Idaho City has a look of permanence that most mining camps lack. Many buildings are made of brick, and, in fact, several views of the town could be mistaken for some of the better-preserved sites of the California Gold Rush. In addition to its permanence, the community also has enough life that it should be considered a historic town rather than a ghost town. Idaho City, however, is neither overly touristy nor overly dressed up: Parts are almost dowdy, which I find makes it all the more charming and photogenic.
In 1862, a party of men led by George Grimes and Moses Splawn discovered placer deposits in what later became known as Grimes Creek. The usual rush to the area ensued, and the Boise Basin came alive. The principal town was Idaho City, which had a population of about six thousand within a year. That made the boomtown the largest community in the Idaho Territory, and at one point it was reputed to be the largest city in the northwestern United States, bigger even than Portland, Oregon. But its size and prosperity was soon eclipsed by other strikes like Silver City and Montana’s Virginia City and Helena. The raucous, bustling town of Idaho City began a decline within a few years as miners raced to the next El Dorado.
The town did not completely wither, however, as area mines continued to produce, albeit in less spectacular amounts. Later hydraulicking of hillsides and dredging of streambeds kept the Boise Basin producing for decades. The drive to Placerville (see following entry, pages 172–175) shows extensive evidence of this later mining.
WALKING AND DRIVING AROUND IDAHO CITY
A good place to start enjoying this architecturally diverse community is on Main Street, where you will find the 1865 Boise Basin Mercantile on the southwest corner of Main and Commercial streets. It lays claim to being Idaho’s oldest store still in existence.
One block north, on the southwest corner of Main and Wall streets, stands the 1871 Boise County Courthouse. A single-story brick edifice that was originally built as a general store, it also served as a tin shop, a hardware store, and a hotel, finally becoming a courthouse in 1909. If it’s open, be sure to observe its delightful interior, which looks, except for a few modernities, much as it did in 1909.
The Boise County Courthouse in Idaho City has served in that capacity for more than a century. Its courtroom, still in use, has been restored to its early-twentieth-century appearance.
North of the courthouse is the 1891 city hall, at Main and School streets, a two-story, wooden structure with an imposing bell tower. The building originally served as the town’s school until 1962.
West of Main is Montgomery Street, which features other excellent buildings. On the northwest corner of Montgomery and Wall streets stands the Boise Basin Museum, housed in the 1867 former post office. West of the museum on Wall Street are the Idaho City Firehouse and the two-story, wood-frame Masonic Temple. Beyond the temple is the fourteen-cell, 1864 penitentiary, used by both Boise County and the Territory of Idaho. Made of huge hewn logs, it was moved to this location in 1952 and now has a protective roof.
On a hill east of town, on High Street, stand the 1867 St. Joseph Catholic Church and the 1875 Odd Fellows Hall.
Idaho City’s Pioneer Cemetery (the topographic map identifies it as the Boot Hill Cemetery) is west of town on Centerville Road, which is on the north end of town. Go west on Centerville .3 of a mile, turn south on Buena Vista Road, and follow the road for .5 of a mile around to the right and up a hill.
The early morning sun touches Idaho City’s city hall, erected as the town’s schoolhouse in 1891. The building served students until 1962, when they moved to a new school on the north edge of town.
A sign at the cemetery states that an estimated three thousand people are buried there, but fewer than three hundred have been identified. Graves are spread over several acres in five separate sections, including the General (Public), Catholic, Masonic, Odd Fellows, and Chinese. The latter, as explained in the Bonanza entry (see page 162), contains no actual remains.
You could spend hours walking this pleasant, shady cemetery. One grave worth noticing is slightly uphill to the right beyond the sign showing the layout of the graveyard. A heavy, Gothic-looking, iron fence, with each panel showing a reclining lamb under a weeping willow, surrounds the more than eight-foot-long horizontal stone covering the grave of Mary E. Pinney, who died in 1869 at twenty-five years of age. The stone is engraved from top to bottom, and a wooden sign next to it helps you read the stone.
WHEN YOU GO
From Bonanza, return to Sunbeam. Drive west for 13 miles on Idaho Highway 75 to Stanley, one of the most spectacularly beautiful spots on this Earth. From Stanley, follow Idaho Highway 21 to Idaho City, a distance of 90 miles.
Idaho City’s Masonic Lodge was built in 1865. It still contains original furnishings.