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Electric City
Transforming the Boise Valley
by Josh Bernard
Boise became the new state's capital city in an luminous era transformed by trolleys and electric lights. "Electricity is a mere word for one of the hidden mysteries of nature," wrote The Idaho Statesman in 1891, four years after the first incandescent lamps lighted Boise's downtown. Electricity, the Statesman predicted, would unite the valley and spark a throughly transforming spirit of public improvement in the newly energized town. By 1911 the city was gridded into a Boise-Nampa-Caldwell interurban railway powered by surplus electricity from Swan Falls Dam. Rushing water through vertical canyons made the Boise River an ideal for an early U.S. Reclamation Service powerhouse at Diversion Dam, completed in 1912.
1879–December, Thomas Edison completed all of the components necessary for the public
use of electric lighting.
1882–September 4, The first commercial power plant powered incandescent lights for one
square mile area of Manhattan, New York.
1887–May 19, Mines in Hailey and Ketchum used electricity for the first time in Idaho.
1887–July 4, Capital Electric Light, Motor and Gas Co., located near present day Park View Apartments,
provided power for 20 incandescent lights in downtown Boise with water supplied by
the Ridenbaugh Canal.
1887–September, Boise City Council consented to fund 20 street lamps.
1889–Capital Electric Light, Motor and Gas Co., contracted by the city to provide 40 lights
for $100 per month.
1889–The Idaho Statesman, Central Hotel and Overland Hotel installed electric lights. The
Central Hotel burned down the following year, despite advertisements that claimed,
“No coal oil is used on the premises.”
1891–July 4, The Boise Rapid Transit Company owned by W.E. Pierce completed Boise’s
first electric trolley line from 13th and Main Streets to the Natatorium on Warm Springs Road. Street lighting converted to carbon arc lights, Boise was visible from War Eagle Mountain above Silver City.
1901–Engineer Andrew J. Wiley, oversaw the completion of Swan Falls Dam. The first long-distance
transmission line in Idaho sent electricity 28 miles to provide power to Silver City mines.
1902–Boise-Payette River Electric Company completed a waterwheel on the Payette River
in Horseshoe Bend.The waterwheel powered two 500 Watt generators and a 22,000 volt
transmission line sent the power to Boise and the mining camp at Pearl.
1903-1910–Owyhee County mines led Idaho in gold production, due in part to the use of electric power
provided by Swan Falls Dam.
1904–Boise Gas and Light Co. opened in Old South Boise to rival Capital Electric Light,
Motor and Gas Co. This new plant used water from the Rossi-Ridenbaugh Mill Ditch and a coal fired turbine to generate power.
1906–Transmission lines completed to Nampa and Caldwell from Swan Falls Dam.
1907–Completion of a transmission line connecting Caldwell and Pierce Park coincided
with the completion of two electric rail lines by the Boise and Interurban Railway Company (successor of Pierce’s Boise Rapid Transit Company) and the Boise Valley Railway Company, owned by H.P. Ustick, provided trolley service to the entire Treasure Valley.
1909–The powerhouse at Diversion Dam completed to provide power upstream for the
construction of Arrowrock Dam.
1910–The closure of many Owyhee County mines provided a surplus of electricity that
was turned to domestic and commercial use in the Treasure Valley.
1910–Transmission lines from Nampa to Boise via Meridian and Pierce Park to Boise completed
the central power grid for the Treasure Valley.
1911–Capital Electric Light and Motor Co. and partner, Boise and Interurban Railway Co.,
merged with competitors, Boise Gas and Light Co., and Boise Valley Railway to form the Idaho Railway, Light and Power Company.
1915–Construction at Arrowrock Dam completed, power from Diversion Dam redirected to Boise.
1916–The consolidation of five Treasure Valley electric companies created Idaho Power
Company, to include the Boise Valley Traction Company.
1928–The Boise Valley Traction Company was sold by Idaho Power; the street car and
interurban trolley system was dismantled and replaced by the automobile and buses.
Timelines: • Assay Office • Foothills Fires • Water Supply • Desert to Farmland • Electric City