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Old Idaho State Penitentiary

1870 establishments in Idaho TerritoryBuildings and structures in Boise, IdahoDefunct prisons in IdahoGovernment buildings completed in 1870Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho
Idaho State Historical SocietyMuseums in Boise, IdahoNational Register of Historic Places in Boise, IdahoPrison museums in IdahoPrisons on the National Register of Historic PlacesRomanesque Revival architecture in Idaho
Image Id state penitentiary old facade
Image Id state penitentiary old facade

The Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site was a functional prison from 1872 to 1973 in the western United States, east of Boise, Idaho. The first building, also known as the Territorial Prison, was constructed in the Territory of Idaho in 1870; the territory was seven years old when the prison was built, a full two decades before statehood. From its beginnings as a single cell house, the penitentiary grew to a complex of several distinctive buildings surrounded by a 17-foot-high (5.2 m) sandstone wall. The stone was quarried from the nearby ridges by the resident convicts, who also assisted in later constructions.Less than two miles (3 km) southeast of downtown Boise, the Old Idaho Penitentiary is operated by the Idaho State Historical Society; the elevation of the site is approximately 2,770 feet (845 m) above sea level.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Old Idaho State Penitentiary (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Old Idaho State Penitentiary
East Old Penitentiary Road, Boise East End

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N 43.6027 ° E -116.162 °
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Old Idaho Penitentiary

East Old Penitentiary Road 2445
83712 Boise, East End
Idaho, United States
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history.idaho.gov

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Image Id state penitentiary old facade
Image Id state penitentiary old facade
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Olson City, Idaho
Olson City, Idaho

Olson City, Idaho was an early- and mid-20th century industrial park in southeast Boise named after L. G. Olson, president and general manager of Olson Manufacturing Co. The firm, founded in Ontario, Oregon 1910 but based in Boise since 1920, established a new manufacturing plant near the old sandstone quarry southeast of the Idaho State Penitentiary and Table Rock, 1 mi (1.609 km) east of the famous (and also long since defunct) Nanatorium, on the road to Arrowrock Dam. Situated by the Boise River, the company manufactured and serviced a wide range of industrial goods, including mining machinery, steelworks, oil equipment, irrigation infrastructure, storage tanks, ditchers, and the like. In 1940, when the Olson Company acquired the holdings of the venerable Boise Stone Company, a workman climbed up a chimney and painted in red paint "Olson City"; the campus and the company thus became conterminous. Not a company town, the Idaho Sunday Statesman often covered Olson City: around-the-clock war production in 1943 (which necessitated an additional railway spur line), Morrison-Knudsen's purchase of a controlling interest in (the company) in late 1943, and the employment of "feminine steelworkers" in May 1945. In November 1945 the Olson Co. took out a full-page ad in the statesman detailing the war material it had produced. On December 6, 1946 it was announced that the Olson Manufacturing Co. had bought the entire inventory and part of the machinery of Idaho Steel Products Company, which had been in existence for three years. The company fabricated steel lining for the Lucky Peak Dam diversion tunnel in 1950. The Omaha, Nebraska firm Gate City Steel bought "Olson City" sometime prior to January 1961, and by May 1962 the putative city, once known throughout the Northwest, was as a distinct entity was a matter of remembrance, having been subsumed by Bannock Steel Group. Little trace of it remains, to the extent that on contemporary maps part of the area is labeled "Vernon" (a small subdivision confusingly called Warm Springs Village). Several of the Ridge to Rivers foothill hiking trails thread the area, including the 3,828 ft (1.167 km) #14 Tram Trail.

Table Rock (Ada County, Idaho)
Table Rock (Ada County, Idaho)

Table Rock is a mountain pillar in the western United States, located just south-east of downtown Boise, Idaho, in the foothills of the Boise Range of the Rocky Mountains. Its summit elevation of 3,650 feet (1,115 m) above sea level is 900 feet (275 m) above the city center. Located between downtown Boise and the foothills, table rock is a rock surface with multiple caves and ledges and overlooks the treasure valley area, which makes it a safe yet adventurous location for people of all ages.A prominent local landmark, it is a popular spot for day hiking from the Old State Penitentiary which offers access to views of the Treasure Valley, Owyhee Mountains, and the Boise Foothills themselves. Trailhead access and parking is behind the Bishop's House in the Penitentiary Historic District. The Idaho State Historical Society manages Table Rock Mesa. Table Rock is open to foot and bike traffic from sunrise to sunset. Please check trail conditions before planning your hike. A gate is installed on Table Rock Road to prevent vehicle access.An illuminated sixty-foot (18 m) white cross at its summit has been the subject of a lawsuit involving the separation of church and state (the cross itself stands on four square feet (0.4 m2) of land sold to the Jaycees for $100 in 1972, hence it stands on private property). The legality of the land sale to the Jaycees is disputed, as the land board meeting minutes, which discuss the sale, indicate that the sale was structured specifically to sell the land to the Jaycees for the purpose of insulating the cross from legal attack. The sale included language that allowed the Land Board to reject any offers, with the stated intent of rejecting offers other than from the Jaycees. The Table Rock Mesa was first quarried in the 1860s with much of the sandstone around Boise coming from Table Rock, including the Old Idaho Penitentiary. It continues to be an active quarry today. In 2016, illegal fireworks usage on Table Rock shortly after midnight on June 30 initiated a 2,500-acre (10 km2) wildfire.