Editing Idaho City, Idaho (section)

==History==
[[File:Idaho - Idaho City - NARA - 23939421 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Idaho City, 1925]]
Idaho City was founded in December 1862 as “Bannock” (sometimes given as “West Bannock”), amidst the Boise Basin [[gold rush]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the largest since the California gold rush a dozen years earlier. Near the confluence of Elk and Mores Creeks, its plentiful water supply allowed it to outgrow the other nearby camps in the basin, such as [[Placerville, Idaho|Placerville]], Pioneerville, and Centerville. As its population swelled, the new [[Idaho Territory|Idaho Territorial]] legislature changed the town's name to “Idaho City,” to avoid confusion with [[Bannack, Montana|Bannack]], in present-day [[Beaverhead County, Montana|Beaverhead County]], the southwestern corner of [[Montana]].

At its peak during the mid-1860s, there were more than 200 businesses in town, including three dozen saloons and two dozen law offices.<ref name=histidc>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6pBfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2421%2C5494204|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|last=Morrissey|first=David|title=Western tall tale started Idaho City|date=March 19, 1976|page=9A}}</ref> Its 1864 population of 7,000 made it the largest city in the [[Pacific Northwest|Northwest]], bigger than [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]]. Wood was the prime source of both shelter and heat, which caused Idaho City to burn four times: 1865, 1867, 1868, and 1871.<ref>"Idaho for the Curious", by Cort Conley, ©1982, {{ISBN|0-9603566-3-0}}, p.172-179</ref> Five businesses on Main Street burned again in the early hours of June 5, 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 June 2015 |title=Fire consumes entire block in Idaho City |url=http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2015/06/05/idaho-city-main-street-fire/28526653/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606155342/http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2015/06/05/idaho-city-main-street-fire/28526653/ |archive-date=6 June 2015 |website=ktvb.com}}</ref>

In 1863, St. Joseph's Catholic Church was established; it was the first [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] parish in the new [[Idaho Territory]] and the church was completed the following year.<ref name=histidc/>

Idaho City is an important location in local [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] history. The [[Grand Lodge of Idaho]] was founded in Idaho City in 1867. Idaho Lodge No. 1 was originally located in Idaho City, but is now in [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]].

During the boom, the greater Boise Basin population numbered in the tens of thousands, but most departed the mountains once mining declined. Idaho City's population fell below 900 by 1870 and was down to 104 by 1920. The modern economy relies mainly on hunting and fishing tourism, and visits to the many historic sites, including the [[Boot Hill|Boot Hill Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/idahocity.htm|title=Ghost Town Gallery - Hundreds of pictures of Ghost Towns in the American West|website=Ghost Town Gallery|access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> Outside of town, the mining [[tailings]] of the era are ubiquitous.

Senator [[Frank Church]] announced his candidacy for the [[1976 Democratic National Convention|Democratic nomination]] for president from the porch of the county courthouse in Idaho City in March 1976. His grandfather had settled there in 1871 and his father was born there in 1889. [[Chase A. Clark|Chase Clark]], Church's father-in-law, had announced his candidacy for governor in Idaho City in 1940.<ref name=fc76idc>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6pBfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4203%2C5411873|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|last=Shelledy|first=Jay|title=Church joins race for White House|date=March 19, 1976|page=1A}}</ref>

=== Chinese ===
Four thousand Chinese people lived in the Idaho Territory from 1869 to 1875. Like many Chinese immigrants, they came to “Gold Mountain” to work as miners, or found work as laundrymen and cooks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boisecounty.us/Visit_Boise_County.aspx|title=Boise County, Idaho|website=www.boisecounty.us|access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> The store of Pon Yam, a prominent Chinese businessman Pon Yam House from 1867 is one of the only remaining buildings from Idaho City's Chinese. Although today Chinese are rarely seen except as tourists, the 1870 census reported at 1,751 Chinese who were nearly half of city residents. Annie Lee was one legendary Idaho city woman who like [[Polly Bemis]], escaped from sexual slavery. She escaped from a member of the Yeong Wo Company in the 1870s to Boise to marry her lover, another Chinese man. Charged by her owner with grand larceny, she told a judge that she wanted to stay in Boise City. The judge subsequently granted her freedom.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TiuiKwmqTdoC&q=%22idaho+city%22+brothel&pg=PA58|title=Surviving on the Gold Mountain: A History of Chinese American Women and Their Lives|first=Huping|last=Ling|date=16 July 1998|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=9780791438640|access-date=10 October 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Historic district===
{{Infobox NRHP
 | name                     = Idaho City
 | nrhp_type                = 
 | image                    = 
 | caption                  = 
 | location                 = Bounded by city limits, Idaho City, Idaho
 | locmapin                 = Idaho#USA
 | built                    = 1862
 | added                    = June 27, 1975
 | area                     = {{convert|87|acre|ha}}
 | refnum                   = 75000626<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref>
}}
The entirety of Idaho City, as bounded by the city limits in 1975, was listed as a [[historic district (United States)|historic district]] on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1975. The listing included 15 [[contributing buildings]] on {{convert|87|acre|ha}}.<ref name=nris/><ref name=nrhpdoc/>

The historic buildings include:
*Boise County Courthouse (c.1867), serving as a county road maintenance shop in 1975<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*Boise Basin Museum (1867), built as a post office<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*the I.O.O.F. Hall (1855), home of the oldest [[Independent Order of Odd Fellows]] lodge in Idaho, Pioneer Lodge No. 1., two-stories-tall, on a hill overlooking the rest of the city<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*Boise Basin Mercantile Company (1870), a one-story brick building<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*Masonic Hall (1865)<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*Idaho City Fire Station (c.1870)<ref name=nrhpdoc/>
*Idaho City Schoolhouse (1892)<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=75000626}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Idaho City / Bannock City / West Bannock |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Nancy F. Renk |date=January 18, 1974 |access-date=June 8, 2023}} With {{NRHP url|id=75000626|photos=y|title=accompanying 22 photos}}</ref>