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BUILDINGS FROM BACk IN TIME PERCHED IN THE HEART OF THE CITY, HISTORIC STRUCTURES STILL STAND PROUD AND TALL It’s easy to judge a municipality by what it has built. But perhaps a better gauge of a city’s heart may be what it has chosen to preserve. In this regard, Idaho Falls has a mixed A TOUR THROUGH HISTORY By 1880, major canal systems had begun to transform the upper Snake River Valley from a desert and cross-roads to an agricultural region, and the community of Eagle Rock, later to be renamed Idaho Falls, was assured a future. The promise of water, and perhaps the more lucrative name of Idaho Falls, had begun to entice people to move here. The city had a population of 1,262 in 1900. It grew to 4,827 by 1910 and nearly doubled to 8,064 residents by 1920. Before 1890, the residential area of the city was confined to the area adjacent to the Snake River, south of Broadway Avenue and west of the railroad. In 1893, Wm. A.B. Crow was the first to build adjacent to Central School, the present site of the former O.E. Bell Junior High, In 1896, the Idaho Register reported that, with the homes of A.D. Morrison and marquis McKee, a building boom was beginning east of the railroad in the area now known as the Ridge Avenue Historic District. This building was to continue on Ridge Avenue and neighboring streets for the next twenty-five years. The Ridge Avenue Historic District is a legacy that illustrates the variety of home sizes, styles, and materials eastern Idahoans used in the early 20th Century. The first homes were built with native building materials—stone and basalt. As Idaho Falls grew, native materials were replaced with wood siding and pressed brick. The first occupants of the Ridge Avenue Historic District were as varied as the homes they chose. They were from all occupations: railroad workers, store clerks, teachers, bankers, physicians, land developers, and lawyers. Whether their home was modest as one of the frame Queen Annes found on North Water or as impressive as G.G. Wright’s brick Queen Anne on Ridge Avenue, they shared a faith in the future of their new city and left us with a neighborhood that reminds us of our beginnings. The Ridge Avenue Historic District contains 101 properties of which 65 are listed as contributing to the District. The tour of the Ridge Avenue Historic District begins on North Water, moves onto Cedar, and then onto Ridge and Placer Avenues. The com- plete tour takes about an hour. If you have less time, we suggest you begin your tour with number 30 on Ash Street. The tour ends at the Bonneville Museum. SOURCE: IDAHO FALLS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION 14 IDAHO FALLS VISITORS GUIDE 2010 record. The tenets of “urban renewal” are all the rage now, but for a time, renewal was tantamount to a Band-Aid of corrugat- ed metal siding to remedy some ill-kempt brickwork. Cracked concrete arches began to give way to fashionable fabric facades. Artistic stone ledges and hand-crafted gargoyles took a back seat to a growing sea of neon signage. Thankfully, it appears those days of hap- hazard urban development are behind us. Like a number of western communities now seeking a connection to their archi- tectural styles of yore, Idaho Falls is slowly but surely returning to its vintage roots. As summarized here by the Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation, there is no better model for this trend back to tradition than our city’s own historic buildings. FOR A VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THIS STORY, VISIT IDAHOFALLSMAGAZINE.COM CULTURE