Boise Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

From the record

“The Boise Historic District in Boise, Idaho, includes late 19th century and early 20th century buildings constructed of brick, sandstone, or wood in an area roughly bounded by Capitol Boulevard, North 5th Street, West Main Street, and West Idaho Street. The district is located within an area known as Old Boise, and contributing properties were constructed 1879-1920.”
Wikipedia article Boise Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 167 National Register listings published here for Ada County · listed in 1977 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. 5th and 6th Sts., both sides of Idaho and Main Sts., Boise, 83702
When was it listed? November 1977
Category. district
Census division. Boise City
National Register reference number. 77000448 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

43 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 43 fires within 5 miles of Boise Historic District between 1992 and 2020, burning about 18,656 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	17
Recreation and ceremony	6
Equipment and vehicle use	5
Natural	4
Fireworks	4
Arson/incendiarism	3
Debris and open burning	1
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1
Smoking	1
Other causes	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
30 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	70 acres	Boise District	RA 11 ADA CO
27 September 1999	Fireworks	2.0 acres	Boise District	OVERLOOK
25 September 2001	Natural	1.0 acres	Boise District	8THSTXTENS
21 September 2014	Smoking	3.0 acres	Boise District	SUNNY
13 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	8.0 acres	Boise District	BOGUS BASIN
9 August 2001	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	Boise District	BLUE CAR
30 August 1999	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	24 acres	Boise District	ROCKY CANY
28 August 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Boise District	RA11 BFD

Every fire recorded in Ada County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 63 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 63 workings within 5 miles of Boise Historic District: 40 past producers, 10 producers, 5 unknowns, 4 occurrences. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Stone, Dimension, Diatomite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Geothermal Location	Geothermal	Occurrence
Golden Star Group	Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver	Past Producer
Picket Pin Mine	Gold, Lead, Zinc	Past Producer	Vein
Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Diatomite Occurrence	Diatomite	Occurrence	Sedimentary
Keltic Gold Mine	Gold, Silver	Past Producer	Vein
Morning Star Mine	Gold, Silver	Past Producer	Vein
Old Boise Stone Company Quarry	Stone, Dimension	Past Producer	Sandstone
Perlite Deposit	Perlite	Occurrence
Rip Rap Pit-Gowen Field	Stone, Dimension	Unknown

Every working recorded in Ada County

Storms near this property

48 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Boise, the town this property stands in, in 48 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 23 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 5 flash flood, 4 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2023	Flash Flood	Boise	$1,000,000	Thunderstorms produced heavy rain across portions of the Lower Treasure Valley, including the city of Boise. Social media, weather spotter, and emergency manager reports indicated localized flooding.
September 1997	Flash Flood	Boise	$60,000	During the evening of September 11, a flash flood occurred in the foothills of the Boise Mountains. The foothills had received significant rainfall all day long. Between 500 pm and 600 pm MST a heavy shower dumped 4 tenths of an inch of rain in 9 minutes on the foothills triggering flash flooding into the north end of Boise. The wall of mud and debris was estimated at 15 feet high as it breached six flood control dams and washed over a golf course. While most of the damage consisted of mud and debris on local roadways, the golf course sustained damage and 12 houses were slightly damaged at the foundations. No injuries were reported. As of publishing , damages to roads in the city and clean up costs were estimated at at least 60,000 dollars.
September 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	$20,000	no account filed
July 2015	Flash Flood	Boise	$10,000	Heavy rain from slow moving thunderstorms caused flash flooding in the Boise metro area. Over an inch of rain fell in less than an hour across portions of Boise. Flash flooding was reported in the downtown area and in the north and northwest parts of the city.
September 1998	Lightning	Boise	$10,000	no account filed
September 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	$8,000	no account filed
April 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	$5,000	no account filed
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	A strong outflow boundary from a thunderstorm damaged several power lines around the Boise metropolitan area and Garden Valley. Around 2,000-3,000 people were estimated to be without power in both of those regions due to wind damage.
September 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	A large spruce tree was knocked down at Morris Hill Cemetery.
September 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	The public reported a large spruce tree was knocked down along with old juniper trees. Idaho Power reported that this caused 2000 customers to be without power in the Boise North End.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	A tree fell on Park Center Boulevard and Highland Street, which blocked several lanes.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	An NWS employee measured a wind gust of 50 knots in downtown Boise.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	An NWS employee reported 50 knots of wind in southeast Boise.
May 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	A couple of large trees were knocked down near Quinn's Pond on the Boise Greenbelt.
March 2023	Heavy Rain	Boise	-	The mesonet station GW0891 in Boise measured 1.09 inches of rain.
March 2023	Heavy Rain	Boise	-	The mesonet station at BSUI1 measured 1.32 inches of heavy rain.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	The KBOI ASOS at The Boise airport measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 60 MPH. Downed trees and power poles were reported across Ada County.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Thunderstorms that moved across Ada County caused damage around the Boise area, including tree tops torn off, a large tree snapped at its base, and residential fences blown down.
August 2009	Hail	Boise	-	A trained spotter reported large chunks of hail a little smaller than golf balls.
May 2008	Hail	Boise	-	A trained spotter reported 50 MPH winds and hail averaging three quarters of an inch and a few stones larger than one inch.
September 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Gusty winds and rain ripped through the Treasure Valley, causing power outages and knocking down huge trees. KBCI TV reported numerous trees and power lines down across the Boise metro area.
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Boise 7 SE Gust 60K
May 2004	Hail	Boise	-	No know damage
June 2004	Flash Flood	Boise	-	Flooding downtown Boise...see narrative below.
June 2004	Hail	Boise	-	See narrative below.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Trees and Power lines down.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Microburst winds...semi truck overturned, trees uprooted and roofs damaged.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	Swan Falls Dam...Gust to were also observed 14SE of Boise.
February 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	A line of thunderstorms produced wind gusts to 44 knots (51 mph) and hail up to 3/4 inch diameter from 10 miles west of Boise into the city of Boise. Numerous trees and power lines were brought down by the storm.
May 1999	Lightning	Boise	-	During the afternoon of May 3rd a thunderstorm over Boise sent a bolt of lightning onto the Crane Creek Country Club golf course. Three golfers were knocked down when a the lightening struck the ground near by. None of the golfers felt an electric shock but the explosion knocked them to the ground. Medical authorities summoned to the scene determined that there were no injuries to the golfers.
July 1998	Hail	Boise	-	A severe thunderstorm produced 3/4 to 7/8 inch hail in Boise. 7/8 inch hail was observed at the Boise National Weather Service Office.
April 1993	Hail	Boise	-	A severe weather spotter reported hail, measuring 1.00 inch in diameter, falling from a thunderstorm 7 miles north of Boise. The storm also produced heavy rains and frequent lightning that lasted for almost an hour.
June 2006	Hail	Boise	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Boise	-	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	no account filed
July 2002	Flash Flood	Boise	-	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	no account filed
May 2000	Hail	Boise	-	no account filed
September 1998	Flood	Boise	-	no account filed
September 1998	Flood	Boise	-	no account filed
June 1998	Flood	Boise	-	no account filed
June 1998	Flood	Boise	-	no account filed
July 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	no account filed
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	no account filed
July 1997	Lightning	Boise	-	no account filed
June 1997	Funnel Cloud	Boise	-	no account filed
July 1995	Hail	Boise	-	no account filed
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Boise	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ada County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Corilla J. and Orlando Robbins House	under 500 feet	2020
Ada Theater	under 500 feet	1974
Anduiza Hotel	0.1 miles	2003
Cyrus Jacobs House	0.1 miles	1972
Chinese Odd Fellows Building	0.1 miles	1982
Union Block and Montandon Buildings	0.2 miles	1979

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 77000448 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Ada County	All 167 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.