Stop One: 6th and Main

On the first stop of this tour, you will learn about the Pioneer Tent & Awning building, A.P. Hotaling & Co., the Idaho Statesman building, the telephone building, the Masonic Temple, and the Turnverein building.

As you visit each stop on the tour, you will see how the landscape of Boise's original ten blocks have changed over 160 years.

While the tour does not encompass all changes to the original ten blocks, it provides a summary of some of the most significant structures and businesses that shaped early Boise and helped to create the city you see today.

When participating in this tour, please be mindful of traffic and obey all signals.

PIONEER TENT & AWNING BUILDING (NE Corner - Home to Jimmy John's)

The Pioneer Tent & Awning Company started in a wood-frame building at 516 Main Street in 1900. The first and largest business of its kind in Idaho, the company employed 20 people in 1912. They made tents, awnings, wagon covers, and more. This building, constructed in 1910, was originally planned to be four-stories. The last two floors were never built. The first floor was a salesroom, the second included the workroom (complete with industrial sewing machines) and offices. The rear portion of the second floor was divided into seven apartments. The business remained in this building until it closed in 1972.

A.P. HOTALING BUILDING (Mid-way between Capitol Blvd. and 6th Street, North Side of Main)

A.P. Hotaling was a wholesale liquor dealer. Saloons on Main Street had a back entrance into the female boarding houses, or bordellos, that were located in the back alley, known as “Levy’s Alley” 

THE IDAHO STATESMAN BUILDING (SW Corner - Home to The Brickyard)

James S. Reynolds started The Idaho Statesman as a tri-weekly newspaper on July 26, 1864. The first office was a log building with a dirt floor on Main Street. This office was later replaced with a two-story wood frame building. It was demolished to make room for Boise’s current city hall.

Reynolds sold the paper to Judge Milton Kelly in 1872. In 1888, it became a daily paper and was sold again.Calvin Cobb, who controlled most of the shares, would pass control of the paper onto his daughter Margaret Cobb Ailshie. The Cobb family published the paper for 70+ years.

In 1909, Cobb hired architects Charles Wayland and James Fennell to design a new home for the paper. The newspaper operated out of this building until 1951, when they moved to a new location.

TELEPHONE BUILDING (Next to the Statesman building - Home to the Amsterdam Lounge)

Built at the site of the “Stone Jug” in 1899. One of the first buildings in Boise to be built from materials other than wood, the Stone Jug housed territorial executive offices from 1869-1886 while the Territorial Capitol was under construction.

Architect William S. Campbell designed the Telephone building in the Romanesque style. The first telephone service in Idaho was in Haley. Boise got theirs by 1884. By 1899, Boiseans could make local and long-distance calls. 

MASONIC TEMPLE (Next to Telephone building - Home to Coa de Jima)

The second Masonic Temple, this building was constructed in 1892. The building used to have an elaborate top. The building featured store fronts on the main floor, including J. D. M’Guire’s Undertaking Parlor. M’Guire was one of two undertakers and embalmers in Boise in the 1901.

TURNVERIN BUILDING (SE Corner - Home to StrangeLove)

Constructed in 1906, the Turnverein building was a social gathering place for Boise’s German population. Designed by Charles Hummel (on behalf of Tourtellotte & Company), the building had an auditorium with balcony, a gym, and a parlor for ladies. Charles Hummel, a member of the Turnverein Society, oversaw the laying of the cornerstone.

In 1916, anti-German sentiment forced the society to disband, and the building sold. The building has also been a restaurant, WWII Air Force office, and a variety of bars. 

[Advertisement, The A. P. Hotaling Co.]. Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), December 20, 1888, [2]. NewsBank.

Department of Planning & Development Services. Shaping Boise: A Selection of Boise's Landmark Buildings. City of Boise, 2010. Accessed August 3, 20230. https://www.cityofboise.org/media/7053/shaping-boise-landmarks.pdf.

"Evil In The Alley." Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), December 6, 1901: 5. NewsBank.

Farr & Smith's Boise City and Ada County Directory. 1901-1902. Farr & Smith, 1901. Accessed via Heritage Quest.

"Handsome Structure Now Being Erected By Turn Vereiners." Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), June 16, 1906: [7]. NewsBank.

Hart, Arthur A. National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form for Boise Historic District, March 26, 1976. Accessed August 19, 2023. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/5376dc60-b667-4324-adfb-e06a7b913979.

"Gymnasium To Open In Turnverein Hall." Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), April 14, 1907: 10. NewsBank.

"Removal." Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), June 11, 1899: [6]. NewsBank.

Webb, Anna. "Anna Webb: 377-6431: 150 Boise icons: Pioneer Tent & Awning building." Idaho Statesman, (Boise, ID), May 9, 2013. NewsBank.