T. Gerlach

Tully Gerlach T. holds a Masters Degree in History from Boise State University, where he also received his BA in History, with minors in English and philosophy. In his graduate studies he emphasized the urban history of the American west, focusing particularly on the Progressive-Era suburban expansion of Boise. For his thesis, he researched the early twentieth-century development of the neighborhoods around State and 27th Streets, Boise's West End.

During his graduate studies, T. worked for the City of Boise as the City Historian, and assisted in the merging of that office with the City Arts Commission to form the new City of Department of Arts and History in 2008. He now serves on the History Steering Committee for that department, helping to develop collections and resources, and providing historical research and analysis to inform civic growth and planning. He is a member of Preservation Idaho's new modernism advocacy committee, and an occasional instructor at BSU. This spring, he is teaching a workshop on Idaho's literary history, with more to follow.

Three sets of T.’s great-grandparents emigrated to Idaho in the 1910s, settling in Boise by the 1920s. All three sides of the family have been here since, and T. carries on this tradition of longevity. He currently lives in the North End with his wife Christine and children Augustine and Severin. Their circa 1910 bungalow is in a perpetual state of restoration and rehabilitation.

For the PI blog, T. plans to write about a range of subjects on history and preservation, from the history of Boise’s neighborhoods and infrastructure to pieces on the theories and practice of preservation and planning. Along with such academic-minded posts he’ll write more casual observations on the landscape of the North End, and practical accounts of the challenges and rewards of living in an old home in a historic district.

Tully's Blog

June 29, 2011

The Threatened and the Lost

The Struggle for Central Addition Historic preservation is often the art of bringing back to sight that which has been in constant view but is no longer seen. Boise’s diminished but still existing Central Addition is a place many of us have driven by en route to somewhere else, a neighborhood of passing glances and brief impressions at best, but most likely little more than a peripheral blur as you accelerate down Myrtle heading east, or chase the timing of the lights driving west on Front. Yet tucked in between those two corridors, hidden behind the WinCo, is the last remnant of Boise’s earliest urban residential development.

June 14, 2011

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Collegiate Modernism

Or, Curtain Walls and Footballs Some of the finest architecture to be found in Boise is on the Boise State University campus. From its earliest years as a junior college up to the present day, BSU has been the home of buildings that are beautiful, challenging and compelling, often all at the same time.

May 3, 2011

The West End: The Name and the Place

The City of Boise’s Neighborhood Reinvestment Grant winners have been recently announced, and among them are the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association, who received $16000 to create an interpretive trail through their neighborhood. This trail will wend its way through a part of the city I and others have taken to calling the West End. What, you might wonder, is the West End? Everyone knows about the North End, and the East End has made its claim as a distinct historic place, but what is this West End and why am I calling it that?

February 8, 2011

In From the Cold

An Introduction to the Author and His Ambitions for this Blog