Boise Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

• Boise State University

  Boise State University began in 1932 as a school founded by the Episcopal Church. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees since 1965.

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  Idaho State Capitol

  This is the Idaho State Capitol, seat of government for this U.S. state. Although Lewiston briefly served as Idaho's capital city from the formation of the old federal Idaho Territory in 1863, the territorial legislature moved it to Boise on December 24, 1864.

• 
  Zions Bank Idaho Headquarters

  Eighth & Main rises above you here, an 18-story tower reaching 323 feet, the tallest building in Idaho. It houses the Idaho headquarters of Zions Bank alongside firms such as Holland & Hart LLP, Ruth's Chris Steak House, CTA Architects Engineers, First American Title Company, Clenera, LLC, and the Idaho Technology Council.

• 
  Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial

  Near the Boise Public Library and the Greenbelt, you find a quiet .81-acre park built around a single bronze figure of a young girl. The centerpiece is a statue of Anne Frank, set within a memorial jointly maintained by the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights and the Boise Department of Parks and Recreation.

• 
  The Egyptian Theatre

  Truncated pylons and lotus-bud pillars rise above you here in Boise, Idaho, announcing an Egyptian revival theater. Inaugurated in 1927, it is the oldest theatre in the city and has also been known as the Ada Theater — a nod to Boise as the seat of Ada County.

All 30 stops

• Boise Union Pacific Depot (Boise)

  Picture 1925: this Union Pacific depot opening in Boise amid mainline service to Portland.

• Idaho State Capitol (Boise)

  This is the Idaho State Capitol, seat of government for this U.S. state.

• Boise Capitol Area District (Downtown Boise)

  Notice how many decades of Boise's civic life cluster on this one block.

• Capitol Boulevard Memorial Bridge (Capitol District)

  Beneath your feet stretches the Capitol Boulevard Memorial Bridge, also called the Oregon Trail Memorial Bridge, a span over the Boise River now listed on…

• Julia Davis Park (Downtown Boise)

  Green lawns and river air greet you here at Julia Davis Park, tucked into downtown Boise.

• Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial (Boise)

  Near the Boise Public Library and the Greenbelt, you find a quiet .81-acre park built around a single bronze figure of a young girl.

• Boise Art Museum (Julia Davis Park)

  At 670 Julia Davis Drive, notice the Art Deco lines of the Boise Art Museum rising ahead of you.

• Carnegie Public Library (Fort Street Historic District)

  White brick fired in Boise and sandstone from Table Rock face the Carnegie Public Library, a Neoclassical design by Tourtellotte & Co. built in 1904–1905.

• C. W. Moore Park (North End)

  Your feet rest on ground Christopher Moore gave to Boise in 1916, now a small green pocket tucked into the North End.

• Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District (Lower Main Street)

  Between 1897 and 1914 fourteen masonry buildings rose along this stretch of Lower Main Street, marking Boise's leap into a true metropolitan community, and eleven…

• Assay Office (Boise)

  Right in front of you at 210 Main Street rises Boise's Assay Office.

• The Egyptian Theatre (Boise)

  Truncated pylons and lotus-bud pillars rise above you here in Boise, Idaho, announcing an Egyptian revival theater.

• Idanha Hotel (Downtown Boise)

  Look up at the round turrets crowning the Idanha Hotel, Boise's priciest building when it rose in 1901 for $125,000.

• Boise City National Bank (Boise)

  James King designed the Boise City National Bank building, completed in 1892.

• Idaho Building (Boise)

  Chicago architect Henry John Schlacks gave you this six-story Renaissance Revival tower, built to make Boise feel like a bigger city.

• One Capital Center (Boise)

  Picture 1975: Mountain Bell's tower took the skyline.

• Zions Bank Idaho Headquarters (Boise)

  Eighth & Main rises above you here, an 18-story tower reaching 323 feet, the tallest building in Idaho.

• St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral (Boise)

  Here rises the seat of the Diocese of Idaho, a cathedral whose stones have watched over more than a century of faith and city life.

• Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle House (Boise)

  Beside St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral sits a Tudor Gothic building of matching Boise sandstone, quietly bearing the name of Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle.

• Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Fort Street Historic District)

  Facing you rises the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, seat of Boise's Roman Catholic diocese and heart of its parish life.

• Cathedral of the Rockies (North End)

  In front of you rises Boise First United Methodist Church, the Cathedral of the Rockies, anchoring the North End district.

• Moore–Cunningham House (Boise)

  Confident rooflines and a wraparound veranda greet you at the Moore-Cunningham House, a Queen Anne mansion architect James King raised here in Boise, Idaho in…

• Hopffgarten House (Boise)

  Albin DeMary, a clerk at the Assay Office, built the Hopffgarten House around 1899, and Wayland & Fennell gave it its Georgian Revival face in…

• John Haines House (Fort Street Historic District)

  Tourtellotte & Co. designed the John Haines House in 1904 for a real estate developer who would go on to be mayor of Boise City…

• John A. O'Farrell House (Boise)

  Here stands the home built in 1892 for John A. O'Farrell.

• Hyde Park (North End)

  Eateries and locally owned shops line North 13th Street through Hyde Park, a section of Boise's North End a few blocks north of downtown.

• Camel's Back Park (Boise)

  Bernard Lemp gave these 11 acres to Boise in 1932, and Camel's Back Park was dedicated here in 1965.

• Ann Morrison Park (Boise)

  Picture 153 acres of green stretching toward the Boise River, room enough for picnics, ball fields, and courts of every kind.

• Kristin Armstrong Municipal Park (Boise)

  Ahead, 28 acres of riverside green stretch out along the Boise River, Idaho, home to picnic grounds, bocce courts, and a playground.

• Boise State University (Boise)

  Boise State University began in 1932 as a school founded by the Episcopal Church.

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