Boise Train Depot

There is an old train station up the hill from my first Idaho apartment. Frequently it's reserved for weddings and such, but when I heard that they were offering free guided historical tours on a Thursday night I jumped at the chance.

The tour guide dressed up like a conductor.

The inside features beautifully decorated vaulted ceilings and some other interesting decor.

Outside one of the old trains is still on display. I knew my Dad would like pictures, so I took a few. 

Back inside, they had a local brass band playing everything from Count Basie to the Beatles for everyone who was waiting for the tour and looking at the historical displays.

But before that, I took the elevator up to the belltower.

Mesh net aside, it's a lovely view of Downtown Boise.

This building went more or less out of use with the death of passenger trains, but it was restored more recently. Pat of that restoration included installing an elevator, but they put it in by taking off the roof and the top floor and then lowering the elevator in with a crane. They put the roof back on, but the top floor is still missing.

Right, so those displays.

The Depot is used fancy parties now, but it's also a small museum to various relics of twentieth century trains.

I couldn't help getting a little excited about the 1920s convenience stand.

I found this painting on the back wall--my relatives (ie most of you trading this) might find this a familiar sight.

I guess the train arriving in Boise was a pretty big deal. For a long time the nearest train went to Kuna (where's that? Exactly) and travelers would take a stagecoach the rest of the way to Boise. This didn't do the tourism industry any favors, and made shipping products to and from town a challenge. So when the railroad was finally extended to Boise in the 20's, the entire town stopped to celebrate. They had a big parade of girls in togas leaving the train into the station, the president of the railroad company was treated like royalty, there were fireworks shows all over town.

After the tour, I spent some time exploring the gardens on the grounds in front of the depot. It's a pretty little garden, complete with koi ponds, and I frequently see people taking photos there for weddings and quinceñeras.

All in all, I had a lovely time. The building is usually open to the public Monday afternoons and I'd suggest a visit if you like history and/or trains.

As for using it for a wedding venue--not that I'm in the market as such but anyway--it's beautiful but expensive and you have to reserve it a year in advance. My Dad, who I told about this during the apartment hunting crisis (when everywhere I went it seemed like nothing would be available until September) said, "It takes a year to get into a building? That must be Boise."