descrip-
tion of a night in the in-
famous joint:
a dance B e
last night. From all
the dens in town, blear -eyed
females gathered to dance
with sodden -faced tinhorns,
-ithe revel being participated
fond by some young men whose
thought p the e n t s no doubt
away in bed. Y Were tucked
"The curtains of the den
were drawn, but from the re-
cesses of the place the
screech of the music and the
voice of the caller could be
heard; while ever and' anon
a lull would occur, during
which the crowd would re-
pair to the bar to pour vile
717
xians ran n Ign In vo re on prc
�
-�� \.
\
2
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a.
\
.
xians ran n Ign In vo re on prc
�
Saloons like this one were able to remain open after Boise's vote in 1909
Emotions ran high in vote on prohibition
By ARTHUR HART
"Oh the Drys, They Wipe Their
Eyes" read the Idaho World's head-
line on Sept. 10, 1909.
The pioneer Boise Basin newspa-
per was commenting on a local op
tion election held two days before in
which Ada County voted against pro-
hibition of alcoholic beverages.
Idaho's local option law had been
passed by the 1908 Legislature as
part of a national wave of progres-
sive reforms that included direct pri-
mary elections.
Although there had been strong op-
position to the liquor traffic in Idaho
before, with active temperance
lodges and church groups joining
forces, it was not until 1908 that the
reformers could crack the shell of
the saloon men by putting the issue to
a vote.
Local option allowed the voters in
each Idaho county to decide for
themselves whether they wanted sa-
loons or not — a simple majority de-
ciding the issue.
The Idaho World took a detached
and somewhat amused view of the
Boise and Ada County election after
the wets won by a substantial mar-
Idaho
Yesterdays ,
gin:
"Boise had both of her financial
eyes wide open. During the cam-
paign the winks between drinks were
knowing ones, and the Boiseites
whispered to each other, 'The adjoin-
ing -counties will all go dry and
streams of humanity famishing of
thirst will pour into Boise with their
pockets full of rocks and will stay
right there till the rocks are all left
within the sacred precincts of Boise
the Beautiful.' "
The campaign to decide whether
to close Boise's saloons had been a
fierce one.
Emotions ran so high that some of
the church people in favor of prohibi-
tion were accused of using dirty and
un- Christian tactics to discredit their
opponents.
Both Republican Gov. James Brady
and Democrat leader Moses Alexan-
der backed the "drys" in the local op-
tion election, but the Republican
Statesman backed local' businessmen
who felt that prohibition would upset
the city's prosperity.
In a long editorial on the morning
of the election, The Statesman said,
"Those who are urging the people of
Boise to vote 'dry' are simply urging
them to take a leap into the unknown.
There is positive assurance if their
advice shall be followed that condi-
tions will be seriously disturbed, with
no real reform as a compensation for
the loss the people will suffer.
"Boise is growing nicely. It is forg-
ing to the goal of real city -hood with
great strides. The outlook is bright,
barring interpositioly of some such
plan as the 'drys' propose. Why ex-
periment ?"
One example used by the paper in
its effort to persuade the voters not
to close the saloons was what had
happened when the reformers had
tried to close Boise's notorious red
light district, called Levi's Alley.
When the "alley" was closed, said
The Statesman, "it was hailed by
many well- meaning and sincere re-
formers as eradication of the evil.
But it turned out that it had only
spread over the city.
"There was no prohibition of the
evil. It flourishes today as before, but
away from police surveillance — in
the residence districts and in room-
ing houses. So it will be with relation
to the saloons. 'Blind Pigs' will suc-
ceed them and there will be as much
drinking, and under worse conditions
than now, if not more ...."
Boise voted "wet" by a ratio of 3 to
2, despite an edge for the "drys" of 4
to 3 in the rest of Ada County.
By 8W votes the county stayed
"wet" while her neighbors went
.'dry ,
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
.. . ... ,
..» � .
Al wo
o wt
� >
:.�..�. .
OF
Ab I rAft :
zs.y�S 5;
Whiskey bought votes in early Idaho elections at such places as the above saloon
Whiskey decided many an election
By ARTHUR HART
Idahoans who think that they have
just lived through a fiercely con-
tested political campaign can gain
some useful perspective by looking
at some earlier ones.
In the so- called "good -old days,"
elections were often conducted in a
manner that would be unthinkable
now. Voters were bribed and bullied,
coddled and cajoled. Subtlety was al-
most unknown in the election tactics
of territorial days, and rival newspa-
per editors set the tone.
James S. Reynolds, editor of the
Idaho Trl- weekly Statesman (and a
Republican), called correspondent
P.J. Malone of the Democratic Idaho
World "a crawling and loathed rep-
tile." He called James O'Neara, edi-
tor of the paper "more of a sickly,
1
Idaho
Yesterdays
half- crazed object of pity than of con-
tempt."
A later Statesman editor, Milton
Kelly, wrote of another article in the
World that it was "a senseless dia-
tribe," and "a nonsensical effusion of
ravings" that sprang from a "foul
brain."
Insults like these were bandied
back and forth freely, but only rarely
led to physical violence between edi-
tors. Libel suits, amply justified
under today's laws, were unheard of.
When Idaho became a state in
1890, its new laws closed saloons on
Election Day. Before that, liquor was
prominent at all elections. In 1874, a
correspondent to The Statesman
from Weiser valley, who styled him-
self "Juneus Jinks," wrote the fol-
lowing account:
"Now that the election is over and
someone is elected and someone else
is disappointed, and all is quiet on the
Weiser, and all of the bad whiskey is
gone that the candidates shipped
down here to contaminate the ballot
box, I am prepared to write a few
lines to you. It is a lamentable fact
that there was gallons of whiskey
sent to this part of the country to con-
trol the election."
The writer rebuked anyone who
was so shameless that he would "try
to bribe his fellow countrymen by
sending such abdominable stuff to
control his election."
He urged 'every freeman who has
the bravery of a man about him" to
repudiate such tactics by voting
against the scoundrels to teach them
the lesson that "ballots are as mighty
as the sword in putting down those
who would ruin good government."
Gambling on elections was also
common. Even after statehood, The
Statesman could report in 1898 that a
number of prominent Boiseans had
placed bets in excess of $1,000 on
their favorite candidates.
An election abuse that is widely
charged, but hard to document, is
that political bosses voted names off
of tombstones. It is certain that
many men voted in early Idaho elec-
tions who were not legally qualified
to do so, whether any dead ones did
or not.
Election fraud was rampant in
June 1870, when 248 percent of all, "le -
gaily qualified" electors voted, set-
ting an Idaho record for voter turn-
out.
The situation had probably im-
proved by 1889, but the Wood River
News -Miner could still write of that
year's election that "anything wear-
ing hide, hair, feathers or hoofs could
vote."
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
v.
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director
Idaho Historical Museum
Juvenile delinquency is a
subject of considerable con-
cern among the people of
any community. It is human
nature to feel that things are
getting worse in this regard
all the time, and it is some-
times instructive, if not reas-
suring, to look back to the
"good old days," to see that
many of our concerns have
been around a long time.
Boise's boys were appar-
ently more inclined to form
gangs of mischief - makers in
the old days than thdy are
today, judging by the num-
ber of complaints that ap-
peared in the newspapers.
Although some of this mis-
chief can no doubt be dis-
counted as pranks and natu-
ral exuberance on the part
of the young, some of it was
more serious.
In February, 1877, when
Boise held a firemen's ball
to raise money for a new fire
engine, the city turned out in
force. While applauding this
public support for a worthy
cause, The Statesman was
less happy about the number
of youngsters who should
have been home in bed.
"There were just one dozen
too many young Americans
around the door of Good
Templar Hall the night of
the party," complained the
editor.
In 1894, when the city was
in the midst of a wave of re-
form sentiment, consid-
erable concern was ex-
pressed about-the potential
harm to the young who
Just a year later, in Janu-
ary, 1900, a nearly identical
attempt was made on the
Cannon Ball train between
Boise and Huntington. The
theory was that some boys
planned to rob the train, al-
though that time there were
no captures. How many of
the boys had seen the pio-
neer motion picture "The
Great Train Robbery," we
wonder? It reminds us of our
present -day concern about
violence on television.
In 1904, The Statesman of-
fered another interesting
glimpse into juvenile prob-
lems of the day when it
wrote that "a considerable
number of young men are
accustomed to loafing about
the streets until such a late
hour that they are ashamed
to go home, and then sleep
in saloons the remainder of
the night. This practice has
been strictly forbidden by
the police, and the saloon-
keepers are cooperating with
the officers in an attempt to
keep the boys from devel-
oping into professional
bums. "
might be exposed to the ac-
tivities in Boise's red light
district. It was stated in so
many words that children
should never even see places
like Levy's Alley, let alone
ever walk through it. News-
paper and other delivery
boys did it regularly, of
course.
"Citizens are annoyed by
gangs of boys who break into
yards and steal fruit, break-
ing the trees and tramping
down flowers," wrote the pa-
per in August of 1894. "The
police will round up the
pests at the first opportuni-
ty." A few days later, a cur-
few was announced: "After
tonight, all boys under 16
years of age who are found
on the streets after 8 o'clock
in the evening will be ar-
rested."
There was further demand
for a strict law to control
delinquents in 1898, when
some "youthful miscreants"
derailed a locomotive in the
Boise yards on Front street
by pulling a switch. Railroad
employes complained that
the boys seemed completely
indifferent to warning_ s or
threats. In January, 1899,
three boys attempted to de-
rail the Oregon Short Line
pay car 6t /z miles west of
Mountain Home by wrapping
a logging chain around a
rail.. A section crew with a
hand car discovered the
chain and found the boys
hiding in the willows nearby.
p 2 �2-
IDAHO YESTERDAYS
Ferry Boats Traversed
Snakeat Many Places
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director
Idaho Historical Museum
Riding ferry boats across
Idaho's rivers was once a
commonplace experience for
travelers. There were ferries
on most of the principal roads
that crossed the big streams,
operated as were the roads
themselves for toll.
An unusual thing about the
ferries was that they operated
on such a simple principle
that the design remained vir-
tually unchanged for over
fifty years. Automobiles were
still crossing our rivers in
1920 on boats nearly identical
to those in operation in 1865.
There didn't have to be
changes in powering the ferry
boats, because the river cur-
rent did the work just as ef-
ficiently in the gasoline- engine
era as it had in horse and
buggy days. All that was
needed was a fixed cable
across the river, securely an-
chofed at the ends, a boat or
raft' with a fixed platform V
it, and a block and tackle ar-
rangement for adjusting the
angle of the ferry to the cur-
rent.
Pulleys attached to ropes at
each end of the boat rode
along the main cable as the
river pushed the boat across.
By having the front ropes
snubbed up short, and the
rear ropes let out long, the
operator could roll back and
forth across the river all day,
reversing direction by the
few turns of the wheel needed
to adjust the rope lengths.
A photograph of the Home -
dale Ferry, halfway across
the Snake River on its way to
the Canyon County side, iilus>
trates clearly how the boat
was angled to the current.
This ferry was replaced by a
new highway bridge in 1920,
as were a number of others at
about the same time, in-
cluding the famous Walters
Ferry on the road between
Boise and the Owyhee mining
!i
i
-L-
country: This ferry operated
from 1863, under a number of
owners, and was one of the
best -known and busiest in
Idaho.
The Henderson Ferry, south
of Caldwell on the Snake
River, was also operating in
the Sixties. Our early photo-
graph shows it in the Nineties
ferry could be towed back up-
stream such a distance, and
Emmett was without service
until the water level finally
went down.
Perhaps the most exciting
ferry ride taken in Idaho hap-
pened in the spring of 1907.
State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Belle Chamberlain
and State Librarian Louise
Johnson were crossing on the
Snake River ferry near the
new town of Twin Falls when
the ferry cable snapped, send-
ing the boat drifting help-
lessly downstream — right to-
ward the brink of Shoshone
Falls! "The man in charge of
the ferry boat was in-
experienced and lost his
head . " accused the States-
man, but lauded the coolness
and courage of two men
aboard who got thhe boat
ashore by capturing one of the
parted cable ends and hauling
it in before all went to their
deaths.
country. This ferry operated
from 1863, under a number of
owners, and was one of the
best -known and busiest in
Idaho.
The Henderson Ferry, south
of Caldwell on the Snake
River, was also operating in
the Sixties. Our early photo-
graph shows it in the Nineties
with a team and wagon about
to come ashore as three well -
dressed women sit in the
shade of a gravel bank.
T h e Eagle Rock ferry,
named for a rock in the river
where eagles nested, was six
or eight, miles above Idaho
Falls. It was another impor-
tant crossing of the Snake
River in the early Sixties, and
between that point and the en-
trance to Hells Canyon, 400
miles below, there operated
more than forty of the "en-
gineless" ferries through the
,years. Since bridges were be-
yond the engineering and eco-
nomic capacity of the average
small operator, the Snake re-
mained unspanned throughout
most of its length until the
Twentieth Century. J. Matt
Taylor's Eagle Rock bridge of
1865 was an exception, made
possible by the extremely nar-
row stretch of river where he
built it.
During flood season, there
were frequent cases of ferries
breaking loose and drifting
downstream. This was incon-
venient, but usually not too
serious. In the spring of 1882,
f o r example the Owyhee
ferry, later known as Walters
Ferry, drifted away. A few
weeks later the ferry at Em-
mett also broke loose and
floated two miles down the
Payette. With the river in
flood, there was no way the
�� v e r s p o k e a t l " E g g D
���� - �� s t a r v a t i o n a f t e r t h e d i s l o c a t i o n s o f u s e o f a n a m p
Hoover spoke at 1926 "Egg Dayl
There was great excitement in
Caldwell on Aug. 17, 1926. Thou-
sands of people from all over Boise
Valley crowded into town to hear a
distinguished group' of visiting
speakers on "Egg Day," the fourth
annual celebration of the state's
poultrymen.
Herbert Hoover was the fea-
tured•attraction at the 1926 festivi-
ties.-
starvation after the dislocations of
World War I, Hoover had been ap-
pointed secretary of Commerce by
President Calvin Coolidge.
Two years later Hoover would
himself be elected to the presi-
dency.
Most Boiseans had to travel to
Caldwell if they wanted to see the
man who would be their next chief
executive, since his sleeping car
had been quietly disconnected
from the Portland Limited at 1
a.m. and left on a Boise sidetrack
until a delegation of Idaho leaders
greeted him at 7:30 a.m.
Gov. C.C. Moore, Sen. William
E. Borah, Republican National
Committeeman John Thomas of
Gooding, and J.H. Lowell of Cald-
well were in the group that es-
corted Hoover to the Warm
Springs Avenue home of Max May-
field for breakfast.
Mayfield was a prominent Re-
publican and Boise businessman
who had served in the Hoover
Food Administration during the
war as a "dollar -a -year- man."
After breakfast, Gov. Moore
drove the party to Caldwell for
Egg Day. A review stand had been
set up in front of the Odd Fellows
temple from which Hoover, Borah
and Moore watched the Egg Day
parade. Floats "glorifying the
magnitude of the growing poultry
industry of Idaho and publishing
the prowess of the hen" rolled
slowly past the famous visitors.
The speeches were delivered in
Caldwell's Memorial Park. From a
bunting- and -flag- draped platform,
Hoover and Borah spoke to several
thousand people.
An innovation for Idaho was the
use of an amplification system,
which made it possible for every-
one in the crowd to hear clearly
what was said into a big old- fashi-
oned microphone.
Hoover told Idahoans that he
was convinced that America was
building "a new society and a new
civilization," and that Americans,
had long since left behind Euro-
pean ideas of right and wrong. He
said that despite the economic and
other problems created by the
war, America was better off than
before the war. Idaho poultrymen
were praised for "working out
their own salvation without implor-
ing the central government to cure
all the ills."
Borah also took up the cudgel
against what was'perceived, even
in 1926, as the evil of big govern-
ment: "If some of the officehold-
ers, and some of the would -be offi-
ceholders, had their way, not a hen
in Canyon County would be permit-
ted to cackle without the consent
of some clerk in a bureau back in
Washington."
Idahoans loved it, and this home-
spun humor contributed to an over-
whelming majority for Hoover in
1928.
Not until the disaster of Wall
Street in 1929, and the Great De-
pression that followed did Ida -
hoans decide that there were some
economic problems that required
more government intervention and
direct action.
In 1932, the people of Idaho voted
against Herbert Hoover by a sub -
stantial majority, paving the way
for Franklin Roosevelt's New
Deal.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart'
Internationally known
for his
work in administering
food pro-
grams to alleviate the
threat of
starvation after the dislocations of
World War I, Hoover had been ap-
pointed secretary of Commerce by
President Calvin Coolidge.
Two years later Hoover would
himself be elected to the presi-
dency.
Most Boiseans had to travel to
Caldwell if they wanted to see the
man who would be their next chief
executive, since his sleeping car
had been quietly disconnected
from the Portland Limited at 1
a.m. and left on a Boise sidetrack
until a delegation of Idaho leaders
greeted him at 7:30 a.m.
Gov. C.C. Moore, Sen. William
E. Borah, Republican National
Committeeman John Thomas of
Gooding, and J.H. Lowell of Cald-
well were in the group that es-
corted Hoover to the Warm
Springs Avenue home of Max May-
field for breakfast.
Mayfield was a prominent Re-
publican and Boise businessman
who had served in the Hoover
Food Administration during the
war as a "dollar -a -year- man."
After breakfast, Gov. Moore
drove the party to Caldwell for
Egg Day. A review stand had been
set up in front of the Odd Fellows
temple from which Hoover, Borah
and Moore watched the Egg Day
parade. Floats "glorifying the
magnitude of the growing poultry
industry of Idaho and publishing
the prowess of the hen" rolled
slowly past the famous visitors.
The speeches were delivered in
Caldwell's Memorial Park. From a
bunting- and -flag- draped platform,
Hoover and Borah spoke to several
thousand people.
An innovation for Idaho was the
use of an amplification system,
which made it possible for every-
one in the crowd to hear clearly
what was said into a big old- fashi-
oned microphone.
Hoover told Idahoans that he
was convinced that America was
building "a new society and a new
civilization," and that Americans,
had long since left behind Euro-
pean ideas of right and wrong. He
said that despite the economic and
other problems created by the
war, America was better off than
before the war. Idaho poultrymen
were praised for "working out
their own salvation without implor-
ing the central government to cure
all the ills."
Borah also took up the cudgel
against what was'perceived, even
in 1926, as the evil of big govern-
ment: "If some of the officehold-
ers, and some of the would -be offi-
ceholders, had their way, not a hen
in Canyon County would be permit-
ted to cackle without the consent
of some clerk in a bureau back in
Washington."
Idahoans loved it, and this home-
spun humor contributed to an over-
whelming majority for Hoover in
1928.
Not until the disaster of Wall
Street in 1929, and the Great De-
pression that followed did Ida -
hoans decide that there were some
economic problems that required
more government intervention and
direct action.
In 1932, the people of Idaho voted
against Herbert Hoover by a sub -
stantial majority, paving the way
for Franklin Roosevelt's New
Deal.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Boiseans influenced
in planning streets
by European ideas
By ARTHUR HART
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893
had a far - reaching effect on the ap-
pearance of American cities. Its in-
fluence soon extended to Boise,
subtly altering the city's plan in favor
of a neo-classical approach to space.
When a group of men gathered in
Tom Davis' log cabin on July 7, 1863,
to plat a new townsite, they were
content to lay out a standard Ameri-
can grid system of streets parallel to
each other.
The original plat showed 10 blocks
divided by Main Street, crossed by
numbered streets starting with 5th
on the east and extending to 10th on
the west.
Because it led to the just- estab-
lished military post of Fort Boise, 6th
Street was labeled "Garrison Street"
on this first map.
The grid plan was still rigidly fol-
lowed in the enlarged plat of the city
adopted in 1867 when Boise patented
its townsite. There were 136 num-
bered blocks established by this plan,
with a "capitol square" set aside in
the area bounded by State, Jefferson,
6th and 8th streets.
When a capitol was eventually
built on this space in 1885 -86, there
was so little concern for classical
planning that the medieval -style Ro-
manesque structure was placed on
the eastern half of the square rather
than at its center. A schoolhouse had
been put up on the western end of the
square a few years earlier.
The opportunity to provide a view
of the capitol from 7th street was ig-
nored. Not until 1905, when a new
capitol in the formal classic style
was begun, did planners choose to
site it with the long vista 7th Street
provided.
Idaho
Yesterdays '
The national capitol, on which
Idaho's is based, had been provided
with a formal European -style setting
in Major Pierre L'Enfant's 1792 plan
for Washington, D.C. Long radiating
vistas extended from the Capitol and
the White House, with open circles
and squares at a number of major in-
tersections. I n
Frenchman L'Enfant, who had
served under Washington during the
Revolution, naturally followed the
Baroque spatial concepts popular in
Europe since the late 16th century.
Symmetrical balance and sweep-
ing vistas were the rule in the plan-
ning at Versailles, Paris, Vienna and
Rome, where the new system had
often been imposed upon medieval
cities.
Harrison Boulevard was Boise's
first major thoroughfare to have a
park -like median strip. It dates from
the mid- 1890s, and echoed the new
taste for formal landscape planning
begun at Chicago in 1893.
Even after Idaho's capitol was
completed in 1920, with its dome and
portico centered on 7th street, there
was no Capitol Boulevard.
It was the building of a new depot
on the Bench to the south in 1925 that
afforded the opportunity to create a
dramatic approach to the city in the
new style. New York architects Car -
rere and Hastings, who designed the
I
Plan for Capitol Boulevard called for'broad vistas
depot, both were French - trained pro- Union Pacific in 1924 when the new
ponents of ne(>-classicism. depot was nearing completion. '
Their plan for Capitol Boulevard is (Arthur Hart is director of the
shown today, as it was published by Idaho Historical Society.)
-i�kw)01
20 THE IDAHO SUNDAY STATESMAN, JULY 26, IN4
SCENE OF BLUE SEDAN (above)
parked beside a tent -house on the
shores of Payette Lakes was painted
in the 20's by Ethel Fowler, a nos-
talgic portrayal of the era when
autos were changing Idaho's way of
life and McCall was a new -found
resort town. Street cars, early auto
and dust (right) mingle in this
1919 scene near the Boise Fair-
grounds. Interurban street car
lines covered Boise Valley streets;
the depot was at Seventh and Ban-
nock, car barns were on Rossi.
THE FIRST WHEELS wobbled
through here 128 years ago.
They had been yellow when they
started from "back east" with the
Spalding - Whitman missionary party
. on a Dearborn wagon stripped
of its bed and pulled by two horses.
Before t h a t, transportation in
these parts had been in the nature
of the Indian three -pole travois,
dragged by squaw or dog or horse.
By 1844, prairie schooners began
carving the ruts of the Oregon Trail,
but it was to be another 20 years
before the gold boom up in Boise
Basin started transportation lines
that were to become Boise's life-
blood.
As trails grew wider, wagons be -'
gan freighting supplies from the
railroad at Kelton, Utah, through
Boise and up to the mines. Wells
Fargo carried out the bullion under
armed guard. Ben Holiday, the
"stagecoach king," advertised "15
days to Atchison, Kan., for $300."
Some of our first roads were ac-
tually built by oxen. It took them
three days to freight supplies from
Boise to Mountain Home, a distance
you can fly nowadays in a jet almost
as fast as you can read this.
When the Oregon Short Line final-
ly laid a track across southern Ida-
ho's sagebrush, we were still in a
horse - and -buggy era and the auto
that was to be the most far - reaching
development in Boise's first hundred
years, was still a toy, an evil - smelling
contraption that wouldn't stop on a
"whoa." "Get a horse" was the for-
gotten slang phrase of the day.
The first car in Boise was a two -
cylinder, air - cooled Loomis, brought
Boise's Oldest Park, Julia Davis, Gives Benel
(Editor's Note: This is the first
in a two-part series dealins with
Boise's Julia Davis Park — its
benefits, facilities and traditions.)
By STEVE GUERBER
Statesman Staff Writer
There is no tangible way to
measure the value of a park,
but Boise's Julia Davis Park
is an excellent example . of
public acreage which pro-
vides a wealth of benefits for
an entire community.
With its many large, ma-
ture, shade trees and recrea-
tional cultural and education-
al facilities, it is perhaps the
outstanding city park in the
state of Idaho. The oldest
park in Boise, it is rich in
tradition.
The initial tract was dedi-
cated over 60 years ago — in
1907 — thus dates back al-
most to the pioneer era of
the city and of the state. The
land was donated by a local
citizen, Thomas Davis, in
memory of his late wife,
Julia.
A g e n e r a l development
plan was prepared by a
Portland landscape architect,
Arthur L. Park, in 1912.
Much of the early grading
* * *
was done with horse and
fresno and over the years
the development of the park
has followed the basic plan
very closely insofar as the
street pattern is concerned.
Despite the inroads of mod-
ern civilization, including the
automobile, and in spite of
the ever more intensive use
that it receives, Julia Davis
Park retains something of
the atmosphere of the early
1900's.
"The abundance of large
trees contributes a great deal
to this effect," notes Gordon
Bowen, superintendent of the
Boise City Park Department.
"Many service organizations
as- well as individuals con-
tributed trees to the site and
a number of these are now
over 50 years old."
It is Bowen who points out
that the original park plan
included a proposed devel-
opment for a similar area on
the south side of the Boise
River.
"Had this plan been car-
ried out with respect to the
s o u t h bank, the modern
Green Belt program would
* * *
have been vastly aug-
mented," the park superin-
tendent adds.
On the other hand, Boise
State College might never
have been built at its present
location.
The area was first devel-
oped into an airport and
then, in 1940 when it became
apparent that there just
wasn't enough room between
Broadway and Capitol Boule-
vard to land the larger
p l a n e s, the airport was
moved to its present loca-
tion," Bowen states. "It was
then that Boise donated the
110 -acre tract to the infant
agency which was to become
Boise Junior College."
Overall, the most popular
activity in the park, year -in
and year -out, is picnicking.
Park use studies have been
conducted yearly since 1960
and indicate that the princi-
pal activity of between 25
and 35 per cent of all vis-
itors is picnicking and sim-
ilar "quiet" activities. The
presence of over 1,000 ma-
ture trees is credited in no
small way as being a major
*
factor in this situation.
According to Bowen, peri-
odic surveys have indicated
attendance at the park
reaches nearly one million
persons each year. Of these,
about 25 per cent are from
outside Ada County and at
least 15 per cent are from
outside the state. The park,
therefore, can be credited
with contribpting substantial-
ly to the commercial interest
of the community.
"People have a tendency to
stay longer in Julia Davis
Park than most of our other
parks — again due mainly to
the trees," Bowen says. "We
have nearly reached a satu-
ration point attendance -wise
several times at the park,
but we expect this picture to
change-as the trees begin to
mature at Ann Morrison Me-
morial Park."
Julia Davis Park is only
one of some 36 neighborhood,
community, and regional or
major parks and mis-
cellaneous areas maintained
by the Boise City Park De-
partment.
"In addition to parks such
* * it
��: , . t . :
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��e n e f i i t o C o m m u n i t y f o r O v e r S i x t y Y e a r s
a s J u l i a D v i s a n d A n n M o r -
p e r i - r i s o n , w e n u s t m a i n t a i n a l l
a t e d t h e h i g h w y r i g h t s o f w a y
p a r k a n d o t h e r b i t s a n d p i e c e s
I l i o n w h i c h m u t b e m o w e d a n d
e s e , k e p t u p , " t h e p a r k s u p e r i n -
r o m t e n d e n t s a s . " T h i s a d d s u p
a t t o s o m e w i e r e a r o u n d 8 6 0
r o m a c r e s o f l a i d . "
a r k , A c c o r d i n g t o B o w e n , o n e o f
i t e d t h e b i g g e s t p r o b l e m s e n c o u n -
t i a l - t e r e d b y t i e d e p a r t m e n t c o n -
r e s t s i s t s o f i n d i v i d u a l g r o u p s
w h i c h w a i t s e c t i o n s o f a
t o p a r k p a r t i c u l a r l y J u l i a
a v i s D a v i s P a r d s e t a s i d e f o r
h e r t h e i r o w n u s e .
t o
` W e " A s p u b l i c p a r k s , t h i s l a n d
t u - j u s t c a n n o t b e d i v i d e d u p
i s e a m o n g d i f f e r e n t g r o u p s o r
r k , w e s o o n w u I d h a v e n o t h i n g
t o l e f t f o r t h g e n e r a l p u b l i c , "
t o h e s t a t e s .
e - I n 1 9 6 5 , ��s . a c o m m u n i t y
s e r v i c e , G i S c o u t s o f t h e
S i l v e r S a g e ' C o u n c i l c r e a t e d a
m y " t r e e t r a i l " i n J u l i a D a v i s
P a r k b y f u r n i s h i n g b r o n z e
o r p l a q u e s i d e n t i f y i n g 3 0 d i f f e r -
i s - e n t s p e c i e s o f t r e e s . T h e
e d p l a q u e s w e r e s e t i n c o n c r e t e
e - f o u n d a t i o n s a n d a r e f o u n d a t
t h e b a s e o f e a c h t r e e . A s i m -
i c h i l a r p r o j e c t w a s p e r f o r m e d i n
A n n M o r r i s o n P a r k w i t h 3 0
d i f f e r e n t s p e c i e s .
" T h e v a l u e o f t r e e s f o r
s h a d e a n d f o r m o d e r a t i n g
t e m p e r a t u r e s a n d t h e e l e -
m e n t s h a s l o n g b e e n r e c o g -
n i z e d , " p o i n t s o u t B o w e n .
" B u t o n l y r e c e n t l y h a v e w e
b e g u n t o l e a r n t h e v a l u e o f
t r e e s i n c o u n t e r i n g a i r p o l l u -
t i o n . "
A C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y e c o -
l o g i s t r e c e n t l y n o t e d t h a t ,
l a r g e l y a s a r e s u l t o f i n d u s -
t r i a l d e m a n d s , t h e U n i t e d
S t a t e s i s n o w p r o d u c i n g a
l i t t l e l e s s t h a n 6 0 p e r c e n t o f
t h e o x y g e n i t s u s e s e a c h
y e a r . I t w a s f u r t h e r p o i n t e d
o u t t h a t , w h e r e a s a n a c r e ' o f
o p e n g r e e n l a n d p r o d u c e s
a b o u t 2 , 5 0 0 p o u n d s o f o x y g e n
e a c h y e a r , a d e c i d u o u s f o r e s t
p r o d u c e s a b o u t o n e t h o u s a n d
t i m e s a s m u c h o r 2 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0
p o u n d s o f o x y g e n p e r y e a r .
A c c o r d i n g t o t h e e c o l o g i s t
t h e a v e r a g e p e r s o n c o n s u m e s
a b o u t 1 , 0 0 0 p o u n d s o f o x y g e n
p e r y e a r a n d , t h e r e f o r e , a n
a c r e o f f o r e s t s u p p l i e s t h e
y e a r l y n e e d s o f 2 , 5 0 0 p e o p l e .
" A t l e a s t 5 0 p e r c e n t o f
J u l i a D a v i s ' 8 6 a c r e s i s w e l l
c o v e r e d w i t h t r e e s , " B o w e n
s t a t e s , " s o i t c o u l d b e a s -
s u m e d t o s u p p l y t h e n e e d s o f
a r o u n d 9 7 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e n o t
t a k i n g i n t o a c c o u n t , o f
c o u r s e , i n d u s t r i a l c o n -
s u m p t i o n i n t h e c o m m u n i t y . "
T h e v a l u e o f t h e t r e e s i n
J u l i a D a v i s P a r k t o t h e c o m -
m u n i t y h a s a l w a y s b e e n c o n -
s i d e r e d f r o m t h e a e s t h e t i c o r
c o m f o r t s t a n d p o i n t , b u t p e r -
h a p s t h e y m a y s o m e d a y
P r o v e t o b e a n e c e s s i t y i n
o u r m o d e r n c i v i l i z a t i o n .
N E X T : T h e p a r k ' s t r a d i -
t i o n a n d f a c i l i t i e s .
L A R G E , M A T U R E , s h a d e
t r e e s , c o v e r a b o u t 5 0 p e r
c e n t o f J u l i a D a v i s P a r k ' s 8 6
a c r e s a n d p r o v i d e a m a g n e t -
i c a t t r a c t i o n f o r a r e a v i s i t o r s
a n d r e s i d e n t s p a r t i c u l a r l y
o n h o t s u m m e r d a y s . M a n y
o f t h e t r e e s a r e o v e r 5 0
y e a r s o l d a n d h o v e r o v e r
n e a r l y o n e m i l l i o n v i s i t o r s
d u r i n g a o n e - y e a r p e r i o d .
( S t a t e s m a n p h o t o s b y D a v i d
R . F r a z i e r )
PAGE 10 THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, January 20, 1975
Man'WVV ho Saw Boise'Mature Won't Predict Future
By A.W. "AL" DAWSON
Oral History Coordinator
Idaho Bicentennial
Commission
At age 81, Boise native
Barr Neff Smith Sr. remem-
bers a lot of the city's his-
tory.
He's lived quite a bit of it
himself, but his "memory"
goes far beyond his own ex-
periences.
Smith, son of an early pio-
neer family in the valley, is
a historian.
His father was already
making history in 1863 when,
on July 27, Maj. Pinkney Lu-
genbeel, commander of the
newly established Fort
Boise, wrote to his superiors
in Washington:
"They have laid out a
townsite in the valley and
have called it Boise."
That same year, the first
school was opened. The first
teacher was Franklin Brene-
man Smith, Barr Neff
Smith's father.
But the present Boise resi-
dent has only faint recollec-
tions of his father, who died
in 1894 of injuries suffered in
a farm accident. Barr Neff
was only 15 months old at
the time.
But his memory of much
of the rest of his life is clear,
and family records — as well
as historical data he has col-
lected — add to that memo-
ry.
Barr Neff Smith was born
March 23, 1893, in a farm
house on a site which since
has been taken into the city.
Family records show that
when his father became
Boise's first teacher, the
fledgling city's first school
was established "in a log
cabin at the present side of
Idaho and Seventh streets."
Further facts are gleaned
private institutions of learn-
ing. The newspaper story
boasted, "They teach every-
thing from dancing to
French."
Boise was described in
that same year by the Tri-
Weekly Statesman as, "a
bustling little town of 300
people."
The public school system
had its start one year later,
after the creation of Ada
County. At a meeting Feb.
27, 1865; J. B. Knight, who
had just been appointed first
superintendent of schools,
made this statement: "The
population of the district has
reached a number that de-
mands a thorough school
system, and measures ought
to be taken immediately."
Those "measures" were
taken in April of that year
when the first public school
was opened in a building ad-
jacent to where the state
capitol now stands. The first
venture was doomed to fail-
ure. After operating only
nine months, it was an-
nounced, "No funds avail-
able for operation of a dis-
trict school."
After many years of futile
efforts to re- establish a pub-
lic educational system; an
act of the legislature in Feb-
ruary, 1881, created the
Boise Independent School
District. A short time later,
the first Central School was
built in the area where the
west wing of the present
Capitol stands.
In recounting other in-
cidents in Boise history,
Barr Neff Smith points to
records he has scrupulously
kept through the years, and
then fills in with his own
personal experiences. The
original Smith farm com-
prised 640 acres, of which
approximately 400 acres
EARLY HOME — Boise's first educator lived in this house. It was here
that Franklin Breneman Smith died and where his two sons were born.
At the completion of serv-
ice, young Smith returned to
Salt Lake City, where in
April of 1917, he married El-
sie Garrard, his boyhood
sweetheart. One year later,
the couple moved to Boise
where Smith started his
business career that has
spanned more than 57 years.
As a pioneer real estate
operator, Barr Smith has lit-
erally helped build Boise for
more than half a century,
with many subdivisions
credited to him and his com-
pany.
He is one of the few re-
maining charter members of
the Idaho Realty Board, one-
time president of the organ-
ization, and in the 1950s was
honored by the National As-
sociation of Realtors as a
"Distinguished Citizen."
The still- active Boisean re-
lated many memories of
early -day life in and around
the city. He has made a hob-
by of collecting information
concerning the history of the
community. Old clippings
tell about the construction of
the Idaho Capitol in 1905,
'with incidents up to its
completion in 1920. This pio-
neer has researched and
written articles about such
events as the completion of
the New York Canal in 1910,
and final construction of
Arrowhead Dam in 1915.
He recalls the local ex-
citement in 1920 when the
main line of the Union Pacif-
ic was extended through
Boise.
There also are recollec-
tions of early day characters
living in Boise. There was a
half breed Indian, his name
is not remembered, but
Smith recalls, "He was over
six foot tall, and bowlegged
from riding saddle horses.
He knew all the roads, trails,
water holes in the area."
was only 15 months old at
the time.
But his memory of much
of the rest of his life is clear,
and family records — as well
as historical data he has col-
lected — add to that memo-
ry.
Barr Neff Smith was born
March 23, 1893, in a farm
house on a site which since
has been taken into the city.
Family records show that
when his father became
Boise's first teacher, the
fledgling city's first school
was established "in a log
cabin at the present side of
Idaho and Seventh streets."
Further facts are gleaned
from an 1864 Idaho States-
man account, revealing the
first school was, and subse-
quently other schools were,
After many years of futile
efforts to re- establish a pub-
lic educational system; an
act of the legislature in Feb-
ruary, 1881, created the
Boise Independent School
District. A short time later,
the first Central School was
built in the area where the
west wing of the present
Capitol stands.
In recounting other in-
cidents in Boise history,
Barr Neff Smith points to
records he has scrupulously
kept through the years, and
then fills in with his own
personal experiences. The
original Smith farm com-
prised 640 acres, of which
approximately 400 acres
were north of the Hill Road
area, the balance extending
east to Harrison Boulevard.
After Franklin Breneman
EARLY NOME — Boise's first educator lived in this house. It was here
that Franklin Breneman Smith died and where his two sons were born.
Smith died, his widow leased
out the farm and moved
with her two sons, Barr Neff
PIONEER FAMILY — Boise's first school teacher, Franklin Breneman
Smith, was also an official and one of the founders of the Boise Canal Co.
Also shown are his wife, Martha Anne, and one of their two sons, Franklin
Breneman Smith Jr., who passed away several years ago.
and his older brother Frank-
lin Breneman Jr., to San
Francisco. Then, around
1900, the family moved to
Salt Lake City. Several
years after graduation from
high school, Barr Neff left
for Europe on an LDS mis-
sion. He was in Holland in
1915 when the prelude to
what would be World War I
started.
Americans were urged to
leave the country. However,
upon embarking from Eng-
land, young Smith con-
tracted pneumonia, and got
worse on the boat trip home.
Arriving in New York, he
was placed on the critical
list with his life hanging in
the balance. After the crisis
was over, and two months
recuperation in a hospital,
Barr was discharged, and
once again fulfil a his mis-
sionary work, this time in
the U.S.
neer has researchedv and
written articles about such
events as the completion of
the New York Canal in 1910,
and final construction of
Arrowhead Dam in 1915.
He recalls the local ex-
citement in 1920 when the
main line of the Union Pacif-
ic was extended through
Boise.
There also are recollec-
tions of early day characters
living in Boise. There was a
half breed Indian, his name
is not remembered, but
Smith recalls, "He was over
six foot tall, and bowlegged
from riding saddle horses.
He knew all the roads, trails,
water holes in the area."
Other colorful individuals
included, "Uncle" Jess Haw-
ley, stage coach driver be-
tween Boise and Idaho City;
Evan Pinkam, politician and
rancher; Frank Dobson, cat-
tleman; Andy Little, sheep -
man; Crawford Moore,
banker, Harry Morrison of
Morrison - Knudsen, construc-
tion.
But this man who has tak-
en an active part in the
building of Boise for over
half a century and witnessed
its growth refused to predict
the future of the community.
"There are too many un-
known factors," Smith ex-
plained. "These are troubled
times,,and no one knows for
sure the outcome."
Beside Snake River
Homedale Offers
Tranquil Lifestyle
By THOMAS LEWIS
The Idaho Statesman
HOMEDALE — Life is as tranquil in
Homedale as the Snake River that
flows quietly by its door.
While many rural towns slip into
oblivion by being either absorbed into
the sprawl of nearby cities or aban-
doned as superhighways pass them by,
Homedale remains as it was a decade
ago. The census credits it with a
growth of only 30 persons from 1960 to
1970.
Mayor George Murray said Home-
dale has "a particular feeling of close-
ness that you don't get in a large town.
Everyone knows when you're sick, but
when I lived in a large town, I never
had anyone bring me fruit or anything
like that.
"To me, you get the advantages of
the small town and yet you're close to
larger cities. A lot of people who live
here work in Caldwell or Nampa, but
they wouldn't want to live anywhere
else.
"Then, too," he continued, "there is
another thing that I particularly like.
As a public official, people come to you
and call you by your first name and
you respond to their problems.
"In big cities you keep getting
shuffled from one agency to another,
but here ... we just take care of your
problems."
Few of the residents know the
present and the past of Homedale as
well as Everett Colley, 62, retired pub-
lisher of the Owyhee Chronicle.
Colley was a Homedale justice of the
peace and village clerk before the city
was incorporated.
Colley, who lives in a home with
large picture windows overlooking the
Snake River, spoke of Homedale with
reserved but sometimes humorous,
candor. Colley pointed at the airport
built by residents in 1960.
"It was a hot day, as I remember.
Farmers and other people came with
their shovels, the land was cleared, the
runway leveled and our airport was
built in a day," he recalled.
Today the airport has changed. Im-
provements have been undertaken on
some of the buildings and the runway
has been blacktopped, he said.
Colley recalled the days of Home-
`dale's great fire, which wiped out Mor-
tensen's Hall, the old Homedale Ga-
rage and a pool hall, which threat-
ened a nearby lumberyard.
And though it may have been a loss
to the individual property owners, Col-
ley admitted it "probably helped the
economy if you get right down to it,"
because of the fire sales held later and
the new facilities built in place of the
old.
Homedale has grown little in the
area of business. There is one mor-
tuary, one newspaper, five gas sta-
tions, three restaurants, one drug
store, three major grocery stores and
one variety store.
Mayor Murray said the business dis-
trict has grown by about three or four
businesses in the past 10 years.
Homedale received its name from
pioneer resident Jake Mussel, a former
stockman and rancher from Succor
Creek, who built the first ferry- be-
tween where the Boise River enters the
Snake and nearby Froman Ferry. As the
area began to grow in population, it
was decided, about 78 years ago, that
the small settlement and its post office
needed a permanent name. Names
were submitted by the local settlers
and it was decided that one would be
indiscriminately chosen from a hat.
The name submitted by Mussel was
drawn.
Mr: and Mrs. William Fletcher were
among the first couples to settle in
Homedale. They were the first to build
a one - and -a -half story house from slabs
of rough lumber that had been hauled
from Caldwell.
• Today the area where the house once
stood is known as Homedale proper,
and what remains of their home is now
known as Fletcher's corner.
When the Fletcher family lived
there, at the turn of the century, it
took almost a full day to travel from
Homedale to Caldwell ' 'where most
Homedale residents acquired their
store- bought goods.
Homedale settlers would send a dele-
gate resident to "town" for goods that
they could not make or grow them-
selves. However, in those days money
never accompanied an, order since
most people had credit and paid their
bills in the fall.
Homedale became the first village in
Owyhee County to incorporate in 1946.
Today it is a prosperous community
which derives the majority of its in-
come from the sale of potatoes, beets,
grain and other agricultural com-
modities. Revenue also is generated
from the sale of livestock and cattle.
CAUGHT AT HOMEDALE
160- pou148TOIRlCAI. RESEARCH
Irl E
• M2 .O
DO NOT REMOVE FROM LIBRARY
CAL A DWELL SUN VALLEY
•. BOISE •
NAMPA
�, PnAYEjTE LAKES
Z • MOUNTAIN = %`��SSIVE CLUB
0
TWIN FALLS
ened a nearby lumberyard. from the sale of livestock and cattle. I
CYCLIST NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT TRAFFIC IN HOMEDALE
downtown remains stable with a few new business -
v a'It 1411
University of Idaho administration building before fire destroyed it in 1906
`Flames in the night' burned
first gothic building at U of I
Even when no lives are lost, a fire early history of the University of
can be a niaior traaedv for a family
University of Idaho administration building before fire destroyed it in 1906
`Flames in the night' burned
first gothic building at U of I
Even when no lives are lost, a fire
can be a major tragedy for a family,
a community or an institution. The
loss is more than material, as serious
as that may be at the time. The most
crushing emotional impact comes
from the loss of hopes, dreams and
aspirations. Thoughts of "what might
have been," but which now may
never be, is what gives such losses
their deepest poignancy.
Probably few moments in Idaho's
history have been equaled in this
tragic sense of loss by fire of the Uni-
versity of Idaho's first magnificent
building on March 30, 1906. Although
the 15th Idaho Legislature had estab-
lished the university by an act of Jan-
uary 1889, the first classes were not
held until 1892. (Meanwhile the Coll-
ege of Idaho had begun operations in
1891.)
Those first classes at the new Mos-
cow institution were not held in the
building shown, however, since when
President Franklin B. Gault arrived
on Oct. 3, 1892, only one wing of the
structure had been partially
completed. Not until 1899 did the ele-
gant brick and stone structure re-
ceive its final touches.
In style, the university's first ad-
ministration building was high Victo-
rian gothic. It emulated a number of
great English public buildings of the
decade before. The pointed arches
over most of the building's openings,
accented by light - colored stone, gave
the vertical thrust so dear to lovers
of gothic. The tall pediments on the
tower led the eye to a gothic cupola
and more upthrusting points. A lofty
finial capped the whole composition.
A rare and costly touch in Idaho
architecture, then and since, is the
use of decorative sculpture. A hand-
some pediment relief of 3 female fi-
gures in classical drapery probably
symbolizes alma mater, arts and sci-
ences. From this photograph they ap-
pear to be well and gracefully carved
by a professional hand. The letters
beneath read "18 Idaho 89 State
University." (Not until July 1 1963 did
the school at Pocatello take on the
name Idaho State University.)
If the University of Idaho's first
building were still standing today it
would undoubtedly rank in the top
half dozen architectural achieve-
ments in the state. Nothing remotely
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart
like it was ever built here again. The
building which replaced it, the strong
Tudor gothic administration building
still in use, is totally different in char-
acter and proportion. It too is a fine
building, and is listed in the National
Register of Historic Places.
Readers who are interested in the
early history of the University of
Idaho are referred to Rafe Gibbs'
1962 Beacon for Mountain and Plain.
It is a colorful and entertaining ac-
count of the school's history, filld
with anecdotes and humor. Although
little is said about the architecture of
the university's original building, a
chapter entitled "Flames in the
Night" recreates the mood of those
who suffered the emotional as well
as physical loss of that first great
building. An enormous source of
pride for all Idahoans was consumed
by fire in a few short hours.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
River Street, Historic Preservation
Editor, The Statesman:
Contrary to the impression given
by an article on River Street develop-
ment which appeared in The States-
man on July 13, the Idaho State His-
toric Preservation Office did not rec-
ommend preservation of two "dilapi-
dated" houses owned by Gerald Rie-
del.
Federal agencies, before making
loans for construction 'projects like
Riedel's, are required by law to in-
vestigate whether the project would
have an adverse effect on properties
of historic or architectural signifi-
cance.
The purpose of the Historic Pres-
ervation Act of 1966 is to prevent fed-
eral agencies from spending the tax-
payers' money to adversely affect
the nation's heritage. The require-
ment is that an investigation be
made and that steps be taken to miti-
gate any adverse effects the project..
might have on historic values. The
law does not say that such project
cannot be funded — only that historic
values be identified and considered.
The role of the Idaho Historical So-
ciety, by law, is to represent the peo-
ple of Idaho in this process of federal
compliance. Our part in the Riedel
project was to respond to a request
from a federal agency to look at two
buildings involved and to send them
photographs and other factual infor-
mation. This material was reviewed
by federal staff at the National Reg-
ister in Washington. It was the fed-
eral determination that the proper-
ties had sufficient historic and archi-
tectural interest to qualify as part of
a National Register district. There-
fore they merited simple documenta-
tion before Mr. Riedel's loan could be
approved and the structures demol=
ished.
Preservation of the buildings was
not recommended by the Idaho His-
torical Society. Our suggestion was
that documentation, required by law,
be done to clear the project.
The suggestion in the July 13 arti-
cle that the Historical Society "is
where Riedel's troubles began" is
misleading. Our role is to assist with
legal compliance, not delay or block
projects. — ARTHUR HART, direc-
tor, Idaho State Historical Society
U UZ �t
Typical history is worth y
The old Adelmann house at 221 W. Jefferson was an unimpos-
ing little structure. The house, which may have been built as
early as the 1860s, consisted of a hallway from front to back
with one room on either side. An ell containing several more
rooms was added later.
In recent times, the nondescript house has become slightly
rundown. Its lack of distinction, however, was its saving grace.
It's the reason the house was worth moving to its new site in
Julia Davis Park, where it will serve -as an example of what ev-
eryday, middle class life was like during the last century.
According to Idaho Historical Society Director Arthur Hart,
hall- and - parlor houses like the Adelmann home were probably
the most common kind of dwelling in Boise in the 1880s, when
saloon- keeper Richard Adelmann purchased the house. The
house's value, says Hart, is to preserve and display the more
typical part of Boise's history not reflected in large -scale pres-
ervation projects such as the Bishops House at the old peniten-
tiary.
Salvation of the Adelmann house was not cheap. Since the
house had to be moved quickly to make room for new con-
struction, the Historical Society has spent about $4,000 from its
reserve fund to pay for the move. We join Hart in his hope that
Boiseans will pony up donations to replenish the fund and help
make possible more such projects,
THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, Augnst 17, 1970
IDAHO YESTERDAYS
Meridian Gained Naive
From Lodge, Map Line
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
Meridian is a town named
for a lodge which was named
for a line on a map.
The Boise Meridian, prime
north -south line in Idaho for
locating lands within the
state, runs through the site
chosen by the members of
the Odd Fellows Lodge in
August, 1893, for a new
meeting place. They decided
to call themselves the Merid-
ian Lodge.
The surrounding farm com-
munity had just acquired a
railway station called Hunt-
er. Tradition says that Hunt-
er was an official of the rail-
road, but in any case, the
name was to be short - lived.
The lodge members, all
prominent men in the neigh-
borhood, decided that the
town ought to be Meridian,
t o o , and began plotting
streets from their own build-
ing site.
In September, 1893, the
Caldwell Tribune took note of
the new name, but waggishly
declared that Uncle Sam
hadn't figured it out yet,
since the post office was still
Hunter.
While Meridian was firmly
established before 1900, most
of the more substantial build-
ings were built in the early
years of the new century.
One such was the Meridian
Exchange Bank.
Although empty today, the
old bank still looks much as
it did nearly seventy years
ago, when the photographs
reproduced here were taken.
Sandstone trim sets off the
neat brick building of two
stories. Like almost every
other bank of its day, it had
a corner entrance.
In fact, most small Idaho
communities still have an old
stone or brick building with
a corner doorway the princi-
pal clue to its original func-
tion as a bank.
Most were built between
1900 and 1910, and most have
long since been converted to
other uses or stand empty.
Land offices often seem to
dominate the street scenes of
Idaho towns from their boom
periods, and in this Meridian
photo there are two. Harbert
Perkins Company was up-
stairs over the bank, and W.
W. Groves ran competition
from offices at right.
An interior view of the Me-
ridian Exchange Bank shows
it fitted out with carved
--ta— nnfi Aprorstpd tell-
sidewalks. These pictures other fittings of the old First
were taken in Meridian that National Bank of Ketchum.
same year. A re- creation of an Idaho
There is special interest at bank of the turn of the cen-
tury is planned as part of
the State Historical Museum
these days in bank interiors,
s i n c e the museum has
recently acquired the count-
ers, grillwork, and most
extensive renovation and en-
largement of the museum to
begin this winter.
In addition to a large safe,
the equipment includes a
giant vault door, antique of-
fice machines, complete set
of ledgers and account books
bound in leather, and even
blank checks and' deposit
slips.
Br(
Old bank keeps its architectural }'favor of ter 70 years
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
FILE
DO NOT REMOVE FPS o
.44 A
PAYETTE LAKES '
PROGRESSIVE CLUB
xar ii.e
Lodge.
The surrounding farm com-
munity had just acquired a
railway station called Hunt-
er. Tradition says that Hunt-
er was an official of the rail-
road, but in any case, the
name was to be short - lived.
The lodge members, all
prominent men in the neigh-
borhood, decided that the
town ought to be Meridian,
t o o , and began plotting
streets from their own build-
ing site.
In September, 1893, the
Caldwell Tribune took note of
the new name, but waggishly
declared that Uncle Sam
hadn't figured it out yet,
since the post office was still
Hunter.
While Meridian was firmly
established before 1900, most
of the more substantial build-
ings were built in the early
years of the new century.
One such was the Meridian
Exchange Bank.
Although empty today, the
old bank still looks much as
it did nearly seventy years
ago, when the photographs
reproduced here were taken.
Sandstone trim sets off the
neat brick building of two
stories. Like almost every
other bank of its day, it had
a corner entrance.
In fact, most small Idaho
communities still have an old
stone or brick building with
a corner doorway the princi-
pal clue to its original func-
tion as a bank.
Most were built between
1900 and 1910, and most have
long since been converted to
other uses or stand empty.
Land offices often seem to
dominate the street scenes of
Idaho towns from their boom
periods, and in this Meridian
photo there are two. Harbert
Perkins Company was up-
stairs over the bank, and W.
W. Groves ran competition
from offices at right.
An interior view of the Me-
ridian Exchange Bank shows
it fitted out with carved
counters and decorated tell-
ers' cages.
Brass cuspidors add an
old -time touch to the scene,
too, and remind us that in
the "golden age" of chewing
tobacco they were as neces-
sary in banks as in saloons.
The quantities of tobacco
juice disposed of got to be a
problem, and most towns
e n a c t e d anti - spitting ordi-
nances.
The Statesman of May 28,
1907, reported that the police
were going to crack down on
violators who spattered Boise
s i n c e the ' museum has
recently acquired the count-
ers, grillwork, and most
blank
slips.
in leather, and even
checks and' deposit
i
Old bank keeps its architectural flavor after 70 years
HISTORICAL RESEAR(_,%,I-I
FILE
DO NOT R r -,1c
.44 A
PAYETTE LAKES
PROGRESSIVE CLUB
�� �� ��
�� . . �� ���� .
��, y
_ 9
PAGE 10 THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, April 30, 1973
s Idaho
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director,
Idaho Historical Museum
Oldtime newspapermen in
Idaho were salty characters.
They ' invariably made quite
an impression on their com-
patriots, gaining their full
portions of hatred or admira-
tion, depending upon the
reader's political persuasion.
One of these pioneer jour-
nalists was Thomas J. But-
ler, founder of the Boise
News, Idaho territory's sec-
ond newspaper. T. J. and his
brother, J. S., came to Boise
Basin in 1863 from Red Bluff,
Calif., where they had edited
and published the Red Bluff
Beacon. They set up shop in
Idaho City, turning out a pa-
per that was non- partisan —
a difficult position to main-
tain in a roaring camp
where political feelings ran
high.
After about a year, the
Butlers sold out to 1. H. Bow-
man, who renamed his pa-
per the Idaho World and op-
erated it as a rabid Demo-
cratic voice. It then became
party to a long and enter-
taining feud with the Re-
publican Idaho Tri- Weekly
Statesman of Boise City.
The feud was entertaining
because rival editors were
expected to be masters of
abrasive and colorful lan-
Yesterdays
Rivalry �
Sparked
A Editors'
Hot' News
J. S. BUTLER
... brother's partner
* * *
guage in their exchanges
with each other — and the
World and Statesman of
those days fully lived up to
expectations.
In 1868 the Butler brothers
went into the printing busi-
ness again, this time with a
paper that was strongly par-
tisan on the Republican side.,
Perhaps T. J. Butler had de-
cided that fence- sitting was
no way to sell newspapers.
In open defiance of the Ava-
lanche, started only the year
before, the Butlers called
-their new sheet the Tidal
Wave.
The Statesman of J. S.
Reynolds hailed this ally by
noting, "We welcome the
new candidate for public fa-
vor and co- worker in the Re-
publican cause. Owyhee
County stands in need of a
newspaper just now."
In February, 1870, the Tid-
al Wave failed and the But-
lers were forced to sell out
to the rival Owyhee Ava-
lanche. T. J. Butler then
came to Boise and became
acting editor of the States-
man while James Reynolds
was in the East. It was at
this time that Thomas Don-
aldson and W. A. Goulder
formed their impressions of
T. J. Butler. It is interesting
to compare their views of
Butler with a striking pho-
tographic portrait of him
from the files of the Idaho
Historical Society.
Donaldson, who was regis-
ter of the U.S. Land Office in
Boise from 1869 until 1875,
knew T. J. Butler well. He
described him as "a very
tall and swarthy man who
dwelt, so to speak, within
himself, and by his outward
demeanor gave the impres-
sion that he was suffering ei-
ther from chronic dyspepsia
or embitterment from con-
stant and grievous disap-
pointments." Donaldson also
recalled that Butler was "ex-
tremely caustic and held
many grudges against his
former colleagues."
W. A. Goulder, himself a
pioneer newspaperman, re-
membered Butler as "a
young man of excellent
character and of good
habits, a man of fair abilities
and a pronounced Republi-
can.'
THOMAS J. BUTLER
...founded newspaper
In the Boise Basin he had
a good field and there was
no good reason why he
should not have held it. But
the Democrats were very
numerous and noisy, and
Butler seems to have been
lacking in' the qualities
needed under the circum-
stances."
To a staunch partisan like
Goulder, it was forever a
black mark against T. J.
Butler that he had tried to
publish a neutral paper
even in a hotbed of Demo-
crats like Idaho City.
An editor was supposed to
let the opposition have it
with both barrels, and for
even a brief time in his ca-
reer Butler had held his fire.,
As a political campaigner
Butler was a disappointment
to Donaldson, who noted that
in the 1870 election he had
insisted upon the nomination
to Congress, but had then re-
fused to make any donation
to the campaign fund or
even any campaign
speeches.
He evidently over-
estimated his own popularity
and was badly beaten. In
fact, Donaldson tells us, the
disappointed Butler left for
Arizona even beforQ be6iec-
tioin took pjpse,
By TIM WOODWARD
Statesman Staff Writer
Anyone who's been to San Fran-
cisco's Ghiradelli Square knows build-
ings don't have to be useless just be-
cause they're old. Now, Boise has a
unique opportunity for its own Ghira-
delli Square, and Boiseans should not
let it slip away.
Ghiradelli Square, like Denver's
Larimer Square and Seattle's Pioneer
Square, is the kind of place that makes
people want to come back downtown.
Old buildings have tastefully been re-
juvenated to bring turn -of- the - century
atmosphere to the heart of a modern
city. People browse through quaint but
modern shops and dine outdoors on
wrought iron balconies reminiscent of
an earlier, quieter time. Brick arch-
ways, old fashioned street lights and
cobblestone walkways provide charm
too often lacking in many of today's
cities.
WITH THE EFFORT to rejuvenate
downtown Boise so far having amount-
ed to little other than reams of paper-
work and one high rise building now
under construction, plans for a historic
district look particularly appealing.
This is especially so at a time when
people are starting to realize that high
rise buildings after all may not be the
culmination of man's creative genius.
The historic district proposal pre-
sented this week is the work of the
River Street Community Design Cen-
ter, one of those little known govern-
ment organizations that works hard,
comes up with great ideas and is large-
ly ignored in favor of the prestigious
do- nothing agencies. As envisioned, the
district would be about 'three square
blocks in the Eighth Street warehouse
area, the one down on the "other" side
of the tracks. The center of activity
would be Eighth Street between Broad
and Myrtle.
This area is a natural for an old time
square development, superior in many
ways to the previously suggested Idaho
Street location. Old brick warehouses
form an eighteenth century-type fa-
cade; old style lights line the street
and the place reeks of atmosphere. The
design center's plans call for brick
sidewalks, a "Boise Public Market"
(where wares would be sold outdoors),
new landscaping and a number of new
shops and restaurants in redecorated
old buildings. Furniture stores and oth-
er businesses complementary to the.
over -all plan would remain. Heavy au-
tomobile traffic would be routed onto a
proposed Front Street couplet outside
the renovated area. Inside, bicycle and
pedestrian traffic would be encouraged.
ALL THIS DOESN'T HAVE to be a
dream. River Street Planner John Ber-
tram claims Boise City could get things
going by creating an historic zone
classification that would be applied to
the area. This, he says, would encour-
age private development interests to
upgrade old buildings without fear that
someone would come in and start
knocking other ones down. Demolition
only would be allowed if deemed neces-
sary by an historic preservation com-
mittee, one dedicated to the Old Boise
Square concept.
Iii addition to creating the new zone,
Boise City could help carry the ball by
installing brick side walks, applying
fresh coats of paint to the streetlights
and putting in new landscaping. Devel-
opers interested in doing a healthy
downtown business would do the rest,
Bertram feels. Restoring and redeco-
rating the old buildings might well be
cheaper than building new ones. The
location itself is lucratively situated
near downtown, the Boise River Green-
belt, Boise State College and the city's
two major parks. The city library and
art gallery are only a few blocks away.
Fortunately, Boise has a city council
receptive to progressive ideas like the
one for Old Boise Square.
Two city officials, asked about the
historic district plans, reacted favor-
ably. One said it may be time for the
city to "act rather than just react."
A major problem, however, is the
high cost of land in the area. Often, the
city's role in such situations is to con-
demn property and make it available
to private developers. The process is
agonizingly slow. Some cities instead
have spearheaded cooperative commu-
nity efforts that get behind such proj-
ects in ways that preclude bungling
and inefficiency.
Officials contacted are cautiously
aware of the potential of an arrange-
ment whereby the city would loan
money to private developers interested
in getting the project off the ground.
Developers then would pay the city
back as they would any other business.
The idea may have possibilities.
BUT REGARDLESS OF the method
chosen to make Old Boise Square a
reality, the concept itself is worth the
support of every Boisean interested in
making the capital city a nicer place to.
live. Historic squares in other cities-
have attracted and deserved nation -,,
wide acclaim. Isn't it time Boise had
something new and distinctive its citi-
zens could really get excited about?
Almost a decade has been spent on
urban renewal and look at the "re-
sults." The public is tired of waiting..
An historic square could reverse the
trend of demolition, bring people back
downtown and be accomplished in a
relatively short time. It would stimu -.
late the renewal effort and downtown
business in general.
But like many worthwhile public
goals, Old Boise Square stands a good
chance of drowning in a sea of apathy
and red tape. It doesn't have to. Its
failure can be prevented by an unusual
combination of business, government
and community involvement.
It's time for progressive thinking
Boiseans to get on the bandwagon for
preserving and recapturing beauty
handed down by former generations.
It's time for improving on the snail's
pace of urban renewal. Old Boise
Square is an excellent place to begin.
Historic Square Would
Attract People
PAGE 8,
THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, October 22, 1973
Idaho
Yesterdays
vees Named
rove Street
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
Few streets in Boise can
have changed as much over
the years as Grove Street.
To view its treeless expanse
today, one is hard put to
imagine that it ever was
named for its groves of
trees, but so it was.
"During the long season of
leaves and flowers, and of
bright sunny days," wrote a
visitor in 1883, "a stroll along
Grove Street is like a ramble
amid fields Elysian. To have
..a home on Grove Street is
among the first and most
:cherished wishes of all who
have ever seen the Queen of
the Valleys — the "Da-
mascus of the Western
Plains."
Charles A. Foster, recall-
ing Grove Street forty years
later, said "Grove Street in
those days was true, to its
name. Large Lombardy
poplars, and other varieties
of shade trees adorned that
thoroughfare, - also made
beautiful by its flower gar-
dens and rose bushes."
He went on to describe the
famous Grove Street ditch
along the north side of the
street, with its water wheels.
every 50 to 100 feet.
The reputation of Grove,
as the city's finest residen-
tial street, was already' well
established by July, 1871,
when a reporter. observed
that "it is the ,Fifth Avenue
of Boise City. It is inhabited
by the bon ton of our society
— and mosquitos."
The triumphant parading
of Boise's first fire engine in
1876 also brought in a men-
tion of the thoroughfare:
"Leaving the shade -em-
bowered and rose- garlanded
Edens of Grove Street, the
line marched along Tenth to
Main and up Main to the En-
gine House."
No small part of the at-
traction of Grove Street,
when the city was very
young and very small, was
that the leading business-
men of Boise could live just
a block from their Main
,Street offices.
"Commencing .at the foot
of Fourth, and thence to the
intersection of Twelfth
Street, this lovely avenue is
gemmed with large and
beautiful private residences
and Eden -like gardens and
orchards.
"Prominent among these
charming homes may be
mentioned the residences of,
Gen. L. F. Cartee, John
Lemp, A. G. Redway, Cyrus
Jacobs, W. H. Nye, C. W.
Moore, Judge H. E. Prickett,
Dr. E. Smith, Frank R. Cof-
fin, Sherman M. Coffin, and
others, some of which might
be justly classed as magnifi-
cent in their proportions and
palatial in their appoint-
ments."
Boise's Grove Street i
This 18M description still
fit the street at the turn of
the century, although a few
of the city's . wealthy had
moved to Warm Springs Av-
enue by then.
Frank R. Coffin had built
an even larger castle -like
house on Grove in the nine-
ties, and the gardens were
as lush as ever. In 1902 The'
Statesman ran a series of
Sunday specials with photo-
graphs of the loveliest gar-
dens in town. Grove Street
still held its own.
The photograph 'repro-
duced today shows Frank
Coffin's house at left, and
succeeds in capturing the
quality of that "lost Eden"
of Boise, before the automo-
bile and expanding com-
mercial development had
made it just a memory.
At least we have the old
photographs and those brave.
old words to bring it all
back.
���' . , r t e ` + �� . ��� �� �� - ���� ��,
M ��. � f
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i
BOISE'S NATATORIUM WAS WHERE THE ACTION WAS BETWEEN 1892 AND 1934
... primary attraction was hot water flowing over rocks into a pool
Natatorium Offered Backdrop
For Vivid Variety of Events
From the day it was completed in
1892, Boise's great Natatorium was a
focal point in the community's life.
Not only was it the most spectacular
building ever put up in Idaho, but it
also was the scene of a rich and
colorful variety of human activity.
_.. The primary attraction, of course,
" was the natural hot water. It was
made to flow over a tower of native
rocks in picturesque cascades into a
swimming pool more than 100 feet
long. Bathers could dive into the wa-
ter from different levels of this
rocky feature, or shoot down a slide
filled with running water. The swim-
ming at the "Nat" was enormously
popular with Boiseans and visitors,
but the following news items of 1892
suggest other activities as well.
April 30: "The directors of the Na-
tatorium have not decided whether
or not to have a house warming.
They evidentally believe in being
prepared, however, for yesterday
they took out a liquor license."
May 11: At a YMCA meeting last
night, a speaker said, "The directors
call the place a natatorium, but I
call it a big saloon with a little pool
thrown in."
May 26: "Natatorium Opened.
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart
c
There was a large crowd yesterday
at the popular resort ... the electric
car company made use of all its cars
and there was a constant flow of
spectators to the resort all day."
(The new streetcar system was a
key factor in the Natatorium's suc-
cess, since people could ride the two
miles from downtown for a nickel.)
May 31: Although "enormous
crowds" visit the Natatorium every
day, "Manager John McGuigan is
very strict and nothing of an un-
pleasant character can possibly oc-
cur."
June 3: Last night's grand opening
ball at the Natatorium was "a
brilliant event."
July 4: On the Natatorium's first
Fourth of July, 1,700 tickets are sold.
1,200 people are there at one time.
August 3: Cigar manufacturer J.
Lund of Boise introduces "Natato-
rium Brand" cigars. A handsome
lithograph of the Natatorium ap-
pears on the inside lid of each box.
August 13: Prof. Joseph Rice,
"America's greatest harp soloist,"
performs at the Nat.
August 24: Prof. Thomas Godfrey
performs on a high wire in front of
the Overland Hotel on Main Street.
"He is the gentleman who will make
the balloon ascension and parachute
jump next Sunday at the Natato-
rium." Prof. Godfrey, "aeronaut,"
has a contract calling for a 4000 -foot
ascent in his hot air balloon before
he parachutes.
August 30: 2,000 people witness
Prof. Godfrey ascend 2,000 feet.
When he drifts toward Table Rock
he makes a successful parachute
jump.
October 25: The Republican Rally
at the Nat is a great success. "A
magnificent sight was presented in
the handsomely decorated building
. The front had been covered with
flags and Japanese lanterns, all il-
luminated by a number of electric
lights."
Next week we shall examine more
of the colorful "doings" at the Boise
Natatorium (built 1892, demolished
1Q3d1
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
"Dashing through the
snow, in a one -horse open
sleigh" are just the words of
an old song to most of us
today.
Sixty years ago, it was a
part of Idaho life in the win-
ter, and whether it was nec-
essary to take to the runners
just to get around; or done
for pleasure, it seems to
have been thoroughly en-
joyed and anticipated by all.
In 1870 it was a source of
local lament that the winter
was too mild to allow sleigh-
ing. People remembered 1865
as an exceptionally good
winter for listening to "bells
on bob -tails ring," however,
even at the end of the cen-
tury.
In 1898,_ another ex-
ceptional winter, they were,
saying that there hadn't'
been such a sleighing season
since the memorable winter
of '65.
Although the season was
short, 1872 provided good
February sleighing. "The
snow began to fall on Satur-
day and continued nearly all
day and most of Sunday,"
wrote The Statesman. " .. .
we have almost six inches,
and the sleigh bells are jing-
ling around town in a lively
way. It is good for those that
have time to enjoy the sport,
but the appearance is the
beautiful snow will not last
long."
This prediction was borne
out a few days later, when it
was reported that C. W.
Moore, Cy Jacobs, and Aus-
tin Savage had to walk five
or six miles up the canyon of
Boise River to find enough
snow to continue their sleigh
ride to Idaho City.
Stagecoaches too, in-
cidentally, had the same
problem. Wheels had to be
replaced with runners, and
then back again, as chang-
ing road conditions short-
ened the tempers of drivers.
Passengers often had to
get out and walk - but it
was all an accepted part of
winter travel in a pioneer
country.
"Whirling Through Snow
Go Happy Boise Crowds"
was the headline on an 1898
story about one of Boise's
premier sleighing seasons.
"It is a strange statement to
make in a mountainous sec-
tion," wrote The Statesman,
"but it is nevertheless true
that sleighing is a decided
rarity in Boise ... "
"Since the first appre-
ciable fall of snow on the fro-
zen ground the merry jingle
of bells has been heard all
day and until far into the
night. Every cutter has been
pressed into service, the liv-
erymen are reaping a har-
vest, and their animals are
reaping a retirement on full
feed . no street but rings
with the gleeful shouts of ri-
ders, and country runs are
being taken advantage of.
Every form of sleigh is
seen, and none so poor he
cannot enjoy the fun. Wheels
are removed, and iron often
of grotesque shape substi-
tuted, while some outfits
consist of store boxes
mounted .on plain wooden
runners, and mules and even
dogs are drafted into serv-
ice."
Bells jingled on sleighs in old Boise before automobiles arr
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7—h� fia �N S hT �c
Boiseans strike out for
By ARTHUR HART
In April 1870, the Idaho Tri- weekly
Statesman reported that 2 of the best
citizens of Boise City were leaving
town to establish a business in
Weiser Valley. They were John
Cuddy and E.D. Tyne.
"These gentlemen have been in
business in this place for several
years and by pursuing an honorable
course in all their business transac-
tions during that time they have
made hosts of friends. It is quite a
loss ... „
Cuddy and Tyne already were in
the process of erecting a grist mill in
the Weiser Valley when they packed
up and left Boise. In a few months
they were buying grain from the
farmers in the neighborhood, milling
it into flour and shipping it by pack
train to die old mining camps north
of them. An Oct. 28, 1871, an account
says that "their principal markets
are Warrens Diggins and Florence.
They have to send their flour in there
by pack train. There is some talk of
constructing a wagon road to War-
ren's Diggins."
(The Warren's Wagon Road that
runs along the west side of Payette
Lake today is a reminder that the
road contemplated in 1871 finally was
built.)
In the spring of 1872 E.D. Tyne sold
his interest in the mill to John Cuddy
and moved to Portland, where he
went into the liquor business. Cuddy
continued to call the mill Cuddy and
Tyne, however, for many years
thereafter.
Weiser Valley
Like other such isolated opera-
tions, it was necessary for the pro-
prietor to be as self- sufficient as
possible. In addition to grinding
grain, Cuddy's mill could be con-
verted into a sawmill. Two hundred
of his 320 acres had good pine timber,
and with 3 operating the mill, Cuddy
regularly produced 6,000 to 8,000 feet
Of lumber a day.
one in the county outside of Boise
City," burned to the ground. The
Statesman was impressed with the
calm way Cuddy accepted his loss
and started out with renewed deter-
mination to build again.
Fortunately, none of John Cuddy's
income - producing property was
damaged and in a short time he had
recouped his losses of household
goods and clothing for the family. Be-
cause all had lost their shoes in the
fire, John Cuddy literally came back
from a barefoot condition to prosper-
ity.
(Arthur Mart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart
In 1876 a Statesman reporter vis-
Settlers coming into Weiser Valley
ited the Weiser Valley and wrote a
rarely had cash with which to buy
long account of John Cuddy's busi-
Cuddy's lumber, flour or pork. He
ness. With the grain he bought from
therefore advanced them what they
local farmers, Cuddy ground bran
needed against their first crops or gl-
and shorts. These he fed to hogs,
lowed them to work off their debts in
sometimes as many as 200 a year.
the t imber or the mill. It appears he
The reporter was impressed with
ground the flour alone, however, and
it was reported that in a 32-hour day
the fine hog houses Cuddy had built,
one of them made of 2 -inch planks
John Cuddy could mill and sack 6,000
bolted together to protect the hogs
pounds of flout by himself.
Only a few
against marauding bears, who were
weeks before the
Statesman reporter visited Cuddy's
extremely fond of pork. Cuddy also
heated his hog houses and had sturdy
mill, disaster .struck. The fine house
fenced enclosures.
Cuddy had buy- for his wife and chil-
dren, "prob, ,>ly the best furnished
Like other such isolated opera-
tions, it was necessary for the pro-
prietor to be as self- sufficient as
possible. In addition to grinding
grain, Cuddy's mill could be con-
verted into a sawmill. Two hundred
of his 320 acres had good pine timber,
and with 3 operating the mill, Cuddy
regularly produced 6,000 to 8,000 feet
Of lumber a day.
one in the county outside of Boise
City," burned to the ground. The
Statesman was impressed with the
calm way Cuddy accepted his loss
and started out with renewed deter-
mination to build again.
Fortunately, none of John Cuddy's
income - producing property was
damaged and in a short time he had
recouped his losses of household
goods and clothing for the family. Be-
cause all had lost their shoes in the
fire, John Cuddy literally came back
from a barefoot condition to prosper-
ity.
(Arthur Mart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director,
Idaho Historical Museum
In the city block bounded
by Main and Idaho, Capitol
Boulevard and Sixth, where
Boise's new city hall is
scheduled to rise, stands a
building of considerable his-
toric interest.
Until last month, no pho-
tograph of its early appear-
ance was known. Today we
are happy to be able to show
our readers a view of The
Idaho Statesman building at
the northwest corner of
Sixth and Main.
Nearly everyone knows
that the "old" Statesman
building is across the street
on the southwest corner of
this same intersection. The
American Red Cross has its
offices in the handsome
building with the tile door-
step which still bears the
Statesman name.
What most persons do not
realize is that there are still
four Statesman buildings
standing out of five or six
that the paper has had since
it started publication in
Boise in 1864.
The first location was at
the northwest corner of Sev-
enth and Idaho where Bank
of Idaho is today. Before a
wooden -frame false -gable
structure was put up, there
apparently had been a log
structure of two rooms, ac-
cording to A. J. Boyakin, a
pioneer newspaper man,
reminiscing in 1898.
In May, 1871, Statesman
editor James S. Reynolds
bought at public auction the
Billicke Building at the
northwest corner of Sixth
and Main. It was famous lo-
cally as one of the first fire-
proof structures in town. It
was brick and stone with
iron doors brought from San
Francisco, like some still to
be seen in Idaho City.
Gustave Billicke had
opened a general merchan-
dise store in this location in
1864, rebuilding the following
year in the fireproof mate-
rials.
Billicke, incidentally, had
as his partner at this time
Thomas E. Logan, later post-
master and mayor.
In January, 1868, Billicke
offered his building for sale,
having decided to return to
his native Germany. David
Falk and a partner named
Kraemer were the first own-
ers after Billicke.
Falk later went into busi-
ness on the present site of
Falk's I.D. store at Eighth
and Idaho, and the old Bil-
licke Building kept its origi-
nal name with pioneer Boi-
seans for a generation.
In all the reminiscences
which found their way into
print in later years, it was
recalled that this building
(or an addition to it) housed
the offices of Wells, Fargo, &
Co. for many years.
Charles Paynton, who
served his apprenticeship as
a printer in the old building,
and worked there from 1876
until 1884, also remembered
it as an adobe building.
Since most of Boise's
earliest brick structures
were of the unfired adobes,
this is likely_ -
The newly discovered pho-
tograph shows John Brod-
beck's two -story brewery
block at left, a small addi-
tion to the Billicke Building
next, and the main structure
on the corner with its three
doors.
On the Sixth Street side
can be seen a handsome
arched opening at the cor-
ner, window, door, window
and another obvious addition
in the back of the building
with an architectural style
and character all its own.
This little building, still
recognizable under a later
skin of stucco, stands on the
alley now as it did in the late
1890s when the photograph
was taken. This is apparent-
ly the addition made neces-
sary by the arrival of the
Statesman's first electric
press in 1890.
Careful historical archae-
ology and investigation of
the old building should be
made before demolition re-
moves it from the scene.
If it is adobe, as seems
likely, under its later layers
of other materials, some of
these should be salvaged as
souvenirs of the home occu-
pied by the Idaho Statesman
and Tri- Weekly Statesman
from 1871 until 1909.
The Red Cross building
across the street was in use
until the 1950 building at
Sixth and Bannock was
ready. It too had become a
former Statesman Home
some 20 years later.
This pioneer newspaper -
C�
cN
ome
DISCOVERY — Mrs. Gail Ison, above, is
touching up a hand - painted border mural
that literally came to light this spring,
when the living room walls of the residence
at 815 Warm Springs Avenue were being
stripped prior to redecorating. The mural
was the work of Dr. Franz Brandt, a horse
and buggy doctor who had built the house
in 1917.
The Ison home is one of 29 historic resi-
dences in Boise's east end, which the public
is invited to visit today. The tour, planned
by sustaining members of the Boise Junior
League, is a benefit for the Bishops House
fund. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Guests
with tickets may start at any point on the
tour. Others may buy tickets with maps
today at the old Assay Office, 210 Main
Street and are asked to park in the neigh-
boring area. Free bus service will start from
the Assay Office and continue along the
tour route. Separate tickets will be sold for
a patrons party at the Richard Mott home,
103 Warm Springs Avenue, the last stop on
the tour. (For details on the history of some
of the homes, please turn to page 16.)
MISSION STYLE — Gary Mouser long -time Boiseans remember as "the old
sketched this likness of the Paul Mou Regan home on the avenue with the red
ser house, 1009 Warm Springs, which tile roof, two wings and seven kids."
Added attractions for those
who buy tickets for today's His-
toric Homes tour are a show of
antique cars on the grounds of
the old Assay Once, 210 Main
Street and an art exhibit at Bish-
ops House, 120 West Idaho,
from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The tour
will raise funds to save the Bish-
ops House from demolition and
move it to the old Idaho Peni-
tentiary site, east of the city.
FAMILY HISTORY — Wearing her gre
grandmother's wedding dress, Mrs. Rani
Fullmer, below, will be a tour hostess tod
in the same room where her great gran
parents, William Russell and .josephij
McNew were married in 1883. The col
nial house, built as a cottage in 1869 1
QUEEN ANNE ELEGANCE - Once owned by the James Laidlaw
family, this handsome home at 210 West State Street was remodeled for
contemporary living several years ago by the Robert D. Overstreets.
(Statesman Photos by Kenneth Poertner)
PLACE OF MANY USES - The Dale Higer home at 625 1/2 Warm
Springs Avenue was originally built by Boise pioneer banker Chris-
topher Moore for the family cook. Since then it has been a carriage
house, bow and arrow factory and a barber shop.
FAMILY HISTORY — Wearing her great
grandmother's wedding dress, Mrs. Randy
Fullmer, below, will be a tour hostess today
in the same room where her great grand-
parents, William Russell and Josephine
McNew were married in 1883. The colo-
nial house, built as a cottage in 1869 by
Mrs. Fullmer's great great grandfather,'
George Whitfield Russell, and later en-
larged, still has the original fireplace and
staircase, pictured below. The house at
1035 Warm Springs Avenue, is presently
owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ron Koch.
THE IDAHO
STATESMAN
Arts
Of
Living
Section
Boise, Sunday,
May 11, 1975
SECTION B PAGE 1
GENERALS LIVED HERE - This sandstone and adobe
building on the Veterans Administration grounds is one
of the oldest residences in the city in continuous use as a
family home. It was the commanding officer's quarters at
Fort Boise in the city's infant days and the walls were built
two feet thick as a defense against Indian attacks. Gen.
George Crook, a famed Indian fighter, lived there during
the Bannock uprising in 1878. Dr. William Laxson, VA
surgeon, and his family have lived in the serveral-times-re-
modeled home for 17 years.
rnVC, Y —h drib 10AHU SlXIESMAN, Boise, Friday, May 16, 1975
Comment and Opinto
Home Tour Was An Outstanding Event
Last Sunday's tour of some of
Boise's stately old homes turned
out to be an exceptional happen-
ing.
— The turnout exceeded the
fondest dreams of the sponsors,
raising funds that will help save
the Bishop Rhea house.
— Home owners who opened
their homes to the public were
impressed by the courtesy and
interest of the people.
— There were no reports of
damage or breakage, and Warm
Springs Avenue, a major part of
the tour, was remarkably free of
litter the next morning.
People enjoyed themselves,
people from a wide area in Idaho
and Eastern Oregon.
Aside from the Bishop Rhea
project, the tour was unquestion-
ably a success in stimulating in-
terest in the preservation of his-
toric buildings.
The people who sponsored and
conducted the tour deserve credit
for a well- organized event. And
the people who opened their
homes deserve a special thanks
for sharing part of Idaho's his-
tory with the public.
Final Move Set Today BOISE�IDAHO�TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1975
The slow- moving transfer of the
Bishops House to its new site at the old
penitentiary ended short of its goal
Monday because "we ran out of
daylight," said William Huckstep,
whose firm is handling the move.
The 83- year -old mansion was moved
about 500 to 600 feet Monday, after the
rigors of the move caught up with
Huckstep's workers Thursday and the
final leg was put off.
"We should get it in there tomor-
row;" Huckstep said of the 47- foot -high,
220 -ton mansion. "It'll be nice to land
that one and play with a little one."
The Bishops House was moved
Wednesday from Second and Warm
Springs Avenue almost to the old peni-
tentiary site. Trees were trimmed,
power lines lowered and parked cars
moved before the mansion could begin
its two-mile trip along Warm Springs
Avenue.
The mansion was moved across a
field near the penitentiary to a three -
foot incline near its final resting place,
Huckstep said. But before the house
can be moved up the ramp, the base-
ment for the mansion will have to be
dug, he said.
The last leg of the move involves tak-
ing the huge house across sandy
ground that would mire down, except
for mats and timbers that are laid
down as the house moves along, he
said.
"You go 40 to 50 feet, lay down the
mats and timbers, then pick them up
and put them down again," Huckstep
said. "We'd never be able to pull it if
we got off on that stuff," he said of the
soft ground under the mats.
Barring any malfunctions, Huckstep
said, the move should be completed
today.
Historic
Tour Nets
X18,761
Proceeds from the Historic
Homes tour held on Mother's
Day to benefit the Bishop's
House has reached a total of
$18,761.03.
Mrs. Kenneth B. Berg -
quist, general chairman,
and Mrs. James Quinn, tick-
et chairman, made the an-
nouncement last night at a
gathering of homeowners
and committee chairmen for
sustaining members of the
Boise Junior League, spon-
sors of the event,
Mrs. Peter Johnson, trea-
surer, reported that dona-
tions are still arriving daily,
so the final figure may not
%be available for some time.
Expenses, which were very
small, are being paid out of
proceeds from the booklet
sales.
"Ticket purchasers can
'know the entire amount they
paid will go to relocate and
restore the Bishop's House,"
Mrs. Johnson said.
"All the homeowners, do-
nors and volunteers deserve
special thanks for their ef-
forts in saving Boise's first
historical home from demoli-
tion," Mrs. Bergquist said.
Booklet sales continue and
Diane Broom, assistant man-
ager of the Book Shop, re-
ported that the "Guide to
Historic Homes" is the num-
ber one best seller. It is
available there by phone or
mail order at the cost of
$1.18. Copies can also be pur-
chased at the historical mu-
seum, the Allied Arts booth
in the Bon Marche for the
same mailing price. Buyers .
are urged to pick the
booklets up in person wher-
ever possible. The booklets
are tax - deductible.
BOISE, IDAHO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1975
WILLIAM HUCKSTEP EDGES BISHOPS HOUSE CLOSER _ru MEW HUME
mansion is now within 100 yards of permanent place
Only 1,000 More Feet to Go
Exhaustion Halts Bishops House
Completion of Boise's biggest house
moving job was postponed because of
exhaustion Thursday.
The Bishops House, moved Wednes-
day from Second and Warm Springs
Avenue almost to the old state peniten-
tiary, was to complete its journey
Thursday. The final part of the move,
however, will have to wait until Mon-
day because "everybody's tired," ac-
cording to William Huckstep of William
Huckstep House Movers, Inc.
"Those big jobs kinda' sap a guy,"
Huckstep said.
The 83- year -old Victorian mansion,
he said, was moved "about 600 or 700
feet" Thursday. It will be pulled the
last 111,000 feet or so Monday," Huck-
step added.
Huckstep's company will dig a hole
for the structure's new foundation
Monday, pull it with a winch until it is
positioned above the hole, and subcon-
tract construction of the foundation to
another company. The house will be
lowered onto the foundation when the
work is finished, probably before tem-
peratures become much colder, Huck-
step explained.
Work stopped prematurely Wednes-
day because the house- moving vehicle
became stuck in a low spot. Steel net-
ting had to be placed under the wheels
before it could be moved Thursday.
[Vetting was used throughout
Thursday's move to prevent the ve-
hicle from getting stuck again.
Huckstep says the worst of the move
is over.
"We've got it whipped now," he said.
"We don't have to worry about streets
and cars and people's trees anymore."
The movers had to contend with
trees, power lines and parked cars dur-
ing Wednesday's two -mile trip out
Warm Springs Avenue. Power lines
had to.be raised or disconnected and
many trees were extensively pruned to
make way for the 47 -foot high, 220 -ton
mansion.
The community raised $75,000 to
move and to restore the former home
of Idaho Episcopal bishops. Restoration
is expected to be completed within a
year. Volunteers are needed to scrape
paint, according to Romaine Hon,
chairman of the committee to save the
house.
The house will have a full basement,
according to Ron Thurber, archi-
tectural consultant for the restoration
project.
The Idaho Statesman was incorrectly
told the Bishops House would be the
only Victorian mansion in Idaho on
public display. There are two others,
according to Arthur Hart, director of
the Idaho Historical Society.
The Judge Standrod home in Poca-
tello is being restored now, and the
Governor McConnell mansion in Mos-
cow has been open to the public for
some time, Hart said. The Bishops
House will be the only such building
open to the public in Southwest Idaho,
he added.
THE WILLIAM G. SKILLERN HOME, 829 WARM SPRINGS AVENUE
... this colonial -style home once belonged to Boise banker Craig Coffin
By MARY JENKINS
The Idaho Statesman
Bishops House at 120 West Idaho
may be saved from a wrecking
crew after all, thanks to several
thousand people who paid $5 each
to visit 29 historic homes in Boise's
east end Sunday afternoon.
The Boise Junior League con-
ducted the tour to raise funds to
restore the house and move it —
rather than allow it to be torn
down to make way for a St. Luke's
Hospital parking lot.
About 3,900 tickets were sold in
advance. Although the committee
had no real estimate on the num-
ber sold Sunday, publicity chair-
man Mrs. Romaine Hon, 140 Main,
said the total proceeds should be
enough to have the house moved
this summer to the old penitentiary
grounds, a new historic site.
Plans, however, are contingent
on the federal government's ap-
proval of the Boise Community De-
velopment application, which in-
cludes $30,000 for moving the build-
ing.
Tom Aucutt, Boise Community
Development director, said the
government has until June 20 to
rule on the application and no ob-
jections to the Bishops House proj-
ect have been made by federal offi-
cials. "Historic preservation is
clearly an eligible activity," Aucutt
said.
The Sunday crowd was larger
than the committee members had
anticipated. They ran out of tickets
and also copies of a booklet of his-
torical vignettes about the homes
on display. More of the booklets
will be printed this week.
The lack of tickets and booklets
are the only lapses in a well -
planned, smooth - running operation.
Four buses, including a double -
decker, started from the assay of-
fice, stopped along the route wher-
ever passengers wanted to get off
and go inside the homes which had
tour signs in their front yards.
There were four houses on Main
Street, 15 on Warm Springs Ave-
nue, nine on adjacent streets and
two on the Veterans Adminis-
tration Grounds.
All have roots that go deep in
Boise's early history. Most were
mansions in their day and have
been remodeled to be compatible
with contemporary living.
Each seemed to share equal at-
tention from the visitors, who
could be described as part "new
people in town," and part old-
timers who had never been in an
"avenue home" before.
Many were there because they
felt a sense of history. Said one
woman, "This is why we've got to
stop tearing down old buildings.
You can refurbish them or refinish
them and still have the same feel-
ing and charm."
Other people, particularly wom-
en, were frankly interested in
seeing how old houses and antique
furnishings and fixtures can be
adapted to modern, comfortable
living.
For example, at the Ron Koch
home, 1035 Warm Springs Avenue,
a solid -state music intercom sys-
tem sits in the wall of a hallway,
and a few feet away is an ancient
wall brick oven.
Woodwork in many of the homes
— oak, birds eye maple, walnut,
cherry — has intricate carvings on
staircases and window wells, and
looks as it might have appeared
when the homes were new.
Spying a leaded glass light fix-
ture in an upstairs bathroom in one
home, a woman said, "You've got
to keep looking up and down and
all around to see everything. "
(More Pictures, Page 22) '
THURSDAY, eNOVEMBER 20, 1975
Old House
Reaches
New Home
The Bishops House rode
the final 200 feet Wednesday
to a perch above its new
foundation at the Old State
Penitentiary, according to
William Huckstep House.
Movers, Inc.
The move off the old site
began Nov. 11 at Second and
Idaho, where the historic
mansion was threatened by
the expansion of St. Luke's
Hospital. The major portion
of the move — the long trip
on Warm Springs Avenue —
was made Nov. 12. Soft
ground had delayed the last
several hundred feet.
Money for saving the man-
sion has come from federal
grants, funds raised during a
Mother's Day tour of historic
homes and private dona-
tions. More funds and volun-
teers are needed to refurbish
the Bishops House, now that
it has reached the new site.
J
Bishops House
Lacks 200 Feet
To Reach Site
The Bishops House still
has to be moved another 200
feet to reach its new site at
the old penitentiary.
William Huckstep, whose
firm is handling the move,
said Tuesday soft ground
slowed moving of the 83-
year -old mansion.
Two winch trucks and a
bulldozer were needed at
times to aid the flat bed
truck holding the house.
Huckstep said the house was
moved only 400 feet
Tuesday.
He said the 220 -ton house
is expected to be pulled
today to its new site on the
west side of the prison.
Public Tour Benefitting Bishops House
To Show Old Warm Springs Homes
Mother's Day, May 11, has been cho-
sen as the date for an Open House of
Historic Homes in the Warm Springs
Avenue area of Boise.
The event is being sponsored by sus-
taining members of the Boise Junior
League as a benefit for the Bishops
House, according to co- chairmen Mrs.
Paul Mouser and Mrs. Kenneth
Bergquist.
"We will have about 25 private
homes open to the public for the first
and only time that day," Mrs.
Bergquist said.
Tickets will entitle visitors to see an
unlimited number of the houses be-
tween noon and 5 p.m. Mrs. James
Quinn, ticket chairman, has announced
that tickets will be available through
all Southwestern branches of the Idaho
First National Bank, the Allied Arts
booth and the Idaho Historical Museum
starting April 1. There will be a special
rate for senior citizens.
Brochures provided for the visitors
will give an "intimate look into the sto-
ry of one of Idaho's most historic dis-
tricts and should be very valuable in
explaining the history and architecture
of the homes," according to museum
director Arthur Hart.
Separate tickets will also be avail-
able for a patrons party to be held in
conjunction with the open house. Mrs.
Robert Lloyd is chairman of the party,
to be held in the home and gardens of
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Mott, 103 Warm
Springs Avenue.
Mrs. Lawrence Knight, head of the
research committee, and the Mmes.
Britt Bowden, Richard Carr, Jack Bor-
gwardt, Hollis Seim, Wayne Oppel,
Dan Johnson, William Code, M.D. Shi-
verick and George Richardson are
gathering information on each of the
houses. Brochure writers are Mrs.
MacPherson LeMoyne and Mrs. Willis
Sullivan.
Other chairmen include Mrs. Doro-
thy Daly, arrangements; Mrs. Ward
Williamson, hostesses; Mrs. Peter
Johns, treasurer; Robert Hamersley,
advisor; Bill Skillern, transportation.
Lengthy Study of Nortlnvest Historical Architecture
Contains Four Articles on Boise's Early Buildings
"Space, Style and Structure,
Building in Northwest
America"
Thomas Vaughan, editor;
Virginia
Guest Ferriday,
assoc. editor.
Oregon Historical Society,
1974.
Two Volumes, $22.
ALAN MINSKOFF,
Reviewer
"Space, Style and Struc-
ture, Building in Northwest
America" is the first full
length study of the man-
made environment of Idaho,
Oregon and Washington. A
collaboration of more than a
dozen art historians, archi-
tectural historians and ar-
chitects, it is long overdue.
A little more than a cen-
tury has transformed this
area from an untracted wil-
derness to a region with ev-
ery conceivable kind of con-
struction — railroads,
bridges, highways, dams, log
cabins, shopping centers and
corporate headquarters —
the book traces man's im-
print on this beautiful part of
the continent from the wick -
iup to Belluschi's buildings
in Portland.
The structure of the book
makes sense: five chronolo-
gical sections — origins, pio-
neer days, railroad era, mo-
tor age, freeway forms —
take their cues from tech-
nological advances rather
than architectural styles.
Since the majority of the
contributors are Oregonians„
Portland, the Willamette
Valley and the Oregon Coast
A Visit to Historic Boise Homes
HORSELESS CARRIAGES ON THE ASSAY BUILDING LAWN
...guests looked them over before seeing historic houses (Story, Page 1)
SOME HOMES HAVE GARDENS IN REAR
...between showers they walked among blossoms
SUNDAY AFTERNOON HOUSE TOURISTS
...some walked along the avenue
THE ONE-TIME CARRIAGE HOUSE AT 635 1/2 WARM SPRINGS AVENUE
...now it's the home of attorney Dale Higer and family
STATESMAN
Valley
SECTION D BOISE, IDAHO, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1975 PAGE i
WORKERS PREPARE BISHOPS HOUSE FOR MOVE TODAY
... historic mansion was rolled onto Second Street
Two -Mile Warm Springs Trek
Bishops House Travels Today
By ROD GRAMER
The Idaho Statesman
The Bishops House will make its
long- awaited trip down Warm Springs
Avenue today with the grace and bear-
ing of a Victorian damsel.
It will take all day Wednesday for
the 220 -ton house to move two miles to
its new location at the Old State Peni-
tentiary, according to William D.
Huckstep, under whose care the 83-
lems moving the house down Warm
Springs Avenue.
It took about three hours to move the
house from its location of 83 years at
the corner of Idaho and Second Street
one block to the corner of Second and
Warm Springs, Huckstep said.
Maneuvering the house down Warm
Springs will require moving telephone,
power and fire lines Wednesday, Huck-
step said. It will also require moving
Steel cables were wrapped around the
house's sandstone walls to keep them
intact and boards were placed on the
windows for protection, he said.
Two huge I -beams and several cross
beams support the house on three large
dollies.
Trees along Warm Springs were
trimmed in preparation for the man-
sion's trip.
The Victorian mansion was threat-
WORKERS PREPARE BISHOPS HOUSE FOR MOVE TODAY
... historic mansion was rolled onto Second Street
Two -Mile Warm Springs Trek
Bishops
By ROD GRAMER
The Idaho Statesman
House Travels Today
The Bishops House will make its
long- awaited trip down Warm Springs
Avenue today with the grace and bear-
ing of a Victorian damsel.
It will take all day Wednesday for
the 220 -ton house to move two miles to
its new location at the Old State Peni-
tentiary, according to William D.
Huckstep, under whose care the 83-
year -old mansion will move.
The mansion, noted for its Victorian -
style architecture, was rolled onto Sec-
ond Street between Idaho and Main
Tuesday to await its trip down Warm
Springs, which starts about 8:30 a.m.
today.
The sight of the 47 -foot high mansion
resting eight feet off the ground on a
special vehicle equipped with 60 rubber
tires caused heads of passersby to turn
Tuesday.
"It's been going good considering
how big it is," said Huckstep, who said
the Bishops House is the heaviest load
he has moved in 29 years as a house
mover. He said he anticipates no prob-
lems moving the house down Warm
Springs Avenue.
It took about three hours to move the
house from its location of 83 years at
the corner of Idaho and Second Street
one block to the corner of Second and
Warm Springs, Huckstep said.
Maneuvering the house down Warm
Springs will require moving telephone,
power and fire lines Wednesday, Huck-
step said. It will also require moving
the traffic light at the corner of Broad-
way and Warm Springs, he said.
Traffic on Warm Springs will be de-
toured Wednesday, he said.
The 335- horsepower Cummings diesel
truck, which will pull the house, will go
about five miles per hour. Huckstep
said the house should reach its new lo-
cation by evening.
Huckstep's crews have worked for
about seven weeks to prepare the
house for the move to the old peniten-
tiary, which is being renovated into an
historical center. Huckstep will be paid
$45,000 to move the house.
To prepare the house for the move,
three porches were removed and will
be moved separately, Huckstep said.
Steel cables were wrapped around the
house's sandstone walls to keep them
intact and boards were placed on the
windows for protection, he said.
Two huge I -beams and several cross
beams support the house on three large
dollies.
Trees along Warm Springs were
trimmed in preparation for the man.
sion's trip.
The Victorian mansion was threat-
ened by demolition last year when the
Boise City Council gave permission to
St. Luke's Hospital to build a parking
lot on the ground the house occupied at
120 Idaho. Since then, city grants, do-
nations and several projects have
raised $75,000 to pay costs for moving
and restoration.
When the house reaches its new loca-
tion, it is expected to be renovated
within a year, according to William
Dougall, historical museum director.
The exterior also will be restored with
new cedar shingle roofing ands a near -
original paint job. It will then be open
to the public for tours. It will be the
only Victorian -style house open to the
public anywhere in Idaho.
Boise, Idaho, Thursday, November 13, 1975
ROOSEVELT GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS WATCH HISTORIC MOVE OF BOISE LANDMARK
... as Bishops House inches slowly down Warm Springs Avenue toward new home at state penitentiary
Bishops House Halted by SaaainIg � ; Street
ROOSEVELT GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS WATCH HISTORIC MOVE OF BOISE LANDMARK
... as Bishops House inches slowly down Warm Springs Avenue toward new home at state penitentiary
Bishops House Halted by Sauaing Street
• • Cr
By TIM WOODWARD
The Idaho Statesman
The Bishops House spent Wednesday
night in a new, but not final, resting
place.
The 83- year -old Victorian mansion,
cushioned by 60 rubber tires on a spe-
cial house - moving vehicle, inched its
way along Warm Springs Avenue most
of the day. But just after turning onto
the road to the old state penitentiary
where it will be placed, the pavement
began to settle, stalling the move for
the day.
The former home of Idaho Episcopal
bishops weighs 220 tons. Movers said it
was not unusual for pavement to settle
during a move and were prepared with
jacks and special steel netting to cope
with the problem.
The move to the old penitentiary
grounds should be completed this
morning, William Huckstep, of William
Huckstep House Movers, Inc., said.
The house - moving vehicle was jacked
up Wednesday after the pavement set-
tled, and heavy steel netting was
slipped under the wheels. The house
will be pulled across the netting and
cover the last few hundred feet of its
move this morning.
The Bishops House was not dam-
aged.
Wednesday's 'move was the culmi-
nation of efforts to save the building
from demolition. The home, after res-
toration, will be the only Victorian man-
sion in Idaho on public display. Its
previous location at Second and Idaho
will become a St. Luke's Hospital park-
ing lot, and ultimately a medical build-
ing.
Hundreds of people watched the old
house move most of the way to its new
quarters Wednesday. Classes were dis-
missed temporarily at East Junior
High School and Roosevelt School so
students could watch the move.
The mansion completely filled Warm
Springs Avenue, at times touching
trees with its roof and sides. Trees
were pruned last week to provide clea-
rance.
Power lines were taken down at in-
tersections just before the house
passed through. Afterward they were
reconnected. Service was not dis-
rupted, according to Harry Lawson,
an Idaho Power foreman.
Many power lines were raised prior
to Wednesday's move. Plans called for
clearance of six to eight inches, but the
house was jacked up higher than an-
ticipated, Lawson said. In some areas,
it cleared lines by only an inch, he
added.
Lawson was concerned about chil-
dren from schools along the way
watching the move from Warm
Springs Avenue sidewalks. The com-
bination of children and 12,500 -volt
power lines was potentially hazardous,
he indicated.
"It just doesn't make sense," he
said. "I don't know why they have
these kids out here."
Huckstep said there was "no prob-
lem" with the children watching. Oth-
er bystanders said the children enjoyed
the event.
"I wouldn't want to move a house
like this every day, or even every year,
for that matter," Huckstep said.
(Additional photos of moving day,
Page 2 -E.)
s. <_
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Historic preservation in Idaho
-- often a moving experience
By ARTHUR HART
Moving historic buildings in order'
to preserve them is not the best way
to do it. But sometimes it is the only
way.
Preserving Idaho's architectural
heritage for future generations often
has been a "moving experience" for
those of the Idaho Historical Society
in the past decade, whether we
wanted to do it that way or not.
The first effort of the kind hap-
pened in 1970, when a little brick
house near 6th and Grove streets was
discovered to be that of Thomas E.
Logan, mayor of Boise four times in
the 1870s. Although Logan's role in
Boise history was significant, the
house itself was even more so.
Upon examination the house
turned out to be made of abode — an
extremely rare survivor in the Pa-
cific Northwest. Although adobe was
used extensively in the Boise of the
1860s, only the Logan House survives.
Through the efforts of Eugene
Chaffee and the contributions of a
number of local banks, businesses,
clubs and individuals, enough money
Idaho
Yesterdays
was raised to move the old adobe
house to a newly established Pioneer
Village next to the museum in Julia
Davis Park.
The Idaho Historical Auxiliary has
restored it to the way it looked when
Mayor Logan lived there.
At the same time, arrangements
were made through Boise City Park
Board and the City Council to relo-
cate two 1863 log cabins from a pio-
neer display on the other side of the
park.
This complex, jointly sponsored by
the Sons and Daughters of Idaho Pio-
neers and The Idaho Statesman in
the early 1930s, was run down and
being vandalized to a point requiring
emergency action if the historic arti-
facts in it were to be saved.
In 1972 the two cabins joined the
Logan House next door to the mu-
seum. Another part of the salvage
operations, completed soon after,
was the relocation to the park of the
iron fence that had once surrounded
the territorial capitol grounds.
This fence, with its cast iron spear -
point finials, had for many years run
along State Street at the Idaho Sol-
diers' Home (now Veterans Memo-
rial Park).
1975 saw the most ambitious move
yet. A committee appointed by
Mayor Dick Eardley to investigate
ways and means of preserving the
Bishops' House at 120 West Idaho
(then known as the Bishop Rhea Cen-
ter) succeeded in enlisting communi-
tywide support on a scale hitherto
unknown in Idaho historic preserva-
tion circles.
The 220 -ton house was moved 21 /z
miles to a new site at the Old Idaho
Penitentiary. It is now handsomely
restored and a popular place for par-
ties, weddings, receptions and club
meetings.
Idaho's oldest public building, the
1862 courthouse at Pierce, was
moved in 1977, but only a few feet.
This move was necessary because of
a serious threat to the building's fu-
ture from erosion, snow pack and
poor drainage.
The keeper of The National Regis-
ter personally concurred in the deci-
sion to move the historic structure to
a safer location.
The move of Boise's 1880s Adel -
mann House from 221 West Jefferson
to Julia Davis Park is the most re-
cent of the society's "moving experi-
ences."
We hope it is the last, and that in
future, historic buildings can stay on
their original sites.
In either case, they will continue to
instruct, delight and please us as we
seek to understand our history bet-
ter.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
B ishop House Gets Readyfor Big D
By TIM WOODWARD
The Idaho Statesman
One of the biggest moving jobs in
Boise's history will occur Wednesday
when a 220 -ton house takes a trip down
Warm Springs Avenue.
The Bishops House has been partly
disassembled and wrapped like a giant
package during the last three weeks —
all in preparation for Wednesday's
journey from its location of 83 years at
the corner of Second and Idaho to the
Old State Penitentiary.
The historic mansion was the resi-
dence of Episcopal bishops for decades.
The Queen Anne -style home, consid-
ered a classic example of Victorian ar-
chitecture, was threatened with demo-
lition last year when the Boise City
Council gave permission to St. Luke's
Hospital to build a parking lot on the
ground it occupies. Since then, city
grants, donations and various projects
have raised $75,000 to pay costs for
moving and restoration.
The process of moving an old man-
sion is elaborate and time consuming.
Three of the structure's large porches
had to be removed to make the build-
ing small enough to be driven out
Warm Springs Avenue to the old peni-
tentiary.
Weak spots were internally braced
and sandstone walls were wrapped
with steel cables to keep the building
(♦
from falling apart during the move.
Two huge I -beams and several cross
beams supported by powerful jacks
now hold the structure several feet off
the ground.
The move itself will proceed with
caution and with slowness. It will take
all day Wednesday to negotiate the ap-
proximately two miles to the peniten-
tiary.
The building will ride on a special ve-
hicle with 60 rubber -tired wheels, 32 in
front and 28 in back, according to Ar-
thur Hart, director of the Idaho Histori-
cal Museum.
Trees along Warm Springs Avenue
already are being trimmed to make
way for the mansion. Power and tele-
phone lines will he moved as the work
progresses, according to William Dou-
gall, historical museum curator.
"In some places, the lines already
have been raised," he said. "Individual
telephone lines will be taken down and
reconnected as they go."
Traffic on Warm Springs Avenue will
have to be detoured around the house,
according to Bob Griffiths, Ada County
Highway District deputy director. Wil-
liam D. Huckstep House Movers Inc.,
he said, must apply to the district for a
permit to move the house and reroute
traffic.
Cost of moving the building, Dougall
said, is approximately $50,000.
The home's new foundation will 'be
built after it reaches the old peniten-
tiary, Dougall said. The foundation is
built underneath and the building is
lowered onto it, he explained.
"Everything has to be done very
gently," Dougall said. "The whole first
story of the house is sandstone. Sand-
stone is fine, as long as it stands still,
but when you start shaking it around
you can run into problems.
"It's extra heavy and extra fragile.
That's the reason the cables are
wrapped around it and that it will be
carried on all those wheels for a soft
ride."
The home hopefully will be restored
within a year, Dougall said. It will be-
come "a fairly typical Victorian man-
sion of the I890s, with furniture of that
period on the first floor. It will be
available for tours and will be the only
Victorian -style house open to the public
anywhere in Idaho. It should be an ex-
cellent opportunity for people to see
how elegant life was in those days."
Restoration will include interior re-
finishing, a new, cedar shingle roof and
exterior colors planned to approximate
the mansion's original paint job. It
probably will be a dark color with light
trim that will highlight the original gin-
gerbread effect, Dougall said. '
He guessed it would cost approxi-
mately $500,000 to build a new Bishops
House.
.7
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THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, November 10, 1975
Idaho Yesterdays
Boise Tack Shops
Fought Each Other
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho
Historical Museum .
Two of Boise's pioneer
businessmen had a running
fued in The Statesman in
1881 that must have amused
readers. It certainly pleased
the editor, for the two com-
petitors for Boise's saddle
and harness business ran ad
after ad in the paper lam-
basting each other.
Peter J. Pefly had been
the city's sole practitioner of
the arts of leatherwork until
Joseph Perrault opened his
shop at the corner of Main
and Seventh streets.
His first ad in 1881 appear-
ed on June 25, a handsome
display featuring -a saddle
and other tack. The
ad emphasized the super-
iority of hand - stitching — a
point that would be at issue
when the feud got going in
earnest.
Apparently hurt by Per -
rault's competition for the
local market, Pefly, who had
not advertised previously,
came out with a big display
of his own on Sept. 18. He
advertised "Cow Boy Goods
and Saddles," and empha-
sized that only Santa Cruz
leather from California was
used in his work.
Perrault countered on Oct.
25 with a notice in the form
of a letter. Entitled "Great
Success — How and Why,"
Perrault for the first time
made direct reference to
Pefly in his ads; "Fully real-
izing at the start that the
PETER J. PEFLY
... counterattacks
people were deeply in love
with an old monopoly that
had so long enjoyed alone
the harness trade, that a
new shop would be regarded
as an impertinence, and
that the only hope of suc-
cessful competition was in
doing better work under all
circumstances than the Pio-
neer monopoly would dare
do ... " he went on to say
that he should be patronized
because no machine stitch-
ing was allowed and that he
would not try to force sales
by "ways that are dark and
tricks that are vain."
Pefly was forced to re-
spond to this direct attack,
by making claims of his own
in notice form, evidently
aimed specifically at things
he knew about Perrault's op-
eration.
"No Oregon or other
worthless leather used here.
No boy's or other botched
work allowed. No convicts
employed or prison goods
sold in this shop. I enjoy only
honest, skilled, and respon-
sible labor, and use only the
very best material known to
the trade, hence the univer-
sal satisfaction given and
the large and ever increas-
ing patronage rieceived in re-
turn."
Pefly also advised the pub-
lic that he was going to Cali-
fornia to stock up on a new
material which would enable
him to produce work "to
defy all competition."
During Pefly's absence
Perrault opened a new phase
of the campaign with a no-
tice headed "Anti- Monopoly
League," in which he called
his effort a "crusade." He
adopted a rather sarcastic
tone, agreeing that "it was
very mean for Perrault to
start an opposition store.
The Pioneer harness mono-
poly was here first and no-
body else had a right to sell
harness in Boise, but the un-
kindest cut of all is that the
public is too smart to heed
what the would -be monopoly
say of the opposition store.
They go and examine the
goods for themselves."
P. J. Pefly's pioneer harness shop got competition in 1881
The battle was by no
means ended. Next week we the American competitive
shall look further into this system of business, as
amusing early example of fought out on Boise's Main
the place of advertising in Street.
Boise's Eastman Building
can, should be savea
By WILLIAM G. DOUGALL
Winston Moore raised some interesting
points about the Eastman Building and the
Preservation Coalition, the group trying to
save it, in his guest opinion of Sept. 13.
Moore's opinions seem to indicate a lack of
knowledge about our group, what we are
trying to do, and why. I would therefore
like to clarify some of the issues brought up
in his article.
First he refers to members of the group
as "elitists," "irresponsible extremists,"
and "some bright young lawyers." It is
true that 2 of the founders of the group are
lawyers. We also have 2 architects, 2 state
employees, an artist, an archaeologist, a
housewife, a marine engineer, a BSU stu-
dent and an apartment developer — all
Boise residents.
Use of the label "extremists" probably
comes from Moore's mistaken contention
that the Preservation Coalition is trying to
slow down or stop the redevelopment of
downtown Boise. The Coalition has stated
from the very beginning that we are not
trying to stop or delay downtown redevel-
opment. Rather we want to see the down-
town developed in a very positive way, uti-
lizing a blend of the best of new construc-
tion and old construction. And we feel that
the Eastman Building can be integrated
into the present Winmar plan with very lit-
tle change and no delay.
Moore refers to an overwhelmingly obvi-
ous public disagreement with the Coali-
tion's position. I cannot speak for all the
citizens of Boise, and I'm not sure how
Moore feels he can. But I have found that
in talking with all kinds of people unrelated
to any organized preservation movement
(bus drivers, waitresses, etc.) that almost
all either support our position completely
or say that they think the building is impor-
tant and would like to see it saved if it
doesn't halt progress on the downtown.
The architectural, economic and histori-
cal values of the building are questioned in
the article. The architectural and historical
importance of the building have been docu-
mented by experts numerous times.
The economic value of the building is
also very important, first from the stand-
point of energy savings in reusing existing
buildings as opposed to wasting them and
building new ones (Think how much energy
is used to make and fire a single brick.),
and from studies which show that the build-
ing could be completely rehabilitated for
about $27 per square foot, compared to a
replacement cost of $60 to $80 per square
foot to build a new structure of comparable
size.
Moore claims that Winmar has listened
to us (the public), by means of the citizens
advisory committees of last winter, and
that most of the Coalition members did not
mar plan that the Eastman Building can
fulfill the intended functions of the site (2
levels of small retail shops) as well as pro -
vide 4 floors of office or town -house resi-
dential space.
Moore states that Winmar would include
the building if it were feasible, and that
Winmar is doing all kinds of projects all
around the country. In actuality, Winmar is
a developer of suburban shopping centers
—the kind Boise officials are trying to pre-
vent being built west of Boise — and they
never have worked in a downtown area and
have never before attempted or even stud-
ied the adaptive reuse of historic buildings.
Suffice to say that there are at least 4 de-
velopers who are ready to put up the cash
to buy and renovate the building because
they do think it is economically feasible.
The threat has also been made that if
Winmar isn't catered to, they will pull out
of the Boise project, and that if they did, no
one else would be willing to develop the
downtown.
However, the fact that the Winmar Co.
will be buying the heart of downtown Boise
for the effective price of 80 cents per
square foot (which includes all the build-
ings still standing north of Main Street)
makes me think they won't pass up a bar-
gain like this over one issue. And in the un-
likely instance they do, there will be other,
even local, developers eager to buy this ar-
Guest Opinion
take time to participate in them. I must
disagree with these statements. At least 6
of the Coalition members, including my-
self, did serve on these advisory com-
mittees. As to Winmar listening to the com-
mittees, they listened rather selectively,
since 3 of the 4 committees (design and im-
pacts, energy, and merchants) recom-
mended the retention of the significant his-
toric buildings as an important priority.
The present condition of the building was
questioned by the phrase "old, falling -apart
building" — which has no real meaning or
significance other than to a few — "simply
cannot and will not fit into a sensible plan
for the redevelopment of downtown." If
Moore would read the structural reports on
the building or take a personal inspection
tour of it, he would see that the building is
in good structural condition, probably bet-
ter than some of the buildings he owns, and
that only superficial damage has occurred,
almost wholly due to neglect by the present
owner, the B.R.A.
As for the building not fitting into down-
town, this is a very shortsighted view, since
it is obvious from studying the current Win-
tificially cheap land and develop it in a
very positive way. In the past, other devel-
opers have appealed to the B.R.A. for con-
sideration in developing the downtown, but
the B.R.A. wouldn't listen to them.
I don't quite understand Moore's com-
ment that downtown Boise will still have 80
percent of its old buildings, since the
B.R.A. has torn down 75 buildings already
and plans to tear down all or part of 25
more within the project area. We are try-
ing to save only the 5 best buildings out of
more than 100.
But I do appreciate Moore's concern for
old buildings and feel his 8th Street Market-
place is a delightful place in which to shop,
and I am glad to see the interest he is ex-
pressing in developing more buildings near
the downtown core. In fact, Moore and I
are probably working toward the same
goal, in that we both want the very best de-
velopment to occur in downtown Boise — a
city center which we can be proud of today
and be proud to show our children and
grandchildren in the years to come. I feel
,that a revitalized Eastman Building can
and should be a part of this thriving busi-
ness center as an example of craftsman-
ship, economics and a pleasing contrast of
new and old architecture.
(William G. Dougall is a curator with the
Idaho Historical Society and a member of
the Preservation Coalition.)
M
As State Office Building
Old St. Al's May Be Saved
By JERRY GILLILAND
The Idaho Statesman
When a 10 -story state office
building is constructed in down-
town Boise this year, it may in-
clude a portion of the historic old
St. Alphonsus Hospital.
The Idaho State Housing Author-
ity is scheduled to meet today to
pick an architect for the new office
building to be built on the block
bordered by State, Washington,
Fourth and Fifth streets.
That block is occupied by the for-
mer St. Alphonsus Hospital build-
ing. The building was purchased by
the state in 1971 for $1.25 million
and is used for state offices. It is
scheduled to be torn down to make
room for the $4 million state office
building.
However, State Rep. Ron Twile-
gar, D- Boise, said Wednesday he
plans to introduce a resolution in
the Idaho Legislature to direct that
at least the .1902 section of the
hospital be preserved as part of the
new office building.
"It is aesthetically pleasing, the
architecture is significant and it
deserves to be saved," Twilegar
said.
Twilegar will be backed by a
group of Boise residents which now
is being organized, according to
Romaine G. Hon, 140 Main.
"There are quite a few people
who think the southwest corner
where the old turrets are should be
saved and included in the new
building," she said.
Hon said there is precedent for
the legislative action in the vote a
few years ago to save the GAR
Hall at 714 West State.
"We don't want to save every-
thing, we just want to save the
good things," she said. "Future
generations will appreciate seeing
some of the old buildings that are
still here."
Twilegar said preservation of the
old hospital's southwest corner will
depend on whether it is economic-
ally feasible. "I think it can be," he
said.
State officials are sympathetic to
the idea but doubtful that it would
be economically feasible.
D. E. "Skip" Chilberg, director
of the State Department of Admin-
istration, said he has been con-
tacted by a few people who are in-
terested in saving the old building.
"We are interested in preserving
the building as well as any way it
can be salvaged, moved or utili-
zed," Chilberg said. "However, we
haven't seen a proposal yet that is
viable."
Chilberg said that once an archi-
tect is appointed the bid letting and
construction of the 100,000 - square-
foot office building could begin
within six months. He said it would
take from 18 months to two years
to complete.
Chilberg said the old hospital
building is "extremely detero-
riated" and inefficient as an office
building. It provides only 35,000
square feet of office space.
The proposed 10 -story tower
eventually will be joined by a twin
tower at the St. Alphonsus site,
Chilberg said, noting there already
are enough state offices in rented
quarters throughout Boise to fill
the two towers.
Another state office building, at
Seventh and State, will be com-
pleted later this year with 120,000
square feet of space.
In addition to that space, state
agencies rent another 200,000
square feet at 30 locations in Boise,
Chilberg said.
The new 10 -story tower will be fi-
nanced by revenue bonds to be is-
sued by the housing authority, he
explained. The state agencies oc-
cupying the tower then will pay
rent for a number of years until
the bonds are paid off "at which
point the state would own the
building," he said.
Chilberg said the other tower,
some two or three years away
from construction, also would be fi-
nanced by revenue bonds.
ll�b
PAGE 6B THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, February 21, 1977
Caldwell Founders
r
Gene ated Fears
Of `Future Capital"
The Idaho Tri- Weekly States-
man was understandably cranky in
'
Idaho
1883 when it referred to Caldwell as
"the future capital." Boise had been
by- passed by the Oregon Short Line
Yesterdays
railroad, the Oregon & Idaho Land
By Arthur Hart
Improvement Co. had laid out new
townsites to rival the capital, and
Robert E. Strahorn, its secretary
and chief promoter, had all but ig-
nored Boise in his advertising of
that relocated each time the rails
southwest Idaho.
had been laid another 20 miles or
Recognizing the threat from
so. While it was located half a mile
towns that were on the railroad
below Caldwell it received a great
when Boise was not, the sarcastic
deal of scornful abuse from the
reference to "the future capital"
Statesman. Calling it "the liveliest
had 'more than a little real appre-
little hole in Boise Valley, " the
hensibn in it. It is instructive there-
paper described it as made up al-
fore to look at what Caldwell was
most exclusively of "tent saloons
actually like in September 1883 as
dotting the sagebrush plain.'." The
the railway construction camps
correspondent also enjoyed taking a,
leap- frogged across the sagebrush
partisan shot at the rival oise
plains of southern Idaho.
Democrat reporter on the s by
On Sept. 15 there was only one
saving, "We did not make o Ives
wooden frame building standing in
known for fear something w' d go
downtown Caldwell. This was a res-
down to wet our throats, as all
taurant operated by "two worthy
Democrats like good whisky."
young men who propose to grow up
"Some of these saloons are run on
with the young metropolis," accord-
patriotic principles," explained. the
ing to a correspondent from nearby
eyewitness, "having the glorious old
Middleton who described the scene
stars and stripes flying at their
for Statesman readers.
masthead. Surely there should be
Among other business buildings
some enticement for the unwary to
going up at the time was the frame
make them a call. It is said that
Haskell Hotel and a saloon and bil-
Mr. Calloway, on whose land these
liard hall being built by "Mr. John
tents have been pitched, gave them
Thomas, a well -to -do farmer resid-
strict orders to get off and 'va-
ing near Middleton." Other lots had
mose,' which no doubt they will."
been purchased at prices ranging
Bugtown also was the scene of
from $1 to $200, and more stores
some horse - stealing, according to
would be built as soon as lumber
the reporter, wb,.o said that a couple
could be obtained from sawmills on
of "gents" v*l-e suspected, since
the Payette River.
they turned up, missing at the same
The bridge over the Boise River,
time as the horses.
at the canyon near the townsite,
Our earliest picture of Caldwell,
had been completed earlier, and the
donated by P. J. Sonberg, shows the
track crews were just finishing lay-
brave new town a few weeks later.
ing the rails across it. Work trains
Bugtown had been moved across
had come and gone several times,
the Snake, but real buildings, side -
their black plumes of smoke taus-
walks and street lights gave prom -
ing considerable excitement (� 1
per�_MrM Al-
Boise Valley residents who h 1 t.t
�► w a ital,"
seen a locomotive since leaving the
Caldwe he future seat of Can -
eastern states. , *�
ib,on Con hen it was formed in
" Bugtown" was the name at-
1892.
tacked to the railroad construction
(Mr. Ha is director of the Idaho
camp itself — a floating tent city— ifistorieal
DO NOT REMOVE FR,)0.4
PAYETTE LAKES
PROGRESSIVE CLUB
By the end of 1883, Caldwell had a
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1979
Six structures
in Caldwell
make register
CALDWELL — Six Caldwell struc-
tures have been placed on the Na-
tional Register of Historic Places.
The buildings — 4 homes, a Pres-
byterian church and parsonage —
were built in the late 18(1)s, said Paul
Evans, Caldwell Historic Preserva-
tion Commission chairman.
The buildings are in the area
bounded by Albany and Belmont
streets, 7th and 9th avenues. The
area will be called the North Cald-
well Historic District, Evans said.
Inclusion on the National Register
allows owners to apply for federal
matching grants to renovate the ex-
teriors of the structures, Evans said.
Other Caldwell buildings on the list
include the old Carnegie Library and
Blatchely and Sterry Halls on the
College of Idaho campus.
The Caldwell commission also is
studying other historic buildings for
possible inclusion on the National
Register.
poop-
fF
r
rx
Old Boise: A Success Story
THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Sunday, December 4, 1977
in Makiang
By MARY JENKINS
The Idaho Statesman
he late Margaret Cobb Ailshie, one -time Statesman
owner - publisher, would be pleased with what Joan Car-
ley has in mind for her former newspaper building on the
southwest comer of Sixth and Main streets ... decorat-
ing parts of it with printshop artifacts and old front pages.
Carley has acquired the property for inclusion in her Old Boise
properties, a downtown speciality shopping area that recently
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Red
Cross office and its blood center were the last occupants of the
one -time newspaper plant.
The Old Boise properties, 134,000 square feet including six
parking lots and storage facilities. are scattered over four blocks-
and skirt the eastern edges of the urban renewal district.
Four of them, a parking lot on Bannock Street, the Pioneer
Building on the northeast comer of 6th and Main streets, the old
Statesman and the old telephone company building on Main,
make a horseshoe pattern around the new City Hall.
Carley considers this a "neat contrast," having part of the old
city next to the new.
Most visible landmark of Old Boise is the horse on top of the
Pioneer Building, a fixture there since the days when customers
went inside to buy things like harnesses and tents.
The horse was missing for a time several years ago, when the
previous owner of the building sold it to an antique dealer. Then
Boise businessman Hugh Angelton bought it and gave it to the
museum, Carley said. She offered "free pasture" and now it's
back home.
"People were upset when it wasn't there I even had a call
from the mayor," she said.
Specialty shops in the Pioneer Building and the former Jellison
Monuments building in the same block sell merchandise ranging
from tennis equipment and holiday boutique items to clothes,
cookware, coffee beans and clocks.
A lunchroom in the Pioneer basement, which offers homemade
soup and unusual sandwiches helps to bring customers to the dis-
trict. It has had a waiting line almost every noon hour since it
opened for business.
Across Main Street the old Night Grocery building, which
houses a bar - restaurant and a supply store for outdoorsmen, is
another Carley property.
Altogether, she has 95 tenants, including college students in
apartments over the old grocery store and customers for a storage
garage.
A gift shop and a bath and light fixture store have already
opened in the old Statesman building and a private supper club
upstairs will be ready in mid - December. Also planned are a plant
shop and beauty salon when remodeling is completed.
Old Boise, comparable in size to any historic specialty shopping
center in the country considering the city's population, has prosp-
ered since its beginning three years ago, Carley said.
"The foot traffic is increasing all the time."
The project is getting attention outside of Idaho: Mary Ann
Reese, a former Boisean at Sunset, said the magazine plans to
feature Old Boise next summer.
Carley doesn't discuss finances, except to say that, in another
five years, she expects to get a good return on her investment.
As examples of the growth trend, Carley said the Bootworks,
which handles equipment for outdoor recreation, has increased its
space three times. Mother Hubbard's gift shop, which has been in
the old Statesman building for about a month, wants to double
its space.
Marge's Clothes Tree in the Pioneer building also has asked for
more room. Carley said she couldn't meet the request so that
business is moving out of Old Boise.
"I'm sorry to lose it, but the space just isn't available," she
said.
Carley had not been a business woman before she started the
venture. A member of one of the prominent pioneer Davidson
r CN families, she grew up in Boise, developed executive talent as a
Junior League volunteer.
She formed the Idaho Historic Preservation Council and
worked in other community organizations.
"You get upset when you see something happening to your
home town ... for instance, I can remember when there were
trees all along Capitol Boulevard ... and you want to do some-
thing about it," she said. I
She learned from preservation council programs that it is less
JOAN CARLEY
... mastermind of Old Boise
expensive and more satisfying to renovate an old building than
build a new one, so she decided to try.
She visited historic shopping areas in large cities, consulted
with people such as Dana Crawford, president of Denver's Lara-
mie Square.
She learned, among other things, that a successful shopping
district requires adequate parking space and compatible busines-
ses run by experienced people.
She also learned that when one part of a development is well -
established, a well -known business name, such as Pengilly's, will
move in.
But when one man told her she should have a master plan, she
said to him, "how can you have a master plan when you don't
know what the city is going to do ?"
Carley said she relies more on local talent for advice than from
out -of -state experts she has consulted. Pidge Reller McAssey,
daughter in another pioneer family, has provided many decorat-
ing ideas and the Idaho Historical museum staff helped with the
restoration of the old Knight Grocery building.
Carley feels fortunate to have a contractor (Jim Lemmon
Building Co.) who is "sympathetic to old buildings, because they
do hold surprises, sometimes." The interiors of all the shops were
remodeled.
THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Sunday, January 21,19* 9
Idaho bars up hi4
By JOHN ACCOLA
The Idaho Statei5man
For anyone who has spent an
evening beneath the cathedral -like
columns of the Main Street Bou-
quet's massive, polished ma-
hagony back bar, drinking be-
comes more than a favorite past -
time. It becomes a trip through
time itself.
Custom built by an eastern ma-
nufacturer and shipped here at the
turn of the century, the historic
bar is symbolic of an era when
beers were only a nickel apiece
and Boise's saloons far outnum-
bered its churches and schools.
"It was a man's duty," writes
Toby Thompson in his book, Saloon
— A Guide To America's Great
Bars, Pubs, Saloons, Taverns,
Drinking Places and Watering
Holes, "Lord, it was his destiny, to
get out and scrape for all he was
worth; to ride that wagon West
and stake out a claim ... All the
great 19th century architectural
styles," from Second Empire to
Eastlake to Chateauesque to
Beaux Arts Classicism, shouted
this credo ... they were created
largely at the behest of a
merchant /banker class as testa-
ment "t6 the permanence and all
power of money.
"The ruiner standing in a saloon
in Virginia City, Nevada, could not
articulate this, but he sensed that
the new bar shipped in today over-
land from God knows where back
East meant something important;
meant class, a touch of high style,
that his camp was prosperous, that
there was silver underfoot, he'd be
shoveling up tomorrow if his
strength and determination held."
Boise's 1909 -10' city directry lists
22 saloons on Main Street alone. In-
ciuded among the Bouquet's com-
petitors were the Maple, Irrigator,
Silver Bell, Midway, Olympic and
Montreal saloons. All undoubtedly
had their own character and clien-
tele. And many came with all the
trimmings — polished brass fix-
tures, marble counters, mirrored
walls, wood paneling and tile
floors.
As with the Bouquet's furnish-
ings, few of these bars depended
on local craftsmen to impress their
customers. Instead, saloon keep-
photo by Moan
Historical museum's bar, bought for $3,000
ers enlisted the help of cabinet and
furniture makers from back East,
such as the Brunswick Co. of Chi-
cago.
Althopgh best known for its
bowling alleys and billiard tables
today, prior to the advent of Prohi-
bition, Brunswick was the larl
manufacturer of bar fixtures in
country.
By ordering bar fixtures and
cessories through the Brunsw
Balke and Collender Co. cata
any saloon keeper with a hund
rch
,est
the
ac-
ick,
log,
red
story along with drinks
or more dollars could be guaran-
teed an impressive and functional
backdrop sturdy enough to with-
stand the abuses of their often
rowdy, drunken patrons.
Some of the bars were custom
made, but most were mass pro-
duced at Brunswick's woodwork-
ing plant in Muskegon, Mich.
What spurred the company to
enter the bar- making business and
then suddenly drop it in the early
1940s, not even Brunswick officials
know for sure. But a spokesman
for Brunswick in Chicago in-
dicated the firm may have ven-
tured into the furniture manufac-
turing field (there are also Bruns-
wick ice - boxes, church pews and
soda fountains) to make use of the
large tracts of forest land it once
owned in northern Michigan.
He said the earliest catalog he
could find was one dated, in the
mid -1930s advertising all -wood
bars — complete with mirrors, 14-
foot front and back bars — for $295.
Today, Brunswick bars are col-
lector's items fetching anywhere
from $1,500 to $50,000 at antique
auctions. However, Jim Berro,
part -owner of the Bouquet, in-
dicated his 1903, 40 -foot -long
Brunswick front and back bar is
valued in the six- figure range.
"A representative from Gallo
Wineries in Southern California
said he saw one auctioned off like
this for a little over $70,000," Berro
said. "But a guy from Carmichael,
Calif., offered me $125,000 less than
a year ago."
Part of the Bouquet bar's
mystique is the fact that nobody
seems to know for sure which
Boise saloon it was originally built
for. Berro has been led to believe
that it once graced the first floor of
the Overland Buffet (on the corner
of Eighth and Main streets where
the Eastman Building stands
today) and was eventually moved
to the Bouquet's old location at 711
Main St. in 1906.
But that story seems to conflict
with the origins of an even older .
and more elaborate bar on perma-
nent exhibit at the Idaho Historical
Museum. Also a Brunswick, the
museum's bar consists of a 20 -foot-
long front and back bar, a 6- by -12-
foot plate glass mirror, a humidor
cabinet and 40 feet of cherry wood
paneling with two standing mir-
rors.
Purchased by the Idaho Histori-
cal Auxilary in 1966 for $3,000 from
the Broadbent estate, it is said to
be part of the furnishings from the
old Capitol Hotel, built in 1851 at
815-17 Main St. According to a 1965
Statesman article, the bar was
then moved to the Overland Buf-
fet, but no date is given.
The Overland Buffet, also known
as Blackinger's Buffet, was a fa-
vorite meeting place of Idaho polit-
ical and business leaders. It was
torn down in 1904 and replaced by
the Eastman Building, which may
have housed several saloons under
the same roof.
Newspaper accounts say during
Prohibition the museum's bar was
stored at another Main Street loca-
tion where it "supposedly served
its purpose as a speakeasy."
"There are so many conflicting
stories," said Berro, "I don't know
what to believe."
The history of the Old Boise Sa-
loon's front and back bar is just as
confused. Built in Pennsylvania by
an unknown manufacturer, the ex-
quisite bar — graced by four col-
umns, marble counters, handcut
medallions and etchings — is still
at its old Boise location at 100 S.
Sixth St. (Jake's Restaurant).
But apart from its eastern ori-
gins, the current owners say they
know little else. Some reports
claim the bar set may have been
built as early as 1751 and first
shipped to Silver City.
Two other front and back bar
sets built in the 18o0s that have re-
mained in their original settings
are at the Miner's Exchange in
Idaho City and the Saratoga Hotel
in Caldwell. The Idaho City bar,
about 12 feet long with leaded,
stained and frosted glass cabinet
doors and a large overhead mirror,
was installed there in 1865. Its
manufacturer is unknown.
The Saratoga bar, believed to be
a Brunswick and made of pecan, is
located in the hotel's Calvin Cobb
saloon. Owner Bob Bushnell said it
was installed when the hotel was
built in 1903.
About the only antique bar in
Boise that has a fairly complete,
documented history is the Bruns-
wick front and back bar set at Pen -
gilly's Saloon, 513 Main St. A com-
bination of cherry, oak and walnut,
it was purchased by Joan Carley
through Boise antique broker
"Pidge" McAssey from a Chicago
estate several years ago.
Carley said the front and back
bar is a classic Brunswick origi
nally located in a neighborhood bar
and cigar store. During Prohibi-
tion, it became a speakeasy and
later a private bar called the
Sportmen's Club.
Young Adult Conservation Corps worker Steve Farrell prepares ground around Bishops' House for future lawn
Aq,- -, I A-I , ti,:Vl t
Bishops' House
gets new life
About $150,00 in materials and labor have been raised
or donated for the restoration of the 91- year -old
Bishops' House under a campaign coordinated by
Friends of the Bishops' House. Built in 1887, the
Bishops' house was used for decades as a residence for
Episcopal bishops. It was slated for demolition several
years ago before being saved by a campaign headed by
the Boise Junior League. The house is owned by the
state of Idaho, and the restoration is being supervised
by the Idaho Historical Society. In 1976, the house was
moved from 2nd and Idaho streets to the grounds of the
old Idaho State Penitentiary.
Statesman photos by Milan Chuckovich
Young Adult Conservation Corps worker Steve Farrell prepares ground around Bishops' House for future lay
SS♦ <y �f fi
PAGE 4A THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Monday, July 16.1979
uvv. miuAdrtuer s iout mansion will be restored to original appearance
Many o/d buildings damaged
by `m1sigulded
"Misguided improvement" is a
term widely used today by architec-
tural historians and restorationists.
It covers all of the many things
Americans have done to their build-
ings with the laudable intention of
making them more up-to -date, but
which also have done violence to
their style, design or beauty.
Practical considerations have
often dictated a change of material
on the exterior surfaces, such as as-
bestos shingles, aluminum siding or
rustic shakes. Although insulation
has been improved or maintenance
reduced, in most cases the buildings
have suffered a change of appear-
ance for the worse.
Loss of scale is a common fault of
modern overlays on old buildings.
Aluminum siding, wonderful as it is
in many ways, usually has been ap-
plied in bands two or three times as
wide as the original siding. A delicate
visual effect of fine texture is re-
placed by a broad and clumsy one.
Composition shingles also change
radically the texture of a building.
Shakes, handsome and appropriate
for rustic effects on the roofs of
many buildings, often look very out
of place on houses which had a deli-
cate texture or formal quality when
built. This is especially true of the
Colonial revival buildings of the early
20th century.
Re- roofing old houses has often re-
sulted in lost decoration. The elegant
cresting along ridges — made of cast
Idaho
Yesterdays'
By Arthur Hart i `%
iron, sheet metal or cut -out wood —
was simply thrown away rather than
repaired. Mansard - roofed and Queen
Anne buildings depend heavily on
this cresting for their proper silhou-
ette and total effect.
Wooden brackets ornamenting the
eaves or porches of Queen Anne
"gingerbread" houses also got
thrown away if repairing them was
too much trouble or cost too much.
Porches in particular have been
spoiled by misguided improvements.
Round or square wooden columns
sometimes are replaced with light
wrought -iron trellises. The material
is strong enough — it just doesn't
look it.
The really important consideration
in restoring or renovating a building
is to retain its unity of effect. The
architect was working most often
within the framework of a style.
He chose the parts to relate to a
visual whole, as well as to each
other. To put 1970s material, such as
single -pane aluminum - framed win-
dows, into a 1920 Colonial house, is to
drastically change its style and its
unity.
Idahoans today are seeing a revo-
lution in historic preservation and
restoration. Hundreds of fine old
buildings are being restored across
the state right now — with sensitivity
to their style, their original materials
and their scale.
Much of it is being done with tech-
nical assistance from the Idaho His-
torical Society. Its architectural his-
torians and historical architects are
ready and willing to help.
Boiseans can watch the progress
on the restoration of the state's Gov-
ernor Moses Alexander house at 3rd
and State Streets, scheduled to begin
soon.
Total exterior restoration eventu-
ally will include a new roof with
cresting, removal of some stucco
which covers original siding and a re-
turn to the polychrome paint scheme
which emphasized the ornamenta-
tion.
The early photograph of the house,
shown today, along with careful
scraping for paint samples, will
guide restorers to a re- creation of the
original appearance of the 1897
Queen Anne masterpiece.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Pioneer Tent and Awning (25). Joan Carley
saved building with its landmark horse.
- Inside are shops, a restaurant, offices
Egyptian Theater (16). Near Capitol (in background), Earl Hardy is restoring
movie palace to its original splendor —and to its original name, after
years as the Ada. Inside: organ concert, ornate columns with Egyptian motif
Eighth Street Marketplace (45 -48). Cupola is
part of Winston Moore's imaginative conversion;
1900s warehouses are now eateries, shops
Five years ago Harper's Magazine re-
ported, only slightly in jest, that Idaho's
capital "stands an excellent chance of
becoming the first American city to have
deliberately eradicated itself."
By then four blocks of downtown Boise
— mostly turn -of- the - century, one to
three -story buildings —had been com-
pletely leveled, and the city was plan-
ning to raze another four blocks hard by
the state's Capitol. "Urban removal" be-
came the local euphemism.
Hotel Boise, now Hoff Building (8). Lonnie Park and Harvey Hof} topped
Boise's first skyscraper with additional story for restaurant, lounge —
where you'll find original decorative concrete. Below are offices, shops, more dining
Into the eight -block hole was to go an
enclosed, suburban - style, air - conditioned
shopping mall. That hasn't happened.
Instead, Boise has been the scene of a
classic and bitter struggle between those
who treasure old buildings as "the soul
of the town's past" and those who be-
lieve it prudent to tear down and start
from scratch. Debate and legal action
continue, though it appears that all but
a few buildings in the remaining four
blocks will go.
Still, there have been some stunning suc-
cesses in preserving the past. Immedi-
ately surrounding the renewal area, old
buildings are getting new life. Thanks to
a lot of local imagination and some eco-
nomic risk - taking, you can now shop,
eat, sleep, sip wine, and even get a shave
in recycled old buildings where har-
nesses were once sold to ranchers, or
newspapers cranked out, or produce and
dry goods stored.
How Boiseans did it may have lessons
SEPTEMBER 1979 77
!e
for other cities. And with our map and
its guide to historic districts and build-
ings, you can see for yourself what
they've fought for.
A three- pronged attack
"Seeing your childhood bulldozed for
parking lots makes you angry," says na-
tive Boisean Cal Jensen, who helped
save the Idanha Hotel and Belgravia
Apartments. "That got a lot of us going."
In the past six years, he and others like
him joined in three main efforts:
— Individuals, families, and groups of
friends bought up old buildings near the
urban renewal area and restored or re-
cycled them. (Some also tried to buy
historic buildings in the remaining four-
block renewal area, but the city had al-
ready bought them up.)
—The Idaho Historical Society, aided by
volunteers, methodically inventoried
what was left of the downtown. Then
it applied for —and won— National His-
toric Register status for the 58 build -
ings on our map and the three areas in
dark color. This offers tax incentives for
restoration, and a measure of protection
in federally funded projects.
—And last winter, both long -time Boi-
seans and newcomers joined in spirited,
old- fashioned town forums and a letter -
and- telephone campaign protesting a new
mall plan for the renewal area.
What Boise is doing
with what it has saved thus far
Of the public buildings privately bought
and saved by Boiseans, only. one is being
returned to its original use. Restoration
of the Egyptian Theater (16 on our
map), a building inspired by the 1922
discovery of King Tut's tomb, should
be completed this month.. If you stop by
to see a movie, notice the Tut - inspired
sculptures and lavishly detailed lotus
columns supporting a proscenium arch
painted with dancing girls.
Once every four months, a night of silent
films is planned, when viewers can enioy
the theater's original organ —with stops
to imitate everything. from - sleighbells to
tambourines to a glockenspiel. For dates,
call (208) 342 -1441.
Other buildings have been innovatively
recycled. Exteriors have been restored
or embellished, interiors have been re-
designed to fit new needs.- An.old G.A.R.
hall (3 on our map) is now a photog-
raphy studio; the Carnegie Public Li-
brary (1), where generations of Boise
High School students crammed for ex-
ams, now houses law offices.
The proud, three- turreted, chateau -like
Idanha Hotel (13) will remain a hotel,
but grander rooms are being created.
Room prices now range from $6 a night
for old ones without baths to $65 for
new suites. Guests are picked up at Boise
Airport in a posh limousine —a 1947
78
Today and what's coming. Fidelity -Union Block (11) above and Simplot Building (12)
below were to be razed under developer's plan to fill downtown core with a
shopping mall. After citizen pressure, new plan will save at least their fa .Cades.
Sketches show how the two buildings will blend in with redesigned mall
DON NORMARR
More change is coming. Some Boiseans are
enthusiastic. Some Boiseans are uneasy
Packard or a 1936 Rolls.
Boise's only skyscraper for a genera-
tion, the old art deco Hotel Boise (8)
has been more radically transformed.
It's now called the Hoff•Buildingi and
each of its 11 floors has been gutted to
create offices, shops, and, at the top, a
restaurant and view lounge.
South Eighth Street Historic District in-
cludes 22 brick and stone warehouses,
built around 1900. About a dozen have
been converted into restaurants, shops,
offices. Construction on a new cinema
begins this month. Notice how loading
docks, warehouse elevators, and open
heat and water pipes have been incor-
porated in designs for new uses.
You'll find the greatest variety among
recycled buildings within the Old Boise
Historic District. You can pick up a
mimeographed guide to the district res-
taurants, boutiques, and shops in most
district buildings.
Change to come: the question is, what`!
By the 1960s and '70s, Boise's dilemma
was familiar in towns and cities across
the country. Built between the 1870s
and 1930s� -when population never -
topped 25,000, Boise had outgrown its
downtown. - A fast - developing city of
122,500, it has now become the biggest
commercial center between Salt Lake
City and Portland.
"No doubt we require major surgery
downtown," mused one resident. "But
the risks can be deadly, the results ir-
reversible."
Plans for the eight downtown blocks
have come, and gone in the past decade.
When Winmar Company, Inc., a Seattle -
based developer, presented one plan last
November, many citizens felt a terrible
mistake was being made. The plan: de-
molish every building in the eight -block
area except the Egyptian Theater. Sav-
ing five other national register buildings
SUNSET
. Wash,, igton St
CD' Z 1 X c°
cn cn 2 3 til�' W cn
State St. _ r,
5
6 Capitol Historic
District
Bannock St. - _ _ It
rtI
14 15 16
Urban Renewal
Area
Grove St. Four blocks razed
1970 -1973
Front St.
Proposed
Conventio
Center
site
Broad St
Fulton St.
n
D
O
r
v
v
36 -58
South Eighth Street
Historic District
28 -31
35
was considered too costly. The inward -
turned shopping mall to be built there,
critics said, "sealed itself off from the
rest of the city like a fortress."
"Everyone was mad as hell," said Alan
Minskoff, a partner in several downtown
restorations. "All around the renewal
area, people had seen what could be
done with old buildings, and they liked
it. It's not that expensive; and it's defi-
nitely worth it, if a city is to keep any
continuity."
The Idaho Statesman, disturbed that
Boiseans had almost no chance to voice
opinions on the plan, sponsored two
town meetings. More than 1,600 at-
tended, Letters and calls to City Hall
followed. As a result, developers invited
anyone to join advisory committees to
work out goals for a new plan. Al-
together, 250 citizens — lawyers, archi-
tects, doctors, students, housewives,
merchants — joined in to study design,
SEPTEMBER 1979
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
25 26 27 18
W07
32 33 34
20
Old Boise Historic
23
District
24
25
26
27
28
29
Darker areas are Boise's
three downtown
30
National Register historic
districts. Dashes outline
31
city -owned urban
32
renewal area. The four
blocks south of Main
33
Street have already
been razed; in the north
34
four, all but buildings
10, 11, 12, 14, and 16
35
probably will go
36—
58
traffic flow, parking, mass transit, down-
town business, energy conservation.
A new plan —after developers listened
In April, the developers presented a new
proposal incorporating many suggestions
put forward by citizens. Highlights:
—All or parts of four historic buildings
would be saved, but the Eastman Build-
ing (15 on our map, the largest National
Register building in Idaho) would go.
The streets grid would generally be kept,
though some streets would become
glass- enclosed pedestrian malls.
—The complex would face outward, not
in, with entrances blending with adjoin-
ing historic buildings.
Four department stores would occupy
much of the proposed 780,000 square
feet of retail space. The rest would be
small shops, restaurants, night spots.
Reception to the new plan at public hear-
ings this summer was largely enthusi-
Carnegie Library, 1905
St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1902
G.A.R. Hall, 1892
Idaho Statehouse, 1905 -1920
Ada County Courthouse, 1939
Steunenberg Monument, 1927
Elk s Temple, 1909
Hotel Boise, 1930. Now Hoff' Building
Old Federal Building, Borah Post
Office, 1902
Idaho Building, 1911.Oflices, shops,
to be included in new plan
Fidelity -Union Block, 1902
Simplot Building, 1891. Offices;
to be included in new plan
Idanha Hotel, 1901
Alexander's Building, 1924. Shops; to
be included in new downtown plan
Eastman Building, 1905. Scheduled
for demolition
Egyptian Theater, 1927
Adelmann Building, Fong's Chinese
Restaurant, 1902
F.O.E. Building, 1912. Now studios, shops
Central Fire Station, 1903
Archery Shop, 1897
Star Rooming House, 1890. Now offices
Catholic Chancery of Idaho, 1885
R. Z. Johnson Block, 1892. Now
offices, apartments
Johnson /Nixon law office, 1885
Pioneer Tent Building, 1910
Jellison Building, early 1900s. Now a shop
Main and Fifth Market, 1920s
Perrault Building, 1879. Now a shop
Masonic Hall, 1892.
Now Salvation Army center
Telephone Building, 1899. To be
remodeled for shops, restaurants
Statesman Building, 1909. Now shops,
restaurant, private club
Boise Turnverein Building, 1906.
Now restaurants, lounge
Night Grocery, mid- 1890s. Now
a saloon, restaurant, shop
Belgravia Apartments, 1904. Now
offices, shops, eatery, and lounge
Cy Jacobs House, 1864, a residence
Warehouses, 1900 to 1906. A dozen
already are renovated as restaurants, shops,
offices. More renovations start this month
astic. Barring major hitches, construc-
tion could begin this winter, the entire
project could be completed in five years.
Misgivings linger
Yet, some Boiseans remain uneasy. Ab-
bass Bazeghi, architect of several re-
models, criticizes the amount of retail
space planned —about triple what now
exists. Traffic and air pollution prob-
lems are foreseen, with more cars on
fewer through streets.
But the old buildings are still the sub-
ject of the most emotionally charged de-
bate. Some question the effectiveness of
saving only "parts" of the historic build-
ings. At Sunset's publication date, legal
action was being planned to save the
Eastman Building.
A summer editorial in the Idaho States-
man, hoping that the new plan "closes a
painful chapter in the history of this
city," may have been premature. ❑
-�
G.A.R. Hall (3 on map, page 79). Almost a
parking facility, 1890s hall became photo
studio. Bob, Pam, Duane, Marney, and Roger
Garrett are glad paint- scraping hours are over
Carnegie Library (1). Bought at auction;
its old stacks were converted into elegant law
offices by Bill Hon (pictured) and Ron Hon
DO V \ORMARK
Idanba Hotel (13). Teaming up, Alan Minskofj, Willis Sullivan III, Ray Allen,
Jim White, and Calvin Jensen saved the Idanha. Exterior is repainted;
inside are enlarged rooms, elegant restaurant, lounge
Boise points the other way?
Struggle. Risk taking. Victories. More struggle ahead.
The idea? Let's save `the soul of Boise's past"
Aa5e_
19 SO
Instructor John Cooper
(with hat) tells Ed Riebe
how to properly cut
Sheetrock as Bob
Fuhriman watches,
above. At far left, junior
Ken Clark installs a
Instructor John Cooper
(with hat) tells Ed Riebe
how to properly cut
Sheetrock as Bob
Fuhriman watches,
above. At far left, junior
Ken Clark installs a
piece of molding.
Sophomore Chris
Daugenti builds a door-
frame molding, left.
Statesman photos
by Chuck Kneyse
Students tackle Bishop "s House project
By TOM GROTE
The Idaho Statesman
Having built a full -sized house from
scratch in the North End, the Boise High
School Home Repair Training Program
has set its sights on the old Idaho Peniten-
tiary site.
The training program, in which Boise
High students receive on- the -job experi-
ence in construction skills, has been
working to finish the long- standing task of
restoring the Bishop's House at the old
pen site, instructor John Cooper said.
It took a year for Cooper's students to
build a replica of a 19th - century home at
the corner of 15th and Ridenbaugh
streets. The style of the two-bedroom
house, which was finished last year, is
similar to many other homes in the neigh-
borhood.
The finished home, complete with bay
window and landscaping, is now up for
sale through a public auction by the city,
said Cecil Apperson, supervisor of the
city's housing division.
The city will call for bids on the house
in February with the requirement that no
bid be lower than the house's appraised
value of $68,500, Apperson said.
The price the house will fetch should
recover the cost of the project and the
money from the sale will be returned to
the city's Community Development de-
partment, he said.
The students were paid minimum wage
as they learned their trade. Wages and
materials for the house project were pro-
vided by Community Development and
funds provided by the Comprehensive
Employment and Training Act.
Under Cooper's supervision, the stu-
dents learned most aspects of building a
house, from foundation work to dry-wal-
ling and roofing.
The program has been been credited
with inducing dropouts to return to
school, increasing attendance and devel-
oping self - respect and pride within the
students.
Having finished the 15th Street house,
Cooper's class has shifted to the old pen
site with a little help from the Idaho His-
torical Society.
The society saw Cooper's class as a
way to finish renovation on the Bishop's
House, which has been been worked on in
fits and starts since it was moved to its
current site in 1975, said curator Kathy
Dodson.
The school and the Historical Society
filed a joint application for a federal
grant and received $76,000 under the
Youth Community Conservation Im-
provement Projects, Dodson said.
Cooper said the work on the Bishop's
House was begun last semester and
would continuing this semester. The
house is leased from the state by the
Friends of the Bishop House, but the his-
torical society administers its restora-
tion.
Completion of the interior remodeling
is expected before the end of this school
year, he said.
Among the tasks left to perform in-
clude some painting, setting door jambs
and putting back the old wood trim from
the original building, Cooper said.
Only part of the $76,000 grant will go to-
ward finishing the Bishop's House. After
completion of the house, the class will re-
store the shirt factory building, built at
the old pen in 1923, Dodson said.
The shirt factory is slated to become
Idaho's first vehicle museum after its res-
toration. Next, the students will tackle
putting a new roof on the old pen's com-
missary building, built in 1894, Dodson
said.
Thousands pay $7 to tour
By LONNIE ROSENWALD
The Idaho Statesman
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 persons
paid $7 each ($4 for senior citizens
and students) for the chance Sunday
to tour 22 of the big, stately mansions
on Warm Springs Avenue.
It had been five years since the
homes had been opened for a public
tour.
Also included in the tour, which
coincided with National Historical
Preservation Week, were the Idanha
Hotel at 10th and Main streets, the
Old Assay Office, the Warm Springs
Center (formerly the Children's
Home, now a mental health clinic)
and the soon -to-be- opened Natha-
niel's restaurant.
There were antique cars on display
and an antique peddler's fair. Money
raised from the tour will aid in re-
storing the state -owned Bishops'
House, a Queen Anne -style sandstone
house on the grounds of the Old Peni-
tentiary. More than $30,000 is needed
to finish restoring the building.
The organizer of the event, Kirsten
Coughlin, said it was .a "wonderful
success."
The Boise tour train, buses and
horse -drawn carriages moved per-
sons at no charge up and down the
avenue. The tour was self - guided,
and the only rule was to take your
shoes off before entering many of the
homes.
Throughout the afternoon, long
lines of stocking - footed observers
walked through the homes, murmur-
ing approval as they tiptoed over
slate- covered floors, around carved
oak tables, beneath weighty glass
chandeliers` and past leaded glass
windows.
Most made a beeline for the Lan -
groise home, a two-and -a -half story
Jacobean revival - style brick man-
sion at 939 Warm Springs Ave. They
did not seem discouraged by having
to stand in line in the rain for 30 min-
utes to get inside.
"You're always on the outside
looking in. It's nice to get inside,"
one woman in the line said.
The house was designed in 1925 by
Spokane architect K.K. Cutter for
C.C. Anderson, owner of the Golden
Rule store (now the Bon Marche in
Boise), and is now owned by attorney
William Langroise. (It purportedly
has been willed to Boise State Uni-
versity to become the university
president's home.)
Arthur Hart, president of the
Idaho Historical Society, described
the house as "romantic, rambling
and picturesque."
The home was surrounded by giant
ferns, purple rhododendrons and li-
lacs. Every sprig of ivy that covered
the front was carefully trimmed
back to show diamond- shaped glass
windows, two brick chimneys, a slate
roof and an arched stone entrance,
which framed a three- inch -thick
Spanish -style oak door. Inside, much
of the decor was Spanish, including
three 1740s leather - seated chairs ac-
quired from a Spanish palace.
How many rooms there are in the
lovely, sprawling Langroise home
was one of the tour's better -kept se-
crets. Two hostesses did not know.
Line of people waits to see 829 Warm Springs Ave. home
"I don't know —but plenty," said a
third.
Poltical buffs would not want to
have missed a chance to see the in-
side of Sen. Frank. Church's home,
where visitors were greeted at the
front door by his wife, Bethine. The
home, at 109 W. Idaho St., is where
the Churches stay when they are in
Boise. Mrs. Chase A. Clark, widow of
Judge Clark, former governor of
Idaho, lives there. She and her hus-
band bought the house in 1943 when
Clark became a federal judge.
Mrs. Clark's prolific needlework
covered many of the chairs in the
house. There were rows of photo-
graphs of the Clark and Church fam-
ilies, including one of Judge Clark at
age 19 holding a shotgun. Unfortu-
nately, a photograph of the
Churches' wedding at Robinson Bar'
Ranch and of Judge Clark's 19M Me-
morial Day address in Ann- Mogrison
Park were upstairs, and were not
part of the tour.
The two oldest pieces of furniture
in the house were a wooden umbrella
stand and Mrs. Clark's grandfather's
rolltop desk, both brought to Idaho
from Indiana by the Clarks.
Julie Stromberg bought her house
at 110 Main St. in 1974, after it had
housed a BSU fraternity. The Boise
preservationist replaced the roof,
overhauled the plumbing and electri-
cal system, built a new kitchen, and
r Warm Springs mansions
I
Gwen Herman, left, signs in visitors at 635 Warm Springs Ave.
restored the rooms to befitting an-
tique decor.
Two prizes on view in the home
were a wooden breakfront and an
1823 Scottish grandfather clock with
a man -in- the -moon face rising in the
afternoon.
Visitors to Gail and Jennie Ison's
home at 815 Warm Springs Ave. mar-
veled at a mural in the living room,
painted in 1518 by owners Fred and
Franz Brandt and restored in the
1970s by Mrs. Ison, and at a Czecho-
slovakian chandelier, from which
more than 300 prisms dangled.
Mystery, not history, drew crowds
to the Swall home, where a ghost is
said to reside. All that was visible
Sunday, however, was a worn out
rocking chair where owners Roger
and Shari Swall suspect former
owner Dr. Hill passes the hours.
The ghost was not present Sunday.
"He hasn't shown up today. Either
that, or he is going through all the
other houses on the tour," said a
hostess.
Buildings picKed
for historic list
The Boise City Council has approved a recommendation
by the Boise Historic Preservation Commission to nomi-
nate the Temple Beth - Israel and the Old Boise area to the
city's preservation list.
These are the first landmarks to be nominated to the
Boise City Register of Historic Places, which will be added
to on a continuing basis, said Barbara Hansen, Preserva-
tion Commission chairman. Identifying landmarks and des-
ignating them as historically significant is one of the major
goals of the commission, formed in 1976, she said.
"The city has never had a register of historic places simi-
lar to other places and the National Register. That's why
we were anxious to begin," Hansen said.
The recommendation now must go through three read-
ings by the City Council before being adopted as an ordi-
nance.
The Temple Beth - Israel at 1102 State St. was chosen for
inclusion on the list because it is the oldest synagogue in
continuous use in the western United States, Hansen said. It
is modeled after synagogues built in St. Louis during the
1890s and is characterized by its wood and sandstone struc-
ture, geometrically designed stained -glass windows and
large Moorish arched window in the south facade.
_ A fund drive to renovate the temple, built in 1895, is un-
derway, with a goal of $17,250 from the community. The
foundation is cracked, the roofing and sidewall shingles
leak and must be replaced and painted, portions of the
stained -glass windows must be repaired, and new red -oak
front doors are needed, temple spokesmen say.
Contruction of the temple marked the beginning of
Boise's Jewish community, which was led by Moses
Alexander, a two-term Boise mayor and Idaho governor
Statesman photo by Milan Chuokovich
building lies within Old Boise district 011111111111111i
Kirksten Coughlin admires the detail in a restored brass lockplate of a sliding door
Now the house is yours
The Bishops' House is available for
rent by organizations, business firms
and individuals for meetings, social
events, sales and other activities.
Fees presently are $100 for use of
the main floor, plus $37.50 for use of
the basement. Discounts may be
granted to non - profit organizations.
A $100 security deposit is required,
which will be refunded a week after
the event if everything in the house is
left intact.
Events may be scheduled for any
day from 8a.m. to midnight.
Reservations may be made by
calling the Bishops' House number,
342 -3279, or the office of Kathy Dod-
son at the Old Penitentiary, 334 -2844.
Also available for permanent
rental at the Bishops' House is office
space on the second floor. Inquiries
may be made at either of the above
telephone numbers.
Statesman photos
by Dave Brookman
Bishops'
House
Old parsonage ready
for a second century
By MARY JENKINS
The Idaho Statesman
and told the city fathers the house
was a piece of Boise history worth
keeping. The mayor called her the
next morning, suggested she go to
work with a committee to save it.
They'd have a year to raise the
money to move the house.
Hon obtained help from sister Jun-
ior League Sustainers to sponsor a
Mother's day public tour of some of
the historic houses on Warm Springs
Avenue. A crowd of several thousand
turned out, even though it rained.
"We had another successful tour
this year on the same day, and it
rained again," Hon said. "I'd say
that the way to end a drought in
Boise is to plan a Warm Springs
house tour."
In the fall of 1975, the house was
moved the full length of the east end,
from 2nd and Idaho streets to a state -
owned lot across the street from the
old penitentiary, northeast of the
city.
Then the real work of restoration
began — raising the money, shopping
for materials at bargain prices and
recruiting as much volunteer labor
as possible. The effort went on,
month after month. Committee peo-
ple left town or dropped out. But
those who have faithful since the be-
ginning, besides Hon, are Bitsy
Quinn, Katie Bergquist, Ron
Thurber, John Bertram and Arthur
Hart, state historical director. Julie
Stromberg Wells, who moved to Mos-
cow this year, was another.
There were unanticipated pro-
blems. Some people didn't follow
through with their promises of help.
Some fund- raising was not as suc-
cessful as others.
The group was disappointed when
its book, Historic Headlines didn't
sell as well as was expected. But
even that project has a happy ending.
Albertson's, which financed the book,
is giving 7,500 unsold copies to Idaho
fourth graders who belong to the Jun-
ior Prospectors, a club sponsored by
the Idaho Historical Society.
But the group has raised enough
cash through other activities for a
(See HOUSE, Page 6C)
Thanks to thousands of people who
bought tickets for home tours and si-
lent movies, or contributed money,
materials and manpower, the 88-
year -old Bishops' House on the Old
Penitentiary Road has opened its
doors.
Romaine Galey Hon, who has
mothered the project since its begin-
,.:.,..:.:.:
ning more than five years ago, calls
the restoration of the historic Episco
pal parsonage a miracle of commu-
nity cooperation.
It is, she said, the only Victorian
period house in southwestern Idaho
open to the public for meetings and
social events. There's not a velvet
rope or a "don't touch" sign in the
place.
The building is still short of perma-
,?
nent furnishings — but what's there
_.
is adequate to accommodate a gath-
ering.
Several organizations have rented
the house already. And city council-
man Mike Silva and Kathleen Brink-
ley- Rogers used the parlor and music
room for their wedding reception last
weekend. About 30 activities —meet
ings, parties, an antiques festival,
and a bazaar — have been booked for
the next three months.
A holiday function is being planned
by the Friends of the Bishops' House,
Inc., the organization responsible for
the restoration project. Members are
arranging with florists and mer
chants to decorate the rooms in a
Victorian Christmas theme and open
M :
them for public tours Dec. 5 to 7.
> 'a
What makes all this activity so
sweet to Hon and others in the group
is that there were times in the last
five years when they thought it would
never come off. They were dreaming
an impossible dream.
The idea originated with Hon, who
is a restoration buff, anyway. She be-
came concerned when she learned
that the old Episcopal bishops' resi-
dence on Idaho Street would be torn
down to make way for a parking lot
for St. Luke's Hospital.
She went to a City Council meeting
and told the city fathers the house
was a piece of Boise history worth
keeping. The mayor called her the
next morning, suggested she go to
work with a committee to save it.
They'd have a year to raise the
money to move the house.
Hon obtained help from sister Jun-
ior League Sustainers to sponsor a
Mother's day public tour of some of
the historic houses on Warm Springs
Avenue. A crowd of several thousand
turned out, even though it rained.
"We had another successful tour
this year on the same day, and it
rained again," Hon said. "I'd say
that the way to end a drought in
Boise is to plan a Warm Springs
house tour."
In the fall of 1975, the house was
moved the full length of the east end,
from 2nd and Idaho streets to a state -
owned lot across the street from the
old penitentiary, northeast of the
city.
Then the real work of restoration
began — raising the money, shopping
for materials at bargain prices and
recruiting as much volunteer labor
as possible. The effort went on,
month after month. Committee peo-
ple left town or dropped out. But
those who have faithful since the be-
ginning, besides Hon, are Bitsy
Quinn, Katie Bergquist, Ron
Thurber, John Bertram and Arthur
Hart, state historical director. Julie
Stromberg Wells, who moved to Mos-
cow this year, was another.
There were unanticipated pro-
blems. Some people didn't follow
through with their promises of help.
Some fund- raising was not as suc-
cessful as others.
The group was disappointed when
its book, Historic Headlines didn't
sell as well as was expected. But
even that project has a happy ending.
Albertson's, which financed the book,
is giving 7,500 unsold copies to Idaho
fourth graders who belong to the Jun-
ior Prospectors, a club sponsored by
the Idaho Historical Society.
But the group has raised enough
cash through other activities for a
(See HOUSE, Page 6C)
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(Continued from Page 1C)
nei profit of $75,000. And that doesn't
include the donated labor and mate -
rials. The replacement value for in-
surance purposes is set at $264,000.
Since the house is about 80 per cent
completed, the fund - raising will con-
tinue, said president Kirksten Cough-
lin.
One of the first construction jobs
was putting a basement under the
house. Then all the old wiring and
plumbing was stripped out and re-
placed and insulation was added. The
heating system is geothermal — hot
water from the same wells that heat
homes in the east end. The historic
Warm Springs pump house is close
by.
"The Bishops' House looks as it
originally did on the outside," said
Coughlin. The wraparound porches
and the Idaho sandstone exterior
were left intact.
"But inside it is a modern, func-
tional house. Actually, it's in better
condition than it ever was."
The Friends of the Bishop House
asked for help from other organiza-
tions in finishing the rooms on the
main floor. That meant providing for
wall and window coverings where
needed and refinishing the old oak
floors.
The Columbian Club, Zonta Inter-
national, Junior'League, Ada County
Medical Auxiliary and the Idaho His-
torical Auxiliary responded. Many
business firms also helped with the
restoration in one way or another.
The rooms have been painted and
papered, the latter with floral and
geometric prints that look as authen-
tically Victorian as possible. Fire-
places in the ent ryway and the music
room are not functional, but they are
attractive. Some of the tiling was
contributed by Hon, who found it bur-
ied in a box iri her garage. It had
once decorated fireplaces in her own
house.
Some of the furnishings, the plisse
curtains at ,the windows, the library
chair and table in the entryway and
the Steinway piano in the music,
room came with the house. In the
parlor the Columbian Club put a blue
satin couch that had belonged to pio-
neer civic and social leader, Mrs.
Will Ridenbaugh.
The sponsoring organizations will
welcome more donations of furnish-
ings, particularly of the 1890 -era,
Coughlin said.
"We'll take furniture of all kinds
with the understanding that we can
sell it and put 'the money into period
pieces," she said. "We want to make
the house as authentic as possible."
Also needed are furniture and fix-
tures fora caretaker's apartment up-
stairs. They can be of any style or pe-
riod.
One part of the house which is
complete is the kitchen. Coughlin
calls it a holding kitchen for caterers
or for groups that want to bring .in
their own food and serve it.
"It's a good way for organizations
to lower their entertainment costs,"
she said. '
Although the house is owned by the
state now, it is operated as.a non -
profit venture without the use of tax
money.
Rental proceeds are used for
maintenance and utility bills. The
only paid person is a parttime social
coordinator. The caretaker's quart-
ers, when completed, will be used by
him without charge in lieu of a sa-
lary. .
"We want it to be self - sufficient —
and a showplace that can be used by
everyone," Coughlin added.
Statesman photo by David Tinney
Edith Tate displays 1902 BHS diploma
District to celebrate centen'niat
Boise graduate, 98, recalls school days
By RENE KIMBALL
The Idaho Statesman
. Her high school graduation picture shows a
young woman with a shy smile looking out from
under a fancy hat, dressed up in a high - necked
Victorian blouse adorned with row upon row of
delicate lace.
Edith Woods Tate was 19 when she was grad-
uated from high school in 1902. Today at 98 she
is the oldest living graduate of Boise High
School.
As such, she will be honored Wednesday eve-
ning during a celebration of the Boise School
District centennial. The evening of entertain-
ment and history is free to the public. It will
begin at 8 p.m. at Capital High School.
Tate, who now is a resident of Boise Valley
Sunset Home, said she graduated in a class of
16. She ranked fourth in her class, and among
her memorabilia is a certificate noting that she
had perfect attendance all four years of high
school.
Back then, she said, she lived on North 13th
Street, and walked to school nearly every day..
The exception was when it snowed, she re-
called, and on those days "we had sleighs to
take us to school."
Subjects studied at school were confined
mostly to the basics, with some emphasis on
classical learning. Tate said she studied Latin,
for example, although not all students did.
At the time Tate attended Boise High, it was
a part of the old Central School, built in Boise in
1882 on the property that now is the site of the
west wing of the Idaho Capitol.
Pay Wayland, Boise schools public informa-
tion director, said the school was the first built
after the School District received a charter
from the Idaho Territorial Legislature in 1881.
"It was supposed to cost $25,000, but it ended
up costing $50,000," she said. "The public was
incensed because they had built too fancy a
school and it would never, ever be filled. Thir-
teen years later, they had to build a new
school."
Edith Woods Tate's class was the last to
graduate from high school at the old Central
School, because by the next year, the original
Boise High School was constructed at the pre-
sent location.
Presiding over the school was Professor John
W. Daniels, whom Tate recalled "was a fairly
pompous sort of person. He always wore his
moustache curled all up."
Daniels, who was Boise's first superintendent
of schools, served at three different times, tak-
ing time off between periods of service to be
elected to the Boise School Board, Wayland
said.
The first superintendent, who was hired for
the 1881 -82 school year, was known as a classi-
cal educator who stressed the importance of
music and art and believed in military drill, she
said.
A result of that was the organization in 1900 of
the Boise Cadet Corps — a forerunner of Re-
serve Officer Training Corps. The boys fur-
nished their own uniforms, used donated rifles
and received instruction from an Idaho guards-
man.
After old Central School was built, the dis-
trict grew rapidly, Wayland said. Washington
School was put up in 1900. But because it was
built in such a way as to make it impossible to
add onto, a second Washington School was built
next to it in 1911. The original Washington
School burned in 1916.
Whittier School, the building that now houses
the east side of the School District administra-
tion building at 1207 W. Fort St., was con-
structed in 1894. Old Central School was sold to
the state in 1905, and a new Central School and
Longfellow School were built the same year.
The present day Boise School District is
made up of a number of smaller school districts
that were annexed during the years, Wayland
said.
Persons interested in School District history
are invited to attend the 100th birthday celebra-
tion and hear "This Is Your Life, Boise
Schools," a presentation by Arthur Hart, direc-
tor of the Idaho State Historical Society.
±wt, 1 fi'. 4, v'L
Old buildings
may be eligible
for historical lists
By RAY SOTERO
The Idaho Statesman
Owners of old Boise properties
can be dollars ahead if they are
named to either of two lists of his-
toric places, preservationists say.
Property owners can have their
building sites listed on the federal
National Register of Historic
Places or with the Boise Historic
Preservation Commission, repre-
sentatives of the two groups said.
Boise lawyer Robert Aldridge,
chairman of the Boise Historic
Preservation Commission, said
property owners can have their
homes or buildings listed if they
meet the criteria listed in Boise's
21/2-year-old Historic Preserva-
tion Ordinance.
According to the Boise ordi-
nance, properties can make the
list if they have historical, educa-
tional, engineering or geographi-
cal importance.
Sites that make the grade for
the National Register must meet
many of the same requirements,,
said Bill Dougall, a curator for the
Idaho Historical Society, which
administers many local National
Register projects.
However, Aldridge and Dougall
said the Boise historic ordinance
is more restrictive. That's be-
cause property owners of sites on
the National Register can remove
their properties from the list any-
time and can do anything they
want with their property.
But if those property owners
make unauthorized changes -to
their properties or remove their
site from the list, they automati-
cally would lose their historic sta-
tus, eligibility for numerous tax
discounts and any low - interest im-
provement loans, Aldridge and
Dougall said.
By comparision, property own-
ers of sites on the Boise historic
must wait six months before
being allowed to remove their
properties from the list. Owners
of sites on the Boise list must ob-
tain a "Certificate of Appropria-
teness" from the commission be-
fore making any exterior
changes, according to the ordi-
nance.
"You're actually barred from
making changes for the exterior,
unless you get a certificate of ap-
propriateness," Aldridge said.
Persons denied the certificate
can appeal their request to the
Boise City Council, according to
the ordinance. Not waiting the re-
quired six months, not obtaining
the certificate before making im-
provements or making unauthor-
ized chanoPC to tho cit- ,,,mot_ ,&._
property owner subject to a $300
fine.
Aldridge said the feature of the
Boise ordinance that allows own-
ers to withdraw their property
from the list has its drawbacks.
Because of it, homes on the list
aren't eligible for many federal
programs, including loan- interest
improvement loans and early tax
write -offs.
Aldridge said the Commission
currently is working on an
amendment to the ordinance that
will allow listed sites to be eligible
for the now- exempt federal bene-
fits.
Aldridge said the advantages of
being on the city's list of historic
places include, "The pride angle:
They're desirable properties;"
waivers from meeting code requi-
rements when remodeling; the
guarantee that no unsuitable
changes can be easily made in a
historic district."
Aldridge and Dougall said
many of Boise's historic sites are
on both lists.
Dougall said the Historical So-
ciety is sponsoring a workshop
Feb. 3 at the Boise Public Library
from I to 4 p.m. on the advan-
tages of new tax laws for owners
of property on the National Regis-
ter.
27 -block area proposed
Fort Street considered for historical list
By RAY SOTERO
The Idaho Statesman
Architectural historian Susanne Lichtenstein dreads think-
ing about the fate met by a Fort Street -area house that was
once an example of turn-of- the - century craftsmanship.
The subtleties of the house's down -to -earth exterior wood-
work have been removed or covered with aluminum siding.
"It's one of those things preservationists just shudder at,"
Lichtenstein said about the 90-year -old house, one of about 320
in the proposed Fort Street Historic District she's researching
for possible inclusion this spring in the National Register of
Historic Places.
The three- by nine - square -block neighborhood is roughly
bounded by Fort, 16th and Washington streets.
"It was almost a folk -form sort of house. They put alumi-
num siding over it and then took off all the window molding. It
just changed the whole rhythm of the exterior.
"It was typical of a simple kind of dwelling in Boise, circa
1890, and there aren't too many of those left anymore."
Lichtenstein should know. The 36 -year -old graduate in art
history works for the Idaho Historical Society and has spent
months scouring for details about the Fort Street neighbor-
hood in the Archives section of the Idaho State Library.
Lichtenstein has been preparing the application since Sep-
tember for the proposed Fort Street District, also known as
the Near North End. She expects to submit it sometime this
spring, possibly by May.
In the meantime, Lichtenstein's job is to pore over old news-
papers and city records and write a history and visual descrip-
tion of each of the 320 houses. This includes doing a title search
of each house and noting the details of its design and when
major improvements like sidewalks and central sewers were
made. She is still synthesizing most of what she's gathered.
Her goal, she said, is to help preserve a neighborhood filled
with architectural styles ranging from Queen Annes and sym-
metrical colonials to simple brick or batten bungalows.
She said most of the houses were built as single- family
homes between 1895 and 1910. Today, many of the houses are
rentals or have been converted to office use.
She must notify property owners in the neighborhood about
the application before she submits it. She thinks objections are
unlikely because there are no building or remodeling restric-
tions placed on properties listed on the National Register.
Although Lichtenstein hasn't yet officially notified Fort
Street property owners of the pending application, "Word is
out," she said. "Realtors call me all the time. They feel that
being registered makes the property much more attractive to
the buyer."
More importantly, being on the list also makes it more at-
tractive to the property owner to restore the home.
That's because there are numerous tax advantages to prop-
erty owners whose houses are on the list, particulary if it's an
income - producing property, said Bill Dougall, a curator of the
Historical Society.
"The purpose of this project is to give people the incentive
to restore or preserve," she said, adding later: "I think that
knowing something about the past, the places you live in, en-
riches your sense of what's happening today. It gives you a
better- perspective about what's happening in the city today."
Preparing the application for the Fort Street project isn't
the first for Lichtenstein. Two years ago she helped prepare
the successful application for the 427 -home Harrison Boule-
vard Historic District.
The Fort Street Historic District would be the fourth Boise
residential neighborhood on the National Register of Historic
Places. The others are Harrison Boulevard Historic District; a
couple of Warm Springs Avenune historic districts totaling
about 100 homes east of Broadway Avenue; and 16 homes on
State Street between 1st and 3rd streets.
In addition, there are about two dozen Boise commercial
districts or businesses on the National Register, including
Hyde Park, Fort Boise, the Old Penitentiary and the Egyptian
Theater, said Robert Aldridge, chairman of the Boise Historic
Preservation Commission.
"People are interested in old buildings," Lichtenstein said.
"It didn't used to be that way. I spend a lot of time helping peo-
pie determine when their building was built. Some have been
sadly altered."
Susanne Lichtenstein studies an old Fire Department map of the Fort Street neighborhood
A 1920s view of Boise's North End as seen from the Capitol
National Register lists Fort Street historical area"
By TONY BARTELME
The Idaho Statesman
A 47 -block area of the North End has
been designated a historical district in
the National Register of Historic Places,
which makes some homeowners eligible
for tax credits and sets limits on federal
projects in the area.
The area, designated in November as
the Fort Street Historic District, fea-
tures tree -lined streets and 100- year -old
houses. It has 318 buildings altogether -
some small bungalows,. churches,
schools and offices just north of the
Statehouse. The area is roughly bounded
by Fort, State, 5th and 16th streets.
"There's a pretty good cross section
of residential architecture," state archi-
tectural historian Jennifer Attebery
said. "There's also a high level of pres-
ervation, not a lot of stucco and re-sid-
ing. The people have taken lot of pride
in their homes."
The designation makes many of the
buildings in the district eligible for a 25
percent tax credit for restoration proj-
ects under the Economic Recovery Tax
Act. The credit is applied to the owners'
federal tax bills. To qualify for the tax'
credit, owners must fulfill stringent re-
quirements that preserve the historic
character of the buildings.
The formation of the district comes a
couple years after a North End zoning
controversy in which the city tried to
prevent conversions of houses into of-
fices.
"On one hand, the listing could help
sustain the residential character of the
neighborhood," City Planner Louanne
Freedman said. "On the other hand, the
tax breaks that go along with the desig-
nation could promote the growth of of-
fices."
Greg Martz, owner of the Bush Man -
sion; 1020 W. Franklin St., is optimistic
about the listing. "It paves the way for
some things to happen, though the neigh -
borhood won't change overnight. Every-
thing isn't going to be painted red all of a
sudden. It's a slow process. The listing is
a protective device as well as an encour-
aging device for the neighborhood."
Limited protection of listed structures
is provided through review by the fed-
eral Advisory Council on Historic Pres-
ervation, which studies the effects of
federally funded projects on historic
properties. New federal projects in the
area, including streets and_ buildings,
must go through the Idaho State Histori-
cal Commission.
However, the historic district designa-
tion does not restrict private develop-
Shaded block shows Fort Street historical area
ment.
Not all buildings in the district are
considered historic, and those buildings,
mostly modern contributions, are not af-
fected by the formation of the new dis-
trict.
The Fort Street Historic District is the
fourth Boise residential neighborhood to
be listed on the register. The others,;are
the Harrison Boulevard Historic Dis-
trict; a district near Warm Springs
Avenue in luding about 100 homes east
of Broadwdy Avenue; and 16 homes on
State Street between 1st and 3rd streets.
Council honors restoration efforts
By KAREN BOSSICK
The Idaho Statesman
The C.W. Moore Park in down-
town Boise will be among building
projects receiving Orchid awards
during the seventh annual Orchids
and Onions awards presentation to-
night at the Red Lion - Downtowner.
The Idaho Historic Preservation
Council presents the Orchids
awards annually in recognition of
the state's best examples of his-
toric preservation and restoration.
The Onions awards lament insensi-
tive treatment of historic struc-
tures.
J.R. Simplot Co. will receive the
1983 Onion award for demolishing
the Bannock Hotel in Pocatello.
The dinner, open to the public,
will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Down -
towner, 1800 Fairview Ave. Tickets
can be reserved by calling 334 -2844.
Eric Eisemann, director of the
Oregon Preservation Resource
Center, will speak on "Economic
Growth and Historic Preservation:
A Marriage Made in Downtown,"
after the presentations.
Eisemann's center provides
technical assistance and informa-
tion about preservation project
planning, tax incentives and loca-
tions of craftsmen and materials
for people interested in restoring
historic buildings.
Orchid awards for 1983 will go to
the Greyhouse Inn south of Salmon,
the Day Mansion, Moscow, the
Blaine County Courthouse, Hailey,
and C.W. Moore Park.
The Greyhouse Inn was built in
1894 by a German brewer. The Vic-
torian home was moved in 1970
from its original location in Salmon
to its present site 12 miles south of
town on U.S. 93. Today it is a bed -
and- breakfast inn.
The Day Mansion, in the Fort
Russell Historic District of Mos-
cow, was built about 1900 by Je-
rome Day, an owner of the silver
mines at Wallace. The large Queen
Anne transitional -style house later
was divided into apartments before
its present owners restored it to its
original character.
The exterior of the Blaine County
Courthouse was recently restored.
Workers replaced window pedi-
ments in the original style of the
1884 brick landmark, repaired its
cornices and repointed its bricks.
C.W. Moore Park, the second old-
est park in Boise, now sports a col-
lection of artifacts, including a
working water wheel originally
from Morris Hill Cemetery, a stone
arch from the Bush Building and a
corner turret from the W.E. Pierce
Building.
The council will also present
(See BUILDINGS, Page 3C)
W)
Clockwise from upper left,
the Day Mansion in Moscow, the Bannock
Hotel in Pocatello, the Blaine County
Courthouse in Hailey and an arch
at C.W. Moore Park in downtown Boise(Continued from Page 1C)
three awards for honorable men-
tion:
• The Idaho Transportation
,Department, for its inventory of
historic bridges in the state, the
first such effort in the West.
0 Historic Oakley Inc. for iden-
tifying the architectural and his-
torical resources in Oakley. The
non - profit group conducts annual
tours of some of its 50 or more old
homes and commercial buildings
built between 1880 and 1915, rais-
ing money .for local preservation
projects.
0 The Idaho Transportation
Museum, Boise, for its intriguing
collection, which includes an or-
nate hearse, carts, sleighs, sad-
dles, a Basque sheepherder's
wagon, and a one -of -a -kind "Gos-
pel Wagon." The collection is
housed in a building constructCd
by prisoners in the early 1930s at
the Old Idaho Penitentiary site,
now administered by the Histori-
cal Society.
J.R. Simplot Co. will receive an
Onion for demolishing the Ban-
nock Hotel in Pocatello. The main
feature of the red brick hotel was
its seven -story tower, added• to
the building in 1919 and designed
in the Renaissance Revival style.
The tallest and most impressive
building in the city's historic dis-
trict, the Bannock was considered
an important landmark in Poca-
tello.
The property was once owned
by James H. Brady, who served
as governor of Idaho from 1908 to
1910 and as U.S. senator from 1912
until his death in 1918. Plans for
the site were unknown.
Preservation Council
to honor Boise woman
Barbara Hansen, a 20 -year resi-
dent of Boise, has earned the Dis-
tinguished Preservationist award
from the Idaho Historic Preserva-
tion Council for her years of vol-
unteer leadership.
She will receive the award dur-
ing the council's annual dinner
meeting tonight at the Red Lion
Downtowner.
Hansen, a San Francisco
native, was a founding member of
the Boise City Historic Preserva-
tion Commission and served on
the Urban Design Committee and
the Hyde Park Consortium.
As a parishioner of St. John's
Cathedral, she participated on its
restoration, renovation and rear-
rangement committee and later
on the task force, which imple-
mented plans for preservation of
the church.
Barbara
Hansen
She has been a member of the
Idaho Historic Preservation
Council since 1976, serving as
president in 1981.
Currently, she is directing the
distribution and sales of Historic
Boise, a book on Boise's architec-
tural heritage.