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

19th century

• Pre-colonization - Area inhabited by Boise Valley Shoshone and Bannock Tribes, a part of the "Snake Country"
• 1811 – Wilson Hunt's expedition in search of Fur trade routes becomes the first White American settler to visit the area^[1][2]
• 1818 – "Joint-Occupation" of the region by the United Kingdom and the United States, in practice the region remained free of Settler incursions and HBC had a monopoly
• 1846 – British relinquishing of its claim, US takeover and establishment of "Oregon Territory.
• 1848 – Passage of Donation Land Claim Act Increasing settler incursion en route to the Pacific Coast of Oregon
• 1854 – Ward Massacre, the killing of 21 settlers in an attack on a 6-wagon caravan.
• 1863 – Gold mines discovered in the area. Fort Boise established by United States Army.^[3][4]
• 1864 – October 10: Governor of the territory and Boise Valley Shoshone tribe sign a treaty in which the tribe gives up the control of the land upon which Boise is located.^[5] Treaty was never ratified by Congress.^[6]
• 1864 – Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman newspaper begins publication.^[7]

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

• 1864 – December 7: Boise designated capital of Idaho Territory.^[8][4]
• 1866 – Christ Chapel built.
• 1866 – (Lasted until 1868) Start of the unofficial Snake War between settler residents and the US Military on one side, and indigenous peoples of Boise Valley on the other.^[9] Statistically, the deadliest of the Indian Wars in the West in terms of casualties.^[10]
• 1867 – Henry E. Prickett becomes mayor.
• 1869 – "Idaho's Trail of Tears", forced expulsion of Boise Valley Shoshone and Bannock Tribes to Fort Hall Reservation^[11]
• 1870 – Territorial Prison built.^[12]
• 1871 – Assay Office (Boise, Idaho) built.
• 1881 – Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers organized.
• 1882 - Boise High School first opened.
• 1886 - Anti-Chinese convention held ^[13]
• 1890
  • Boise becomes capital of new State of Idaho.
  • Population: 2,311.^[4]
• 1892 – Woman's Columbian Club organized.^[14][15]
  • Boise Sentinel newspaper begins publication.^[7]
• 1896 – Ahavath Beth Israel synagogue built.
• 1897 – Idaho Intermountain Fair begins.

20th century

• 1900 – Population: 5,957.^[4]
• 1901 – Idanha Hotel opens
• 1902 - Boise High School building replaced. "Not the well-known white brick building present today, but traditional red brick, typical of the time period. The cornerstone was laid in 1902."
• 1905 – Carnegie Public Library opens ^[16][17]
• 1906 – Boise Commercial Club organized ^[18]

Main Street in 1911

• 1907 – Julia Davis Park established
• 1908 – Pinney Theatre opens ^[19]
  • Swedish Lutheran Church built
• 1909 – College Women's Club organized ^[20]
• 1910 – YWCA organized ^[20]
  • Population: 17,358.^[4]
• 1912 – Idaho State Capitol opens (first phase)
• 1913 – Idaho Labor Herald and New Freedom newspapers begin publication.^[7]
  • 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^[21]
• 1927 – Egyptian Theatre opens
• 1928 – Bandshell built in Julia Davis Park
• 1930 - Idaho's First Skyscraper Hotel Boise completed. (Named Hoff Building in 1976.)
• 1932 – Boise Junior College opens
  • Idaho Legionnaire newspaper begins publication^[7]
• 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^[22]

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
• 1971 - The Boise Redevelopment Agency purchased and demolished the remaining core of Boise's Chinatown.
• 1972 – St. Alphonsus Hospital moves to present site from downtown^[23]
• 1973 – Boise Co-op founded.^[24][25]
  • State Penitentiary closes^[12]
• 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)^[26][27]
• 1976 – Old St. Alphonsus Hospital arson,^[28] later razed.^[29]
• 1977 – Idaho Shakespeare Festival begins.^[30]

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

• 1978 – U.S. Bank Plaza opens, as "Idaho First Plaza"^[31][32]
  • Micron Technology begins operations
  • Boise Buckskins minor league baseball team begins play (sole season)^[33][34]
• 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^[35][36]
• 1986 – Bronco Stadium installs first blue AstroTurf field
• 1987 – Boise Hawks minor league baseball team's first season, relocated from Tri-Cities^[37]
  • Eastman Building fire,^[38][39][40]
• 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).^[41]
  • Boise Contemporary Theater group founded
  • CenturyLink Arena opens
  • Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (college football) game begins as "Humanitarian Bowl"^[42]
  • Removal of passenger services at Boise Union Pacific Depot
• 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 ^[43]
• 2002 – Islamic Center founded.^[44]
• 2003 – Boise Dharma Center founded.^[44]
• 2004 – David H. Bieter becomes mayor.^[45]
• 2005 – Caldwell-Boise Express bus begins operating.^[46]
  • Boise Guardian begins publication.^[47]
• 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.^[48]
  • 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.^[49]
• 2017 – June 8, Declaration of the annual "Return of the Boise Valley People Day" to commemorate the connection of the exiled Boise Valley Shoshone and Bannock Tribes to their ancestral land^[50]

See also

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

References

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Boise, Idaho.

• 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)

43°36′49″N 116°14′16″W / 43.613739°N 116.237651°W / 43.613739; -116.237651