Did You Know

Obscure Boise history, local oddities, and the things people walk past without realizing they have a story.

Growth & Development/May 13, 2026

Boise Didn’t Surround the Old Pen. The Old Pen Just Waited.

The sandstone penitentiary east of downtown opened in the territorial era, sat alone on the high desert, and eventually found itself inside a city that grew up around it.

Growth & Development/May 12, 2026

Main Street’s Old Skyline Looked Almost Wrong—in the Best Way

Historic photos of downtown Boise’s Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District reveal a city that once kept a much lower profile.

Outdoors & River/May 12, 2026

The Boise River Did a Lot of Work Before Anyone Thought to Float It

Long before inner tubes and the Greenbelt, the Boise River was the city’s original heavy lifter—moving water, generating power, and occasionally flooding everything in sight.

Did You Know

Boise Didn’t Surround the Old Pen. The Old Pen Just Waited.

Main Street’s Old Skyline Looked Almost Wrong—in the Best Way

The Boise River Did a Lot of Work Before Anyone Thought to Float It

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