Timeline of Boise, Idaho

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Boise, Idaho, United States.

19th century

• 1863 – Fort Boise established by United States Army.[1]
• 1864 – December 7: Boise designated capital of Idaho Territory.[2]
  • Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman newspaper begins publication.[3]

Christ Chapel was constructed in 1866 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

• 1866 – Christ Chapel built.
• 1867 – Henry E. Prickett becomes mayor.
• 1870 – Territorial Prison built.[4]
• 1871 – Assay Office (Boise, Idaho) built.
• 1881 – Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers organized.
• 1890 – Boise becomes capital of new State of Idaho.
• 1892 – Woman's Columbian Club organized.[5][6]
  • Boise Sentinel newspaper begins publication.[3]
• 1896 – Ahavath Beth Israel synagogue built.
• 1897 – Idaho Intermountain Fair begins.

20th century

• 1900 – Population: 5,957
• 1901 – Idanha Hotel opens
• 1905 – Carnegie Public Library opens [7][8]
• 1906 – Boise Commercial Club organized [9]

Main Street in 1911

• 1907 – Julia Davis Park established
• 1908 – Pinney Theatre opens [10]
  • Swedish Lutheran Church built
• 1909 – College Women's Club organized [11]
• 1910 – YWCA organized [11]
  • Population: 17,358
• 1912 – Idaho State Capitol opens (first phase)
• 1913 – Idaho Labor Herald and New Freedom newspapers begin publication.[3]
  • Boise-Payette Lumber Company in business

Map of Boise in 1917

• 1920 – Population: 21,393
• 1921 – St. John's Cathedral completed
• 1925 – Union Pacific Depot opens
  • Idaho Country Club founded, became Hillcrest in 1940
• 1926 – Airfield in operation, at present site of Boise State University [12]
• 1927 – Egyptian Theatre opens
• 1928 – Bandshell built in Julia Davis Park
• 1932 – Boise Junior College opens
  • Idaho Legionnaire newspaper begins publication[3]
• 1938 – Boise Airport moves to present site
• 1939 – Rose Garden dedicated in Julia Davis Park
  • First Albertsons supermarket opens
• 1940 – Hillcrest Country Club opens at former Idaho Country Club
  • State Funeral of U.S. Senator William Borah; 23,000 pass bier in state capitol [13]

Boise's Carnegie Public Library opened in 1905 on Washington St. and remained at that site until the library moved in 1973.

• 1955 – Boise homosexuality scandal begins
• 1957 – Boise Cascade headquartered in Boise
• 1958 – Second public high school, Borah, opens
• 1960 – Population: 34,481
• 1964 – Bishop Kelly High School opens
• 1965 – Third public high school, Capital, opens
• 1968 – Boise Greenbelt plan adopted
• 1969 – Boise College becomes Boise State College
• 1970 – New Bronco Stadium opens, constructed in less than a year.
  • Population: 74,990
• 1972 – St. Alphonsus Hospital moves to present site from downtown[14]
• 1973 – Boise Co-op founded.[15][16]
  • State Penitentiary closes[4]
• 1974 – Boise State College becomes Boise State University and Boise Bible College established.
• 1975 – One Capital Center opens
  • Boise A's minor league baseball team begins play (two seasons)[17][18]
• 1976 – Old St. Alphonsus Hospital arson,[19] later razed.[20]
• 1977 – Idaho Shakespeare Festival begins.[21]

US Bank Plaza, constructed as "Idaho First Plaza," opened in 1978.

• 1978 – U.S. Bank Plaza opens, as "Idaho First Plaza"[22][23]
  • Micron Technology begins operations
  • Boise Buckskins minor league baseball team begins play (sole season)[24][25]
• 1979 – Mountain West Airlines-Idaho headquartered in Boise
• 1980 – Population: 102,249
• 1982 – Taco Bell Arena opens as "BSU Pavilion"
• 1984 – World Center for Birds of Prey established
  • Boise, Idaho Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens
  • Funeral of U.S. Senator Frank Church [26][27]
• 1986 – Bronco Stadium installs first blue AstroTurf field
• 1987 – Boise Hawks minor league baseball team's first season, relocated from Tri-Cities[28]
  • Eastman Building fire,[29][30][31]
• 1988 – Boise Towne Square Mall opens
  • Discovery Center of Idaho constructed.
• 1989 – Memorial Stadium opens for baseball
• 1990 – Boise Open golf tournament begins
  • Boise Centre (convention center) opens
  • Population: 125,738
• 1992 – Boise Weekly begins publication
  • Foothills School of Arts and Sciences established
• 1995 – Idaho Black History Museum built
• 1997
  • City website online (approximate date).[32]
  • Boise Contemporary Theater group founded
  • CenturyLink Arena opens
  • Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (college football) game begins as "Humanitarian Bowl"[33]
• 1998 – Fourth public high school, Timberline, opens
• 1999 – Boise Hare Krishna Temple built

21st century

Aerial view of Boise in 2007

• 2000 – Riverstone Community School relocates to Boise.
  • Population: 181,711 [34]
• 2002 – Islamic Center founded.[35]
• 2003 – Boise Dharma Center founded.[35]
• 2004 – David H. Bieter becomes mayor.[36]
• 2005 – Caldwell-Boise Express bus begins operating.[37]
  • Boise Guardian begins publication.[38]
• 2006 – Treasure Valley Rollergirls founded.
  • Albertsons LLC headquartered in Boise.

Butch Otter and Lori Otter, Governor and First Lady of Idaho, open the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games

• 2007 – College of Western Idaho founded.
• 2008 – Trey McIntyre dance troupe relocates to Boise.[39]
  • Frank Church High School opens.
• 2009 – February: 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games held.
• 2010 – Population: 205,671.
• 2011 – Idaho Aquarium opens.
• 2012 – Treefort Music Fest begins.
• 2013 – City sesquicentennial.[40]

See also

• Boise history
• Boise metropolitan area
• Media in Boise, Idaho
• List of mayors of Boise

References

1. Automobile Blue Book 1919.
2. John Hailey (1910), The History of Idaho, Boise, Id: Syms-York Company, OCLC 5793481, OL 7093749M
3. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
4. "Come and Explore Over a Century of Prison History!". Idaho.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
5. Mary Osborn Douthit, ed. (1905). "Women's Club Work in Idaho". The Souvenir of Western Women . Portland, Oregon.
6. "Collection Descriptions". Idaho State Historical Society. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
7. "History of Boise's Library". Boise Public Library. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011.
8. American Library Annual, 1917–1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918.
9. Boise, Boise Commercial Club, 1907
10. The Billboard, October 3, 1908
11. "Idaho Branch". Journal of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Chicago: Association of Collegiate Alumnae. January 1911.
12. “Large Sales,Pilot Training Upswing Marked by Aviation,” Idaho Statesman, Boise. January 2, 1947. p. 13.
13. Bottcher, Walter R. (January 26, 1940). "Senator Borah rests in mountain's shadow". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. p. 1.
14. "Building urged". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. October 4, 1972. p. 3.
15. "NCGA Co-ops: Idaho". Iowa: National Cooperative Grocers Association.
16. "Boise-Co-op".
17. "Pro ball returns to Boise after absence of 11 years". Lewiston Morning Tribune. June 18, 1975. p. B1.
18. "Boise drops opener before 1,814 fans". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. June 19, 1975. p. B1.
19. "Historic hospital damaged by fire". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 16, 1976. p. 8.
20. "Old building to be razed". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. November 23, 1976. p. 22.
21. "Past Plays". Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
22. "Idaho bank plans rites". Deseret News. August 1, 1978. p. B3.
23. "Bank will dedicate new office building". Lewiston Morning Tribune. July 23, 1978. p. 3D.
24. "Boise board tables 'Buckskins'". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. September 14, 1977. p. B3.
25. "Buckskins continue sans pay". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. August 22, 1978. p. 15.
26. "Church's body comes home to Idaho". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. April 12, 1984. p. 1.
27. "Hundreds of Idahoans mourn". Spokane Chronicle. Associated Press. April 12, 1984. p. 1.
28. Stalwick, Howie (June 16, 1987). "Indians open season tonight". Spokesman-Review. p. B1.
29. "Stubbon fire guts old Boise building". Bend (OR) Bulletin. UPI. January 25, 1987. p. A-6.
30. "Downtown Boise fire under control". (Moscow) Idahonian. Associated Press. January 26, 1987. p. 5.
31. Collias, Nicholas (November 23, 2005). "The Hole Truth And Nothing But". Boise Weekly.
32. "Welcome to the City of Boise". Archived from the original on April 1997 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
33. "Cincinnati takes inaugural Humanitarian Bowl". The Item. Sumter, SC. Associated Press. December 30, 1997. p. 3B.
34. "About Boise". City of Boise. Archived from the original on June 4, 2003.
35. Pluralism Project. "Boise, Idaho". Directory of Religious Centers. Harvard University. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
36. "Meet the Mayors". Washington, DC: United States Conference of Mayors. Archived from the original on June 27, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
37. "Boise Region Grapples With Smog", New York Times, January 23, 2009
38. "Idaho". CJR's Guide to Online News Startups. New York: Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
39. "Dancers Adopt a City and Vice Versa", New York Times, August 13, 2010
40. "Boise 150". Retrieved March 31, 2013.

Bibliography

• "Boise", An Illustrated history of the state of Idaho, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1899
• Sunset Magazine Homeseekers' Bureau (1908), Boise, Idaho, Boise: Boise Commercial Club, OL 7220896M
• "Boise", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Boise, Idaho, Boise: Boise Commercial Club, 1913, OL 25397669M
• Hiram T. French (1914), "(Boise)", History of Idaho, Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., OCLC 2739177
• "Boise". Automobile Blue Book. New York: Automobile Blue Book Publishing Co. 1919.
• Federal Writers’ Project (1937). "Boise". Idaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures. American Guide Series. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers. p. 253+.
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Boise", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M
• "Rocky Mountains: Idaho: Boise", USA, Let's Go, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999, OL 24937240M

External links

• Boise City Office of the Historian
• Items related to Boise, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• Items related to Boise, various dates (via U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photos Division)