About the Idaho State Historical Society
The Idaho State Historical Society began in 1881 as the Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers, eighteen years after Idaho Territory was organized and nine years before statehood. It became a state agency in 1907 and now operates under Title 67 of the Idaho Code with a seven-member board of trustees appointed by the governor, one from each judicial district. Its headquarters are at 2205 Old Penitentiary Road in Boise, where the State Archives and the State Historic Preservation Office share a campus with the Old Idaho Penitentiary.
The society's flagship is the Idaho State Museum at 610 Julia Davis Drive in Boise's Julia Davis Park, the official repository for artifacts of Idaho and regional history. Its exhibits examine how the state's landscapes have shaped the people who live on them, and the museum offers 45-minute guided tours for groups of ten or more booked two weeks in advance. The Old Idaho Penitentiary, which housed inmates from 1872 to 1973, is interpreted as a historic site and also holds the J. Curtis Earl collection of historic arms and military memorabilia. Other properties include the Idaho State Capitol, the Bishops' House, Table Rock, Rock Creek Station and Stricker Homesite, the Pierce Courthouse, and the Historic Franklin Properties in Idaho's oldest town.
The State Historic Preservation Office maintains the state's records of historic places and archaeological sites and administers preservation programs, while a historic sites program oversees the outlying properties. The agency also runs grant programs, an online store, and a membership program supported by the Foundation for Idaho History.
Collections and Research Services
The Idaho State Archives is the state's primary genealogical repository. Its holdings include some 40,000 rolls of microfilm covering Idaho newspapers from 1863 onward; county-level land, property, citizenship, court, vital, and tax records from 1863; Idaho death certificates from 1911 to 1937; federal census schedules from 1790 to 1930; historic maps, blueprints, and architectural plans; and more than 800,000 photographs from the territorial period to the present. Thousands of images and documents are digitized and searchable online, though staff note these are only a fraction of the whole.
The research room at 2205 Old Penitentiary Road is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed on state holidays. Appointments are encouraged and are generally scheduled 48 hours in advance. Researchers who cannot visit may email questions to public.archives@ishs.idaho.gov or submit the online research request form; fees for staff research and reproductions support the archives, and commercial reproduction rates are negotiated case by case. The county records and newspapers are exactly what our guides to dating a house and locating a burial rely on.
Planning Your Visit
The Idaho State Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4:15 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, college students, and active military or veterans, $5 for ages 6 to 17, free for children 5 and under and for members, and $3 for EBT cardholders through Museums for All. The museum closes on several holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day; call (208) 334-2120 or check history.idaho.gov for hours and admission at the Old Penitentiary and the other sites. In northern Idaho, the Nez Perce National Historical Park at Lapwai is also listed in our directory.
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