mapping boise’s iconsneighborhood, hyde park became boise's first suburban shop-ping area,...

52 BOISE, IDAHO

BY PAMELA KLEIBRINK THOMPSON

In 1863, a year after the gold rush

reached the region, Boise was estab-

lished as a service center for miners in

the Rocky Mountain foothills. The town

became the center of commerce and cul-

ture for traders and miners from nearby

mountain boomtowns. To understand

Boise’s rich history, take a tour and visit

some of its icons.

• The Boise Depot sits on a bluff afford-

ing a splendid panoramic hilltop view

of the Boise Front. Designed by New

York architects Carerre, Hastings, Shreve

and Lando, the mission style building

opened in April 16, 1925 to elaborate

fanfare in the capital city. The struc-

ture has stucco walls, tile mosaic floors,

and large windows with bronze grille

work. The depot’s roof is supported by

decorated wood trusses and covered

with terra cotta tiles. The depot boasts

a striking 110-foot tower. Friends of

railroad man Edward Henry Harriman

donated four bells for the tower in 1926.

The Meneely Bell Company of New

York furnished the bells, and the Seth

Thomas Company supplied the clock.

Ride the elevator to the top of the bell

tower for spectacular views over the

city. Open from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on

Sundays and Mondays. The largest bell

rings the hour at 8:00 a.m., noon, and

5:00 p.m.

The Great Hall, a soaring multi-story

atrium, once served as the building’s

waiting room. Six original benches line

the walls of the Great Hall. The last

train rolled through in 1997, but a black

board in the hall still lists train schedules

of the Union Pacific line from Salt Lake

to Spokane. The original 1925 Barkalow

Brothers Newsstand is featured on the

west wall and displays Union Pacific

memorabilia. The newsstand has been

slightly restored but remains in its

original form. The Great Hall’s ceiling is

lined with Spanish trusses, each im-

printed with primitive locomotives.

In 1927, Spanish landscape archi-

tect Ricardo Espino designed adjoining

gardens named for Short Line general

manager Howard Platt. The grounds

include Platt Gardens, a lovely park with

pathways, a gazebo and a koi pond.

“Big Mike,” a massive Mikado steam

locomotive built in 1920 now rests on

a siding on the east side of the depot

along with an interactive interpretive

display. In 1974 the Depot was added to

the National Register of Historic Places

as the Union Pacific Mainline Depot,

and in 1988 Jeffrey Richards and John

M. MacKenzie paid what may be the

ultimate compliment. Writing in The

Railway Station: A Social History, they

described the depot as “perfectly propor-

tioned and almost impossible to identify

as a station rather than as a church.”

In it, they asserted, the “mission style

achieved its most simplified and exalted

form.”

For more information visit: parks.

cityofboise.org/parks-locations/parks/

boise-depot

Location: 2603 W Eastover Terrace

• The Cathedral of the Rockies is a

Gothic structure occupying a city block

bordered by 11th, 12th, Franklin and

Hays streets. Impressive stained glass

mosaic windows were designed and

created by the Willet Studios in Phila-

delphia, Pennsylvania. Features such as

ornamentation, folds of drapery and tex-

ture are painted on the glass with dark

pigment and permanently fused into it.

Hand-painted murals in the cathedral

illustrate biblical stories.

Location: 717 North 11th Street

• Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights

Memorial, built by the Idaho Human

Rights Education Center, is dedicated

to the importance of human rights and

inspired by Anne Frank’s faith in hu-

manity. Rev. Nancy Taylor, Leslie Drake,

Marilyn Shuler and Lisa Uhlmann start-

ed a campaign for a permanent memo-

rial and education center after seeing an

Anne Frank exhibit that toured Idaho in

1995. Features include a life size bronze

statue of Anne Frank, the holocaust

victim whose family hid from the Nazis

for many years. Sculptor Greg Stone

cast Anne as if she were pulling back

an imaginary curtain and gazing out a

The Boise Depot is a well-known icon overlooking downtown Boise.

Mapping Boise’s Icons

BOISE ICONS

54 BOISE, IDAHO

window from the family’s attic hiding place. Water features

replicate the canals of Amsterdam. A 180-foot long wall

is inscribed with quotes such as “Be the change you want

to see in the world,” from Mahatma Ghandi. Words from

humanitarian leaders, children and philosophers, slaves and

presidents, poets and paupers, the famous and the unknown

remind visitors to have faith in humanity.

Just three months before Nazis captured her family, Anne

wrote, “Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It is covered with

leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.” The Idaho

Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial has been named one

of only eleven United States sites to receive a sapling from

the actual Anne Frank Chestnut Tree in Amsterdam. The

White House, the World Trade Center site and one of the first

Arkansas schools to be integrated in the 1950’s are among

the other recipients. The chestnut will be planted at the site

in a few years when it is big enough.

Location: 777 S. 8th Street

• Table Rock rises 1,100 feet above the valley east of Boise.

An illuminated cross at its flat summit can be seen for miles

along with many antennae for local broadcast stations. Once

used as a Native American lookout, Table Rock affords a view

of the city and of the pioneer route south of the river.

Location: E. Table Rock Rd.

• Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel, Boise’s synagogue, is

thought to be the oldest synagogue building in continuous

use in the United States west of the Mississippi River. Boi-

se’s first Jewish residents were present in the mining camps

in the 1860’s, but it was not until 1896 that a synagogue was

built. The construction was partially financed by Levi Strauss

& Co. and Marshall Field. One of the builders was Moses

Alexander, who became the mayor of Boise and the governor

of Idaho, the first Jewish governor in the United States. The

synagogue served as a haven for disenfranchised groups in

the early 1900’s and when the first Latter-day Saints arrived

in Boise the Mormons used the synagogue for prayer.

The modern Moorish style synagogue’s wood-shingled

building blends two architectural styles. The exterior is

mainly in the Rundbogenstil style, though the tall windows

flanking the massive rose window–a Moorish mosaic of soft

blues, ambers, and greens – are in the form of horseshoe

arches. This Moorish Revival detail continues on the inside,

where the barrel-vaulted ceiling is supported by horseshoe

arches. The synagogue was added to the National Register

of Historic Places in 1972. The building was moved from its

original location on 11th and State Street to its current loca-

tion on Latah Street near Morris Hill Cemetery in 2003.

Location: 11 N. Latah Street

BOISE ICONS

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Harrison Boulevard

Harrison Boulevard, one of Boise's most picturesque thor-

oughfares, is named for President Benjamin Harrison, who

signed the Admissions Act making Idaho a state. His visit in 1891

prompted the City Council and local landowner Jeremiah Brum-

back to rename 17th Street in honor of the 23rd president.

As Boise boomed in the first decades of the 20th Century,

many of the City's most prominent citizens built their homes on

the Boulevard, resulting in a superb collection of architectural

styles. With the addition of the median parkway and street lights

in 1916, the City Engineer called Harrison Boulevard a "model

road." This unique combination of stately homes and medians

make Harrison Boulevard one of Boise's most historic and beauti-

ful neighborhoods.

• 1980: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

• 1989: Designated as a local historic district by Boise City

Hyde Park

Growing from the needs of the surrounding North End

Neighborhood, Hyde Park became Boise's first suburban shop-

ping area, focused around the nexus of 4 early subdivisions.

Located more than a mile from downtown, the area was a

thriving commercial district from the turn of the century, provid-

ing two barbers, a pharmacy, meat market, bicycle shop, hotel,

shoe shop, milliner, dyer, dairy, post office, bakery, plumber and

lumber yard. Streetcar service supported the district, connecting it

to the surrounding neighborhood and downtown.



Warm Springs Avenue

The Warm Springs Avenue neighborhood began to emerge in

the 1890s, soon after Kelly Hot Springs, for which the street was

named, were tapped to provide water for Boise's fire hydrants.

The prominent owners of the water line built their mansions on

the street, pumping in the natural hot water from east of Table

Rock for use in their homes; these were among the first houses in

the world to utilize geothermal sources for heat.

The homes on Warm Springs Avenue are distinctive and

grand, and designed in diverse architectural styles. The combina-

tion of stately homes and geothermal heat makes this area one of

Boise's most historically significant local districts, as well as one

of the most unique in the western states.



Old Boise

The area known as Old Boise sprang up as a commercial

district in the Original Townsite as early as 1864, catering to

miners, military men and settlers. Although most of the original

buildings were replaced by those we see today between 1890 -

1920, this area still contains the largest concentration of histori-

cally and architecturally significant commercial buildings in Boise.

Although the district contains a variety of architectural styles,

the fairly uniform size and scale of its buildings provide a cohe-

sive appearance.



Information from the City of Boise (www.cityofboise.org).

Boise’s Iconic Historic Neighborhoods

LYNX! ConsortiumWelcomes

YOUto the Treasure Valley

There are 14 libraries to you.With 1.5 items availableYour library card works at all

Ada Community Library (4 locs) adalib.org

Boise Public Library (4 locs) boisepubliclibrary.org

Caldwell Public Library caldwell.IiIi.org

Eagle Public Library eaglepubliclibrary.org

Garden City Library NotAQuietLibrary.org

Meridian Library District (2 locs) mld.org

Nampa Public Library nampalibrary.org1051264-01

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One of the Many Historic Homes on Warm Springs Avenue.

mapping boise’s iconsneighborhood, hyde park became boise's first suburban shop-ping area,...

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