Boise, Ada County, Idaho Genealogy

United States Idaho  Ada County  Boise

Quick Facts
Boise is the largest city of Idaho and is the state capitol.

Geographic location: Google

GNIS ID# 400590

Former name: Boise City

City Hall
Boise City Hall 150 North Capitol Blvd. Boise ID 83702

P.O. Box 500 Boise, Idaho 83701-0500

Biography
Also see: Genealogy, History

Boise I.O.O.F. #3

 * LDS Cemetery Records Vol. 5 page 158
 * Findagrave.com

Fort Boise Military Cemetery Reserve (Historic)

 * City of Boise Cemeteries
 * Findagrave.com

Cloverdale

 * 1) Findagrave.com

Dry Creek
aka Syringa Gardens Cemetery


 * 1) Findagrave.com

Idaho State Penitentiary

 * 1) Findagrave.com

Idaho State Veterans

 * State of Idaho Dept of Veterans
 * Findagrave.com
 * Idaho Gravestone Photo Project

Morris Hill

 * City of Boise Cemeteries
 * Findagrave.com
 * Idaho Gravestone Photo Project

Mountain View Memorial Park
aka Aclesa Cremation and Burial Society


 * Findagrave.com

Pioneer

 * City of Boise Cemeteries
 * Findagrave.com

St. John's Catholic

 * Findagrave.com

Terrace Lawn Memorial Gardens

 * Findagrave.com

Current
There are 8 Wards and 1 Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Boise, meeting in 5 different meetinghouses. For details on location, etc., go to the website above and type in Boise, Idaho.

Historical
Many of the original records of church units are in the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the membership records covering these units from the date of their creation to about 1948 have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City or at its Family History Centers. Among this collection are records of the Boise Wards (1913-1948).

Current
For a listing of Episcopal churches in Boise, go to this website.

Historical
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed records of several Boise Episcopal churches, found either in the Trinity Episcopal Church in Pocatello, Idaho or in the St Michael's Cathedral Church in Boise. These films can be viewed at the Library in Salt Lake City or in any of its Family History Centers:


 * St Michael's Cathedral Episcopal Church (1954-1996)
 * St Michael's Episcopal Church (1864-1883)
 * St Stephens Episcopal Church (1962-1996)

Historical
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed records of the Boise Branchof the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1909-1919) found in the RLDS Library Archives in Independence, MO. This film can be viewed at the Library in Salt Lake City or in any of its Family History Centers.

Current
A listing of Roman Catholic Churches can be found on this website.

Historical
Records of several Roman Catholic Churches in Boise have been microfilmed by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah from records held in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise. These films can be viewed at the Library in Salt Lake City or in any of it Family History Centers. The available films are:


 * St Mary's Catholic Church (1937-1965)
 * Our Lady of the Rosary (1948-1965)
 * Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1953-1965)
 * St John's Catholic Church (1881-1965)

Current
A listing, along with location and contact information, of current Society of Friends churches in Boise is given on this website

Historical
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed copies of records of the Society of Friends in Boise, records of Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends at George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon. The following are available for viewing at the Library in Salt Lake City or in any of its Family History Centers:


 * Whitney Monthly Meetings Membership records 1975, 1993
 * Boise Monthly Meetings (1905-1945)
 * Directory of Boise Friends Church 1986, 1993

Other
A listing of many churches in Boise is found on this website, along with location and contact information.

Directories
The Idaho State Archives

City directories for 1891, 1893, 1899, 1901 to 1919, 1921 to 1937, 1939-1940, 1941, 1943, 1945, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1955 to 1959, 1960 to 1969 (1969-70), 1971 to 1979, 1980 to 1989, 1990, and 1992 to 1997

Genealogy
Also see: Biography, History

History
Boise, Idaho was inhabited by the Great Basin Shoshone and Bannaock Indians. 1592 marked the era of the Spanish exploration of the Boise region The Lewis and Clark expedition, marked the beginning of a written recorded history in Idaho. Between 1834 and 1844 the Hawaiians manned Fort Boise. During the 1860s, Mexican cowboys lived off the land, specifically near Rocky Bar. Jesus Urquirdes was one of them.

Boise got its start in 1834, when Fort Boise was built by British fur traders. However, the fort was only populated for twenty years; due to frequent raids by Native Americans, it was abandoned in 1854. But when gold was discovered in the Boise Basin in 1862, it became necessary to build another fort to help protect the influx of travelers in the area.

The military then chose a site for the new fort, 40 miles from the original, and began construction in 1863. Alongside the fort, a town site was chosen, which grew quickly due to its location on the Oregon Trail, the gold rush, and the protection of the military. The town was also conveniently located at the point where the routes to the Boise Basin and Owyhee mines crossed the Oregon Trail, making Boise a prime commercial center.

But such prosperity only lasted as long as the gold rush; as the gold supply thinned, the town's population declined. However, with the addition of a territorial prison in 1869 and the US Assay Office in 1872, the town saw its population begin to rise again. The capitol building was then completed in 1886, and four years later, Idaho became the 43rd state to be added to the union.

Also see: Biography, Genealogy

Current
Idaho Statesman P.O. Box 40 Boise,ID 83707 Ph. 208-377-6300 email - mparrish@idahostatesman.com Daily

Historical
A number of newspapers published in Boise, 1865 to the present, have been preserved at the Idaho State Archives in Boise.