Stop Five: 6th and Idaho

On this stop of the tour, you will learn about the Central Fire Station, the Fraternal Order of Eagles building, the Idaho Brewing & Malting Co., the Gibson Funeral Home, and the R. Z. Johnson apartments. If the restaurant inside the old Central Fire Station is open, go inside and ask to see the bell!

CENTRAL FIRE STATION (NE Corner - Home to the Melting Pot)

Designed by architect William S. Campbell, the Central Fire Station was constructed in 1903. It features stone arches and a bell tower. Before moving into this building, the Fire Department operated out of City Hall. The 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance map lists the building as home to one chief, nineteen men, seventeen horses, one fire truck, a hose wagon, and a chemical wagon, among other equipment.

The fire department left the building in 1980. CSHQA (successors of architects Campbell and Wayland) remodeled the building in 1985.

EAGLES BUILDING (NW Corner - Home to Java)

The Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) organized in 1901 with 64 members. The F.O.E. is a social and service organization. Businessman Jeremiah D. Jones purchased this lot in 1902 from the Idaho Brewing Company. After years of delays, the 3-story, red brick building (designed by Tourtellotte and Hummel) was completed in 1916.

The F.O.E. purchased the building in 1917.

IDAHO BREWING & MALTING CO. (SW Corner - Now Boise City Hall)

Beer played an important, and early role, in Boise. There were many saloons and breweries typical of a western town. This corner was once home to the Idaho Brewing & malting Company, later called Bohemian Brewery. 

GIBSON FUNERAL HOME (South side of Idaho Street, about mid-way)

Constructed in 1940, the Gibson Funeral home was an excellent example of Art Moderne style. It featured curved walls, glass block windows, and a flat roof. The structure went unaltered until its demolition in 2017 to make space for the Gibson Apartments.

R.Z. JOHNSON APARTMENTS (SE Corner - Home to Ochos)

Former Idaho Attorney General Richard Z. Johnson (1887-1890) hired James C. Paulsen to design apartments at this site. Paulsen designed the building in the same Flemish Romanesque style as Boise’s former City Hall (which we will talk about later).

Johnson intended for the apartments to extend down the block, but an economic downturn in 1893 prevented their expansion. 

Department of Planning & Development Services. Shaping Boise: A Selection of Boise's Landmark Buildings. City of Boise, 2010. https://www.cityofboise.org/media/7053/shaping-boise-landmarks.pdf. Accessed August 3, 2023.

Sanborn Map Company. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Boise, Ada County, Idaho. 1912. Page 55.