Idaho State Historical Society

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Idaho State Historical Society The Idaho State Historical Society is an extraordinary system of cultural and historic resources. Join us today!

The Idaho State Historical Society is comprised of the Idaho State Museum, Idaho State Archives, Idaho State Historic Preservation Office, and Historic Sites Program. We seek to inspire, enrich and engage all Idahoans by leading the state in preserving, sharing, and using history and cultural resources relevant to today to inform and influence the future.

Towering granite spires, ancient landscapes, and centuries of history make City of Rocks National Reserve one of Idaho’s...
10/21/2026

Towering granite spires, ancient landscapes, and centuries of history make City of Rocks National Reserve one of Idaho’s most remarkable historic places.

Located in southern Idaho near Almo, City of Rocks has been an important cultural landscape for thousands of years. Long before westward migration, the Shoshone and Bannock peoples traveled through the area, gathering resources and maintaining connections to the land that continue today.

During the 1800s, City of Rocks became a major landmark along the California Trail. Between 1843 and 1882, nearly 250,000 emigrants passed through the area on their journey west. Travelers rested among the tall granite formations, recorded their experiences in journals, and sometimes left their names written in axle grease on the rocks. Many of those signatures, along with wagon ruts carved into the landscape, remain visible today.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Reserve in 1988, City of Rocks preserves an important chapter of Idaho's history and the broader story of westward migration.

Today, visitors can explore the same dramatic landscape that has drawn people to this corner of Idaho for generations.

Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/ciro.

Photos: P1972-201-70A City Of Rocks, P1972-201-70D City Of Rocks, P1972-201-70E City Of Rocks, P1972-201-70G City Of Rocks, Idaho State Archives

Your ISHS Membership can take you farther than you think!Through the Idaho Reciprocal Membership Program, members can en...
10/13/2026

Your ISHS Membership can take you farther than you think!

Through the Idaho Reciprocal Membership Program, members can enjoy access to participating museums, historical societies, and historic sites across Idaho. Whether you’re exploring close to home or traveling across the state, your membership opens the door to even more opportunities to experience Idaho history.

Become a member, explore participating locations, and see where history takes you.

Learn more at history.idaho.gov/membership.

10/08/2026

🎃 We are taking you on a behind the scenes tour of this year’s Fright Nights at the Old Idaho Penitentiary. Staff are busy preparing for one of Idaho’s most popular haunted experiences complete with spooky history performances, food trucks, and plenty of surprises. Get your tickets for all ages night on October 30 or 18+ night on October 31 at history.Idaho.gov/events. 👻

Moments frozen in time. 📷Today, capturing a moment takes seconds. We can take, retake, delete, edit, and share thousands...
10/07/2026

Moments frozen in time. 📷

Today, capturing a moment takes seconds. We can take, retake, delete, edit, and share thousands of photos without giving much thought to the process. But photography wasn’t always so instantaneous.

The earliest surviving permanent photograph, created by Nicéphore Niépce around 1826 or 1827, required several hours of exposure. By 1839, the daguerreotype helped popularize portrait photography, requiring subjects to remain still while an image was captured. Kodak made photography more accessible to everyday consumers in 1888 with its famous promise: “You press the button, we do the rest.”

Over the next century, photography became a fixture of everyday life, documenting everything from miraculous to the mundane. Digital cameras reached consumers in the 1990s, followed by camera phones in the early 2000s. Today, billions of photographs are taken every day.

Technology has transformed the camera, but the power of a photograph remains much the same. Even seemingly ordinary images can become time machines, preserving people, places, and moments that might otherwise disappear.

These photographs from the Idaho State Archives’ permanent collection show photographer Leo Leeburn capturing everyday life in downtown Boise in the fall of 1989. Decades later, those ordinary moments offer a window into a Boise that once was.

Photos: Boise - 1989-9-26 -Leo Leeburn With Idaho Street In The Background Taken From The City Hall Parking Garage, Boise - 1989-7-31 - Idaho Street Bill Brandt Vending TJ's Yankee Dog, Boise - 1989-10-17 -Walk To The Grove, Boise - 1990-5-1 - The Mode Tea Room - Leo J Leeburn, Boise - 1990-5-1 - The Mode Sales Ladies - Hilary McCain right, Boise - 1990-7-3 - Center On The Grove Fountain, Idaho State Archives

The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) is recruiting for a full-time Development and Membership Administrator. The De...
10/02/2026

The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) is recruiting for a full-time Development and Membership Administrator.

The Development and Membership Administrator will oversee the private fundraising and grant development efforts of the ISHS, implement a comprehensive development plan, collaborate with the Foundation for Idaho to build our agency’s family of supporters, and advance our membership and volunteer program. The administrator serves on the ISHS leadership team and reports to the executive director.

If you or someone you know is interested in the position, apply at: history.idaho.gov/careers.

Current state employees please apply through opportunities in Luma.

Application deadline is October 18.

09/28/2026

More than two decades before the cross was installed on Table Rock, another piece of the iconic Boise landmark was laid by hand by four teenagers, who were “inspired to put their mark on the town they loved,” according to the Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS). 1930s Boise was in the early da...

🌾 More than a century of farming, family, and stewardship in Greencreek, Idaho.The Idaho State Historical Society and Id...
09/28/2026

🌾 More than a century of farming, family, and stewardship in Greencreek, Idaho.

The Idaho State Historical Society and Idaho State Department of Agriculture are proud to recognize the Ambrose and Marge Schumacher Farm as an official Idaho Century Farm, honoring more than 100 years of continuous family ownership and agricultural tradition.

The farm’s story began in 1916, when Joseph and Philomena Schmidt established a 361-acre farm and raised six sons and four daughters. In 1942, 120 acres of the original property passed to their daughter Mary and her husband, Leo. Together, they raised eight children and established one of the first Grade A dairies on the Camas Prairie in 1948.

Ambrose and Marge Schumacher took ownership in 1965, raising nine children while continuing the dairy operation. After selling the dairy in 1982, the family transitioned to cattle and even raised fallow deer, specialty pheasants, and peacocks.

More than a century after Joseph and Philomena first worked the land, the farm remains in agricultural production. Once centered on alfalfa, wheat, and cattle, today the operation produces alfalfa, wheat, barley, grass, and canola.

The Schumacher family’s story reflects generations of adaptation, hard work, and connection to the land. Their Century Farm designation honors not only the farm’s longevity, but the generations of family members whose stewardship have carried it into its second century.

Congratulations to the Schumacher family on this remarkable milestone!

The Idaho Century Farm and Ranch Program recognizes Idaho families who have owned and operated the same farm or ranch for at least 100 years, preserving the stories of the families who have helped shape Idaho’s agricultural heritage and rural communities.

09/24/2026

PRESS RELEASE

BOISE — The 2026 Idaho Liberty Bell Tour will make 12 stops across Southwest Idaho from Thursday, September 24, through Saturday, September 26, bringing the historic Idaho Liberty Bell to communities across the region as it continues its journey through all 44 Idaho counties

Thursday, September 24

Fairfield - Camas County High School
9:50 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.

Mountain Home - Visitors Center
Noon – 12:30 p.m.

Kuna - City Council Building
3:10 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.

Friday, September 25

Marsing - Near M&W Market
8:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.

Homedale - Homedale High School
9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Wilder - City Park
11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Parma - Old Fort Boise Park
12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.

New Plymouth - New Plymouth Middle School
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Emmett - Near Main Street Beverage
4 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 26

Horseshoe Bend - City Hall
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.

Cascade - Lot across from Squirrel Outdoors
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Donnelly - Donnelly Elementary
2:25 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.

🚂 In the 1880s, the Oregon Short Line Railroad changed the way Idaho moved.Construction began in Granger, Wyoming, in 18...
09/22/2026

🚂 In the 1880s, the Oregon Short Line Railroad changed the way Idaho moved.

Construction began in Granger, Wyoming, in 1881, with the goal of connecting the Union Pacific system to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. By 1882, the railroad had reached Idaho, bringing new opportunities for settlement, agriculture, commerce, and travel.

The tracks helped shape communities like Montpelier, Shoshone, Mountain Home, Caldwell, Weiser, and Glenns Ferry. Boise was initially bypassed by the main line, with nearby Kuna serving as its closest railroad connection until a branch line was established.

Where wagon trains had once taken months to cross the West, railroads reduced long-distance travel to days. The Oregon Short Line helped usher Idaho into a new era. In many small Idaho towns, reminders of that railroad era remain part of the landscape today.

Photos: 72-105-1-Railroads-Oregon-Short-line-(Moving-House-to-King-Hill-1905), 72-189-82-Surveying-(Oregon-Short-line-1902), 75-232-23 Railroads (Oregon Short Line) (Turned out trestle near Emmett), P1960-148-4 Railroads - Oregon Short Line, Idaho State Archives

09/18/2026

Sights and sounds from last night’s W**e, Eats, & Artifacts gala!

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped us get closer to our goal of reimagining the visitor experience at the Old Idaho Penitentiary. This year’s event officially kicked off the public phase of our campaign—our final push to realize A City Behind Walls.

A City Behind Walls goes beyond restoration. It reimagines how visitors experience the Old Idaho Penitentiary through immersive exhibits, historic artifacts, multimedia, and stories grounded in the realities of life inside the prison.

The reimagined experience includes:

• An orientation experience in the Administration Building
• New interpretation in the Warden’s Office and Visitation Room
• Site-wide interpretive signage
• New interpretation in the Women’s Ward
• Interactive cell house experiences
• The A City Behind Walls Survey Gallery in the historic Shirt Factory

The final phase will complete the Survey Gallery, where visitors will explore the Old Idaho Penitentiary as a self-contained community shaped by routine, labor, discipline, relationships, punishment, education, and freedom.

Visit history.idaho.gov/reimagining to learn more and support the campaign.

Address

2205 Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID
83712

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+12083342682

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Idaho State Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Idaho State Historical Society:

Shortcuts

Share

Category