Hosted by Preservation Idaho in partnership with Boise City Department of Arts & History
Join Dan Everhart, Outreach Historian at the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office for a tour of the historic River Street neighborhood. New additions to the city in this area were first platted in 1890. For the next fifty years, these blocks between the railroad and the river were home to predominantly working-class families. During WWII, increases in service personnel at military bases like Gowen Field led to an increase in Boise’s Black population. These men served in segregated units, and many found housing for themselves and their families in Boise’s River Street neighborhood, which due to housing discrimination became the only area in Boise where Blacks could live. Come learn about River Street’s unique history and long tradition of community building as well as ongoing efforts to protect this historic neighborhood. Dan will guide you on a 1-hour tour of the neighborhood, which will end with a 30-minute guided tour of the recently opened Erma Hayman House led by Travis Jeffres, History Programs Manager with Boise City Department of Arts & History.
Dates: Friday, October 21, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Cost: Free to the public; advanced registration is required (see registration info below).
Register for the tour: Register by email at kellie@preservationidaho.org, by phone at (208) 424-5111, or online by clicking the button below.
Meeting location: Erma Hayman House (meet outside on the backyard patio), 617 Ash St, Boise, ID 83702. Tours will start and end at the Erma Hayman House.
Parking: There is limited street parking on Lee Street and the surrounding blocks. It is recommended that you use alternative transportation, and/or park nearby at Julia Davis or Ann Morrison Park.
What you need to know:
Please allow time for parking.
Please be prepared for all weather conditions. Walking tours are not postponed due to weather. We recommend you bring warm layers, a jacket, an umbrella, and a bottle of water.
Please arrive about 15 minutes early to check-in.
We do not provide walking tour tickets; you will simply provide the Tour Volunteer with your name or the name of the person who registered.
If you are not going to be able to make it to the tour, please let us know at kellie@preservationidaho.org or by calling (208) 424-5111.
Photo credit: Erma Andre seated at piano as a young girl; Andre family orchestra, MS083-01-047, Boise City Archives.
Project background: Preservation Idaho’s direct investment in the River Street neighborhood began at the Erma Hayman House in 2013. Built in approximately 1907, this small stone house was Mrs. Hayman’s home from 1948 until her passing in 2009. A Black Idahoan restricted to the purchase of a home in this neighborhood, Mrs. Hayman’s story is emblematic of many of her peers in this multi-racial, multi-cultural section of Boise. Following her death and the property’s acquisition by Capital City Development Corporation, the future of the property at 617 Ash St. was uncertain. PI’s determined advocacy on behalf of the building and its story resulted in a series of preservation successes.
In 2014, PI organized volunteers to clean the vacant house and secure it against vandals. These efforts coincided with a grant award to PI from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to fund a study of the house, its needs, and possibilities for reuse.
In 2015, PI helped facilitate an archaeological investigation of the Erma Hayman House site, led by William White III and Mark Warner, and in 2018, the house was conveyed to the City of Boise for preservation, rehabilitation, and interpretation.
Since 2018, the City of Boise has overseen the site’s rehabilitation and transformation into a community asset. In September 2022, Boise City Department of Arts and History opened the Erma Hayman House to the public as a cultural site and community space.
In 2022, Preservation Idaho received $25,000 "Telling the Full Story" grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The grant will help further document the River Street Neighborhood as well as provide street markers and a free walking/driving tour to be completed in 2023.
