Alexander Building

Constructed in 1925, this two-story building replaced a previous structure in this same spot that also held the flagship store of Alexander's, a men's clothing shop. The owner, Moses Alexander, also served two terms as mayor of Boise and two terms as the state's governor. The Alexander Building is the only surviving commercial building in Boise that is faced with white terra cotta. The Second Renaissance Revival style structure was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1980 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. D.L. Evans Bank now occupies much of the building.

Moses Alexander was born in 1853 in Bavaria. He emigrated to the U.S. and founded his men's clothing business in Boise in July 1891. The first Alexander's was in downtown Boise at Main and Fifth Streets. He originally settled in Missouri and became a partner in his cousin's clothing store in the 1870s. Moses planned to move to Alaska but was impressed by his stop in Boise and decided to stay. The business is thought to be the eleventh-oldest clothing business in America; most of the older enterprises are on the east coast. From 1897 to 1899 and again from 1901 to 1903, Moses was the mayor of Boise City. Moses became Idaho's eleventh governor and was the second Jewish governor in America. He served from January 1915 to January 1919. Alexander's had grown to eight stores in Idaho and Oregon by 1919. The shops came to be known for high-quality men's and boy's wear and expert tailoring services.

The local architectural firm of Tourtellotte and Hummel designed the new Alexander Building for Moses. Construction began in 1924 and was finished in 1925. The location served as the company's main shop, warehouses, and offices for decades. The Main St. (front) of the two-story plus basement structure is three bays wide; the N. Ninth St. side is seven bays in width. The building's footprint is 50 by 122 feet. Doric piers separated the front bays. A denticulated cornice with a parapet wall, accented at the corner, tops the facades. "ALEXANDER" is inscribed on the center of the frieze on both street sides, accented with raised shields with a letter "A." Moses passed away in 1932 but the business continued under other family members.

The Main St. side of the building was modified in 1955; its deep indentation and display island were changed to a more minimal indented corner. The glass marquee was modernized, and block lettering reading "ALEXANDERS" was added to the mezzanine windows. The Alexander Building was purchased by the Boise Redevelopment Company in 1976. The building was vacant in 1980, in preparation for renovation of the structure for retail and office space. The first and second floors were then open space with storage rooms along the north wall. Original cabinets survived along the east wall in the basement.

A great-grandson of Moses, William F. Simon was president of M. Alexander, Inc. by 1980; the company was still based in Boise. There were a dozen Alexander's stores in Idaho and Oregon by then. The company was sold by the Alexander family to a long-time employee, David Graves, in 2006; the store name was Alexander Davis by then. Graves decided to retire after over forty years with the company; the shop, located in downtown Boise in the Hoff Building at Bannock near Eighth St., was closed on April 30th, 2022, after 131 years in business.

Alexander Davis Men's Clothing. Our Story - 1891-2022, Alexander Davis. January 1st, 2022. Accessed January 17th, 2023. https://www.alexanderdavismensclothing.com/our-story/.

Day, Don. Open since 1891, one of Idaho's oldest businesses to close. Changes to downtown a reason, owner says, Boise Dev. March 11th, 2022. Accessed January 17th, 2023. https://boisedev.com/news/2022/03/11/alexander-davis-boise/.

Hibbard, Dan. NRHP nomination of Alexanders, 9th and Main, Boise, Idaho. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1978.

Rowse, Patricia. Hunsucker, C. Wayne. Historic American Buildings Survey documentation of Alexander Building, 826 Main St., Boise, Idaho. HABS ID-4. Boise, Idaho. Department of the Interior, 1980.

Woodward, Tim. "Boise's Oldest Store to Close." Idaho Press (Boise) March 6th, 2022. Community sec.