Idaho City, Idaho

Idaho City was founded as "Bannock" in 1862 during the great Boise Basin gold rush. Even though there was a gold rush happening to the east in the area of Bannack, Montana, the Boise Basin gold rush was the biggest since the California gold rush of 1849. As the town population exploded, the Idaho Territory legislature changed the name from Bannock to Idaho City so the postal service, freight companies and stagecoach riders wouldn't get confused.

Construction was fast and furious, mostly in wood. That meant Idaho City would burn four times: 1865, 1867, 1868 and 1871. It was rebuilt each time but the population peaked at around 7,000 in the mid-1860's and then started dropping as the gold ore played out. At the peak, there were three dozen saloons and two dozen law offices counted among the more than 200 businesses in town. During that time, the greater Boise Basin population numbered in the tens of thousands but the boom was over almost as quickly as it began. By 1870, the population of Idaho City was below 900. By 1920, it was down to 120. Today, Idaho City lives on hunting, fishing and "heritage tourism": the countryside is still full of open mine shafts, decaying buildings and mechanical works and piles of mine tailings. Idaho City itself isn't all that modern but a lot of the buildings have some amount of historical significance. Idaho City is growing again but is still only the second largest town in the county and is now locked in a legislative battle to keep the county seat from being moved to Horseshoe Bend.

The main road through town is State Highway 21, also known as the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway.