THROUGH
THROUGH THIS VALLEY BY HORSEBACK...OR COVERED WAGON...OR ON FOOT.
THEN WHEN PEOPLE
DECIDED TO STOP AND
SET UP SHOP...WELL, THEY
NEEDED A BETTER WAY TO
GET GOODS AND
THEMSELVES IN AND OUT
OF HERE.
WE'D LEAN ON THE
LOCOMOTIVE FOR THAT.
BOISIANS HAD WANTED A
UNION PACIFIC MAIN-LINE
ROUTE FOR A LONG TIME...
BUT A DIFFICULT GRADE
MADE IT HARD FOR A
PASSENGER TRAIN TO
ACTUALLY GET INTO THE
CITY.
ONCE TECHNOLOGY
CAUGHT UP... THE CITY
ACTUALLY BUILT ITS FIRST
TRAIN DEPOT NOT FAR
FROM THE ORIGINAL
LOCATION.
AND IT WAS ON THIS DAY
BACK IN 1925 THAT ONE
OF THE MOST ICONIC
LANDMARKS IN BOISE...
...OPENED TO QUITE THE
FAN
FAN FARE
FAN FARE IN IDAHO'S CAPITOL CITY. "I THINK WHEN YOU
THINK OF BOISE YOU
THINK OF A COUPLE OF
DIFFERENT ICONIC
STRUCTURES THAT WE
HAVE HERE.
ONE IS THE GENE HARRIS
BANDSHELL LOCATED IN
JULIA DAVIS PARK AND
THE OTHER IS THE DEPOT."
"THE
"THE BOISE DEPOT IS AN ICONIC SYMBOL OF BOISE. ICONIC...FOR SURE.
OBVIOUS MIGHT BE THE
WAY MOST SEE IT.
JUST GOOGLE 'BOISE' AND
CLICK THE IMAGES TAB.
"THE
"THE VIEW
"THE VIEW THAT WE HAVE FROM THE DEPOT IS PROBABLY THE MOST
PICTURESQUE VIEW IN THE
ENTIRE CITY AND
ARGUABLY IS PROBABLY
THE MOST PICTURE-TAKEN
LOCATION IN THE ENTIRE
CITY.
WHILE TRAINS HAVE BEEN
ROLLING THROUGH BOISE
SINCE
SINCE THE
SINCE THE LATE 1880S...THEY HAVEN'T ALWAYS HAD A 96 FOOT
TOWER AS A TARGET.
"WE TECHNICALLY HAD
THREE DEPOT LOCATIONS.
THE VERY FIRST WAS A
WOOD-FRAMED BUILDING
THAT WAS UP HERE ON
THE BENCH, NOT QUITE IN
THIS SAME LOCATION
CLOSE.
CLOSE. AND THEN WE HAD A DOWNTOWN DEPOT THAT WAS MADE
OF SANDSTONE AND
THEN THIS ONE WAS BUILT
IN 1925."
"ON APRIL 16, 1925, THEY
HELD THE OPENING DAY
OF DEDICATION."
BRANDI BURNS, THE
HISTORY PROGRAMS
MANAGER WITH THE CITY
OF BOISE, SAYS THE CITY
HELD PARADES WITH LIVE
BANDS, EVEN COSTUME
PARTIES TO CELEBRATE THE
OPENING.
BY HAVING THIS MAIN
LINE TRAIN SERVICE HERE,
IT REALLY HELPED
CONNECT BOISE TO SALT
LAKE AND SEATTLE AND
PORTLAND AND ALL THE
OTHER MAIN URBAN
CENTERS IN THE WEST."
"THEY
"THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE." THE SPANISH-STYLE
ARCHITECTURE IS WHAT
SETS THE BOISE DEPOT
APART FROM THE REST OF
THE CITY.
A DISTINCTION THAD
WEBSTER
TOUR GUIDE, CITY PARKS
AND REC
...HAS HAD THE PRIVILEGE
OF DESCRIBING FOR THE
LAST FOUR YEARS.
GUIDING GUESTS
THROUGH THE NEARLY
100-YEAR HISTORY OF THE
DEPOT.
SO INCOMING TRAFFIC
WOULD COME IN FROM
THE STREET, TURN UP THIS
ISLE, GO TO THE TICKET
OFFICE. THIS WAS THE
BAGGAGE ROOM. THEY
DROPPED THEIR BAGGAGE
OFF. THIS WAS THE
TELEGRAPH ROOM IF THEY
WANTED TO SEND A
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
AND
AND THEN
AND THEN THEY'D HEAD DOWN TO GET A NEWSPAPER OR CIGAR OF
THEIR CHOICE.
WHILE THERE HAVE BEEN
MUCH-NEEDED UPGRADES
TO THE BUILDING...MUCH
HAS REMAINED...
THERE ARE ANTIQUE
RAILROAD CARS PAINTED
ACROSS EACH OF THE
TIMBERS.
...UNCHANGED.
TIMBERS. ...UNCHANGED. ALL OF THAT IS ORIGINAL,
1925: TIMBERS
CHANDELIERS AND THE
AIR CONDITIONING
SYSTEM CEILING FANS.
THE CEILING IS ONE OF
THOSE THAT NEEDED A
TOUCH UP...WHICH THEY
DID DURING AN EARLY
1990S RENOVATION.
WHEN THEY LOOKED UP,
THEY DIDN'T SEE ANY
PAINTED CEILINGS. THEY
SAW BLACK.
TOTAL BLACK, AND THAT
WAS FROM THE COAL-
BASED FURNACE IN THE
BASEMENT FOR THE LAST
85 YEARS.
AND SO THEY JUST WENT
UP THERE TO DUST IT,
AND IT WAS THEN THAT
THEY FIGURED OUT, OH
NO, WE NEED TO RESTORE
IT BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY
PAINTED.
THEY ALSO ADDED AN
ELEVATOR TO THE TOWER...
ORIGINALLY, THAT TOWER
HAD STAIRS IN IT, SO THE
CLOCK WORKER COULD
GET UP TO WORK ON THE
CLOCK."
THE CLOCK...BY THE
WAY...STILL OPERATES
WITH THE ORIGINAL
MECHANISM...AND
CHIMES THREE TIMES A
DAY.
THE BUILDING HASN'T
BEEN THE ONLY THING
THAT'S CHANGED OVER
THE YEARS.
AFTER THE DEPOT WAS
COMPLETED IN 1925, THE
CITY OF BOISE DECIDED TO
REDO THE ROUTE TO
IT...STARTING WITH
CHANGING THE STREET
NAME FROM 7TH...TO
CAPITOL BOULEVARD.
"THEY HAD A GRAND
VISION OF HOW CAPITOL
BOULEVARD WOULD BE
THE ENTRANCE TO THE
CITY OF BOISE."
THEY
THEY REALLY ENVISIONED THIS CLEAR VIEWSHED FROM THE DEPOT TO THE
CAPITOL, WHICH YOU CAN
STILL SEE SOME OF THAT
TODAY.
TODAY.
IT'S
IT'S BEEN
IT'S BEEN MORE THAN 2 DECADES SINCE THE LAST PASSENGER TRAIN PASSED
THROUGH THE BOISE
DEPOT...BUT THAT HASN'T
CHANGED HOW IT STILL
STANDS THE STOIC STAPLE
OF THE CITY OF TREES.
IT'S HISTORICAL, IT ADDS
A LOT OF CHARACTER TO
THE CITY OF BOISE AND IT
REALLY IS A DESTINATION
PLACE THAT WHEN YOU
COME TO BOISE, YOU
WANT TO VISIT THE
DEPOT."
DEPOT."
TWO
TWO YEARS
TWO YEARS AFTER THE DEPOT OPENED IN 1927, THE "PLATT GARDENS,"
LOCATED JUST A FEW
STEPS FROM THE DEPOT,
WERE COMPLETED.
THEY ARE NAMED AFTER
HOWARD PLATT... WHO
WAS THE MANAGER OF
THE OREGON SHORT LINE
RAILROAD AT THE TIME.
AND BEHIND THE DEPOT
SITS "BIG MIKE."
THE LOCOMOTIVE RAN ON
THE UNION PACIFIC LINE
FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS,
IOWA
IOWA TO
IOWA TO OREGON AND BACK. IN 1955, BIG MIKE RETIRED
AND WAS DONATED TO
THE CITY.
FOR NEARLY 60 YEARS, HE
SAT AT THE ENTRANCE TO
JULIA DAVIS PARK.
BUT IN DECEMBER 2007,
THE CITY DECIDED TO
MOVE HIM BACK TO HIS
ORIGINAL HOME ON THE
TRAIN TRACKS BEHIND
THE DEPOT.
SO HOW DID IT GET THE
NAME "BIG MIKE"?
"MIKE" WAS THE NAME
GIVEN BY THE ENGINEERS.
IT IS A SHORTENED
VERSION OF "MIKATO"
, WHICH IS THE NAME OF
THE CLASS OF ENGINES BY
THE MANUFACTURER.
"MIKATO" IS THE JAPANESE
WORD FOR EMPEROR.
TURNS OUT, JAPAN WAS
THE MANUFACTURERS
LARGEST CUSTOMER.