Boise Mayor, Walter E. Pierce, a successful real estate promoter from 1890 to 1930, wanted to attract buyers to the outlying areas of Boise. So, he created the Boise & Interurban Railway which ran six miles west of Boise to his 185 acre picnic location, Pierce Park. Opened in 1907 …

Having moved to Boise just a few years before Mayor Bieter became Mayor Bieter, his name has become synonymous to me with that of our city. Other than his face and name, however, I knew little about his background.  Since that’s likely the case with many of you, we …

In 1910, at 1402 W Grove Street in downtown Boise, the Linen Building was constructed for the American Linen Supply Co.  This commercial steam laundry company was the only laundry facility in the country utilizing natural hot water.  They employed hundreds of laundresses, but working conditions were poor …

It is a little known fact that the Boise area once had an electric trolley line running between Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Caldwell, and Middleton.  The “Interurban” streetcar line was started in 1892 and was backed by private investors.  In 1904, as people began to recognize the positive …

The Bown House, located in front of Riverside Elementary, is an Idaho landmark I pass almost everyday.  This past week, my oldest daughter, Hadley, was able to visit for a field trip and share what she learned about this unique property.

In 1841, at the age of 12, Joseph …

Harry Winford Morrison came to Idaho from Illinois in his early 20s to work on the Lucky Peak Dam.  Seeing opportunities in government subsidized irrigation projects, he started a Boise construction engineering firm in 1914 with Morris Knudsen, who he met while working on the New York Canal project …

Dr. George Collister was one of Boise’s greatest philanthropists. He was born October 16, 1856, in Willoughby, Ohio, to the family of a Scottish immigrant from the Isle of Man.  In 1881, twenty-six year old George was advised by his sister, Julia, to move to the “up and coming” …

In the early 1800s, Idaho was part of the Pacific Northwest known by Americans as the “Oregon Country.”  The region was heavily disputed by American settlers and British and French Canadian fur traders.  Great Britain, who claimed the territory as their own, even called it by their own …