Depot at sundown.   Photo taken facing SW off Capital BLVD*

Boise Train Depot

By Eric Naylor

Following the Gold Rush and the Westward Movements of people from the East, railroads began moving west as well to accommodate this. Although these railroads often cut across the lands of the Native Americans (who sometimes referred to the trains as “Iron Horses”), there was little they could do to stop it. Within a few decades, the East and West Coasts were connected by steel tracks. Different railroad companies assisted in the building of these tracks, one of the most prominent being the Union Pacific Railroad.

It was the Union Pacific, in fact, which helped bring the railroads to Idaho, and in the early 1900’s they helped to build a train station in Boise to assist in the transportation. The Boise Train Depot was designed by architects from New York and opened in 1925. Located on the top of the hill on Capitol Boulevard, the Depot came to be a prominent landmark near (and visible from) the Downtown area of Boise, and has long since come to be used as more than just a train station. It has also been used for weddings, fund-raisers, corporate parties, and business meals, among other things.

The Boise Train Depot is operated by the Boise Parks & Recreation department.

Bibliography

“Boise Depot.” City of Boise.org. <http://www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Parks/Reservations/ReservableSites/BoiseDepot/> (Accessed November 19, 2011). Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1970.

*Photo by P. Browning permission to copy/reproduce image for educational purposes only.