Mary "Black" Ridenbaugh:

Mary Black was born October 1857 in Missouri.  Her father, Colonel Charles Morgan Black served under General Sterling Price in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. In 1854, before the war could end, Charles and six of his brothers packed up their families and moved them west to Wood river country near current Ketchum, Idaho. Charles, his wife Anne Matilda Black, and his family ran a stage ferry crossing for the miners moving their gold from location to location.

Mary and her 4 sisters were known as the Beautiful Black sisters. Mary and her sisters studied in different locations across the West. She studied at St. Michael’s parish school in Boise, then St. Vincent’s academy in Walla Walla, Washington, and finally studying at Sacred Heart academy in Oakland, California. After her years of study Mary returned to teach in Idaho. She taught for 2 years at Dry Creek in Ada County. Soon after starting her career as a teacher, however, she met and William Ridenbaugh, a Boise lumberman and “merchant miller.” She married William in 1878 and they soon moved to their first home on Grove Street in Boise, Idaho. Despite never returning to her career in teaching, Mary Ridenbaugh would use her passion for education to influence her decisions for the rest of her life.

The Idaho Statesman once described her as “A woman molded by rugged pioneer life and tempered in the school teacher’s chair who... laid the foundation for modern Idaho culture.” Mary’s list of accomplishments as a town builder in Boise is impressive. She helped change the landscape of Idaho in more ways than one. As one of the original organizers of the Columbian Club and a charter member she was chairman of the building committee that fought for years to finally build Carnegie Library, the first public library in Boise.

Mary Ridenbaugh's Achievements: 

A Charter member of the Columbian Club, she took a leading part in many of its projects, including chairing the building committee which erected and funded the 1925 clubhouse, and founding Boise’s Carnegie library. Served on the Board of Regents for the University of Idaho for many years and secured a women’s dormitory building later named Ridenbaugh Hall. Mary served as regent of the University of Idaho under three different governors. While serving, she fought to build a women’s dormitory that would be built in 1902 and named Ridenbaugh Hall in honor of the woman who fought for its creation. The Ridenbaugh Hall, the oldest building standing on campus, serves as a music building and art gallery today and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Also, while serving at the University of Idaho, she devoted 5 years to plan and develop Idaho’s first domestic science class. It was so well planned and executed that it was adopted and instituted by different universities in many other states. She served on the Idaho board at the Chicago World’s Fair, as well as served as hostess at the Idaho building during the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. While doing all these amazing things with her life, she also helped create a number of cultural and welfare societies for Idaho women that served women for many years. An Idaho Statesman article written March 26, 1926 explained, “She was a woman of tact and rare social charm and her services were much sought particularly in the early days by governors and mayors.” Despite being asked and pushed to run for political office, Mary was always content working on committees and through organizations to build a better Idaho.

The Ridenbaugh Castle:

Mary Ridenbaugh was considered the queen of social life in Boise. Her social charm and elegance made her the perfect hostess for any important visitors to Boise in the age when no hotel existed to serve the same purpose. In order to be a proper hostess, however, Mary needed the perfect home. William purchased the land near a flower and lumber mill that had been in operation since 1865. The location earned their home the name The Mills. Their three story Queen Anne style home had three towers, “countless” rooms, dark green ornamental shingling, 13 European tile fireplaces, carpeted floors in light colors that perfectly complimented the pastel furniture, and a walnut-paneled library. The size and unique formation of the home caused local Boiseans to call it a castle. Mary’s castle was the platform from which she hosted distinguished visitors and earned her a name synonymous with hospitality. The Mill was her dream home.

Her Legacy:

Idaho Statesman journalist wrote a number of articles about Mary Ridenbaugh. She describes Mary as a person who felt accomplished, “Although hers was a lifetime of fulfillments, from material to spiritual, Mary Ridenbaugh always felt she was a woman whose dreams were never finished.” William died August 17, 1922 and Mary followed four years later in 1926. She died in Portland, Oregon and left behind her only daughter, Florence; her granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Cowles, of Boise; three sisters -J.C. Galbraith, A.H. Force, and Hunter Nelson - and three brothers - Will, Frank, and John Black. Soon after her death her beloved home was sold to the resident Boise millionaire of the time who quickly torn the castle down to make way for the home he planned to build for his bride-to-be.

Mary Ridenbaugh’s legacy, however, is not the parties she hosted in a castle on a hillside overlooking the Boise valley. Instead Mary’s influence can be seen on University of Idaho’s campus and Carnegie Library in Boise. In an article written years after her death Betty Pearson explains that her influence far outlived even her eloquence. Mary fought for women’s education and influence in Boise. It is no wonder that she is often considered one of the most influential persons in Idaho history.

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All information was discovered through the Special Collections and Archives at Boise State University. For more information visit their online collection or their offices located in the Albertson's Library on BSU's campus.