Skip to main content

Mining Town

mining_logo1
U.S. Assay Office, built from Table Rock sandstone in 1870, became a transit point for gold from the Boise Basin mines. The National Register of Historic Places, Library of Congress.
U.S. Assay Office, built from Table Rock sandstone in 1870, became a transit point for gold from the Boise Basin mines. The National Register of Historic Places, Library of Congress.

Mining towns of the 1800s generally sprang up quickly and with little planning. Boise’s founders, however, platted and planned the town prior to any serious construction allowing for a more organized city than others of the time. Therefore, maps of early Boise depict an urban area with uniform streets and equal lot sizes within the city limits. The relatively flat site, reasonably void of major natural obstacles, allowed for the standardized layout of the town in its early stages. Mining towns located in the nearby Boise Basin and Owyhee Mountains often succumbed to the will of mountains and streams when developing their city design. Mining communities located in narrow canyons, on the sides of hills, or along the banks of meandering rivers were commonplace during the gold and silver rushes of the nineteenth century. In subsequent years, other factors led to the establishment of new sections of Boise in a less ordered arrangement than in the original plat.

Title: "Plat of Boise City" Date Drawn: July 1863 Cartographer: H. C. Riggs Publisher: H. C. Riggs Collection: "An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863–1890," Merle W. Wells
Title: “Plat of Boise City”
Date Drawn: July 1863
Cartographer: H. C. Riggs
Publisher: H. C. Riggs
Collection: “An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863–1890,” Merle W. Wells

Many of the names appearing on the original plat of Boise City are of businesspersons hoping to take advantage of the nearby mining districts.

Title: "Plat of Boise City" Date Drawn: 1867 Cartographer: Publisher: Collection: Idaho State Library and Archives
Title: “Plat of Boise City”
Date Drawn: 1867
Cartographer:
Publisher:
Collection: Idaho State Library and Archives

By 1867, Boise had grown from a modest ten city blocks to over one hundred thirty thanks in large part to the local mining industry.

Title: "Southern Idaho" Date Drawn: 1864 Cartographer: George Woodman Publisher: Unknown Collection: "An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863-1890" - Merle W. Wells
Title: “Southern Idaho”
Date Drawn: 1864
Cartographer: George Woodman
Publisher: Unknown
Collection: “An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863-1890” – Merle W. Wells

Though not completely accurate, some of the names and locations of mining districts are incorrect; Wells asserts that the map “comes close to showing the land as miners understood the country.”

Title: "Maps of Boise Basin and Part of Ada, Alturas, and Owyhee Counties I.T." Date Drawn: 1865 Cartographer: George Owens Publisher: Britton & Co. LITH: S.F. Collection: "An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863-1890" - Merle W. Wells
Title: “Maps of Boise Basin and Part of Ada, Alturas, and Owyhee Counties I.T.”
Date Drawn: 1865
Cartographer: George Owens
Publisher: Britton & Co. LITH: S.F.
Collection: “An Atlas of Idaho Territory 1863-1890” – Merle W. Wells

This map effectively depicts Boise’s advantageous central location in relation to the nearby mining districts. In 1865, all roads in southwestern Idaho seemed to lead to Boise.

Title: Detail of "Mining in Idaho" Date Drawn: 1916 Cartographer: A.F. Hassan, redrawn by Jon Gustafson Publisher: Idaho Geologic Survey Collection: Boise State University Library
Title: Detail of “Mining in Idaho”
Date Drawn: 1916
Cartographer: A.F. Hassan, redrawn by Jon Gustafson
Publisher: Idaho Geologic Survey
Collection: Boise State University Library

This map depicts the major mining districts of southwestern Idaho. Boise grew out of necessity and opportunity in the middle of these booming gold and silver mining districts.

Title: Detail of "Territory of Idaho" Date Drawn: 1879 Cartographer: C. Roeser Publisher: Department of the Interior Collection: Boise State Library and Archives
Title: Detail of “Territory of Idaho”
Date Drawn: 1879
Cartographer: C. Roeser
Publisher: Department of the Interior
Collection: Boise State Library and Archives

Boise’s central location between the mining towns of the Boise Basin and Owyhee Mountains proved advantages for the burgeoning supply town. By the time the Department of the Interior created this map, many of the mining towns in the Boise Basin had declined substantially in population.