Railroads were important to the economy of towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries while having profound affect on the growth patterns of urban areas. Railroads attracted businesses and businesspersons, both of which contributed to city growth and development patterns. Railroad depots and the rails extending from them attracted or repelled various types of development, serving to influence a city’s economic center, as well as, the residential and industrial

Railroad surveyors brought the Oregon Shortline to Boise in 1887. Five years later, rails reached a downtown depot on Tenth Street. Idaho State Historical Society.

landscape. In many cases, including Boise, the railroad downtown divided the City with its considerable lines of rail, support structures, and warehouse district buildings. Contemporary maps of the Boise area depict the railroad as a substantial part of the City landscape, attracting commerce and industry while altering the composition of many nearby residential areas.