Owyhee County Courthouse

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Owyhee County Courthouse
Owyhee County Courthouse (1).jpg
The Owyhee County Courthouse in 2019
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Location20381 State Highway 78, Murphy, Idaho
Coordinates 43°13′01″N116°33′01″W / 43.21694°N 116.55028°W / 43.21694; -116.55028 (Owyhee County Courthouse) Coordinates: 43°13′01″N116°33′01″W / 43.21694°N 116.55028°W / 43.21694; -116.55028 (Owyhee County Courthouse)
Arealess than one acre
Built1936 (1936)
ArchitectTourtellotte & Hummel
Architectural styleModern Movement, Art deco
MPS Tourtellotte and Hummel Architecture TR
NRHP reference # 82000357 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 17, 1982

The Owyhee County Courthouse in Murphy, Idaho, is a 1-story Art Deco building designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in 1936. The brick building features a prominent entry with fluted pilasters on either side of a square arch, with foliated sunburst panels that frame an entablature of floral, triangular, and wavelet designs. A panel above the entry reads, "Owyhee County Courthouse." The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. [2]

Murphy, Idaho Census-designated place in Idaho, United States

Murphy is an unincorporated village in, and county seat of, Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. It is among the smallest of county seats nationwide, with a population as of the 2010 census of 97. Murphy is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. Murphy is also located within the census-designated place bearing its name. Murphy is home to the Owyhee County Historical Museum and Library.

Idaho State of the United States of America

Idaho is a state in the northwestern region of the United States. It borders the state of Montana to the east and northeast, Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canadian border with the province of British Columbia. With a population of approximately 1.7 million and an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th largest, the 12th least populous and the 7th least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. The state's capital and largest city is Boise.

Tourtellotte & Hummel was an American architectural firm from Boise, Idaho and Portland, Oregon.

Contents

History

Owyhee County was organized in Idaho Territory in 1863, and the county seat was first at Ruby City (1863-1867), then at Silver City (1867-1934), and in 1934 voters moved the county seat to Murphy. [3] The Idaho State Legislature ratified the move in 1999, officially changing the Idaho Code to reflect the relocation from Silver City to Murphy. [4]

Owyhee County, Idaho County in the United States

Owyhee County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,526. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in Idaho, behind Idaho County.

Idaho Territory territory of the USA between 1863–1890

The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho.

Ruby City is a ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. The town served as the original county seat of Owyhee County from 1863 to 1867. The growth of Silver City, which was founded a mile to the south in 1864, hastened Ruby City's demise. Today only remains of the cemetery mark the town's location.

In 1936 the county built a new courthouse on what was then a section of State Highway 45, now State Highway 78, at Murphy. [5] A dancehall had been the temporary courthouse, and it burned in 1939. [6]

The Owyhee County Courthouse was renovated and expanded in 1973, with 1-story brick additions at either end of the original structure. [7]

The only parking meter in Owyhee County was installed at the courthouse in the early 1950s. [8] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Silver City, Idaho ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States

Silver City is a ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. At its height in the 1880s, it was a gold and silver mining town with a population of around 2,500 and approximately 75 businesses. Silver City served as county seat of Owyhee County from 1867 to 1934. Today, the town has about 70 standing buildings, all of which are privately owned. Many of the owners are third- or fourth-generation descendants of the original miners. There are a handful of small businesses, but no gas or service stations. The property is now owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

Fort Boise former trading post in Idaho, USA

Fort Boise is either of two different locations in the western United States, both in southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post near the Snake River on what is now the Oregon border, dating from the era when Idaho was included in the British fur company's Columbia District. After several rebuilds, the fort was ultimately abandoned in 1854, after it had become part of United States territory following settlement in 1846 of the northern boundary dispute.

Boise Junior High School school building in Boise, Idaho

Boise Junior High School, also known as North Junior High School, is an Art Deco, brick school designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in Boise, Idaho, USA, in 1937. The school was included as a contributing property in the Fort Street Historic District on November 12, 1982. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 17, 1982.

Bishop Funsten House historic house in Boise, Idaho, USA

Bishop Funsten House, also known as Bishop's House, Old Bishop's House, and Bishop Rhea Center, is a ​2 12-story Queen Anne style clergy house constructed in 1889 in Boise, Idaho, USA, that served as the rectory for St. Michael's Church and later St. Michael's Cathedral until 1960. The house was renovated and expanded during a 1900 remodel by architect John E. Tourtellotte.

Eichelberger Apartments Historic NRHP building

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Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District

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Daniel F. Murphy House Historic house in Boise, Idaho

The Daniel F. Murphy House in Boise, Idaho, is a 2-story, Neoclassical structure with Renaissance decorative elements. The house features a sandstone facade and was completed in 1908 by owner Daniel F. Murphy. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

St. Marys Catholic Church (Caldwell, Idaho)

St. Mary's Catholic Church is a red brick, Italianate Romanesque Revival building designed by Tourtellotte and Hummel and constructed by H.J. McNeel in 1925 in Caldwell, Idaho. The church features an 80-ft tower, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Mitchell Hotel Historic building in Idaho, USA

The Mitchell Hotel in Boise, Idaho, was a 2-story, brick and stone building designed by Tourtellotte & Co. and constructed in 1906. The building featured segmentally arched fenestrations with "denticulated surrounds of header brick." The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982.

Cyrus Jacobs House

The Cyrus Jacobs House, also known as the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, in Boise, Idaho, is a ​1 12-story brick house constructed by Charles May in 1864. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Brunzell House

The Brunzell House in Boise, Idaho, is a ​1 12-story, brick and wood Bungalow designed by Tourtellotte & Co. and constructed in 1908. The house features Colonial Revival decorations, including deeply flared eaves. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It also is a contributing resource in the Fort Street Historic District.

J. N. Wallace House Historic building in Boise, Idaho, USA

The J.N. Wallace House in Boise, Idaho, is a 2-story, shingled Colonial Revival house designed by Tourtellotte & Co. and constructed in 1903. The first floor features a veneer of random course sandstone, and shingles of various shapes decorate the wraparound porch and the second floor. Deep, pedimented gables with dormer and dimple windows characterize the roof. Outer walls on the porch and second floor are flared. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

H. H. Bryant Garage

The H.H. Bryant Garage in Boise, Idaho, was a 2-story brick building designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed by contractor J.O. Jordan in 1917. The garage, also known as the Ford Building, originally was a showroom and service center for Ford cars and trucks. The building featured nine window bays on Front Street and seven bays on 11th Street, and the bays were separated by ornamented, stone capped pilasters that terminated at the second floor roof and well below the flat parapet. Parapet crests over the corner bays featured outset coping and notched shoulders. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982. The building was demolished in 1990.

Franklin School (Boise, Idaho) Historic building in Boise, Idaho

Franklin School in Boise, Idaho, was a 2-story, brick and stucco building designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in 1926. The school featured a flat roof with a decorated concrete parapet. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982. In 2009 the building was demolished.

Meridian Exchange Bank Historic building in Meridian, Idaho

The Meridian Exchange Bank in Meridian, Idaho, was designed by the Boise architectural firm of Tourtellotte & Co. and constructed in 1906. Charles Hummel may have been the supervising architect. The 2-story, Renaissance Revival building was constructed of brick and sandstone by contractors Allen & Barber, and it featured a corner entry at Idaho Avenue and Second Street. The ground floor entry and a Second Street entry to the second floor both were framed by shallow brick pilasters supporting simple stone capitals. Four corbelled brick chimneys extended above the second floor parapet. The Meridian Exchange Bank and a barbershop occupied the ground floor, and the Independent Telephone Exchange rented the second floor. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982.

O. F. Short House

The O.F. Short House near Eagle, Idaho, is a ​1 12-story house constructed of native cobble from the Boise River in 1906. The house features elements of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival design, and it includes a hip roof with four dormers. An L-shape porch with battered piers at its corners originally included a crenellated parapet, but the roof was altered after 1980. Architectural historian Patricia Wright considered the O.F. Short House to be unparalleled in Idaho for scale and pretension in its use of cobblestone. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Charles and Martha Villeneuve House

The Charles and Martha Villeneuve House, also known as the Herridge House, near Eagle, Idaho, is a ​1 12-story Queen Anne house constructed of cobblestones from the Boise River in 1881. Ground floor stone walls are 12-14 inches thick, and the upper half story construction is wood frame with front and left side gables. A 1961 addition at the rear of the house is not visible from Moon Valley Road. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

References

  1. National Park Service (2013-11-02). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Owyhee County Courthouse". National Park Service . Retrieved May 6, 2019. With accompanying pictures
  3. Walt Schramm (January 24, 1960). "Town of Murphy, Owyhee County Seat, Rates High as One of Most Unusual in Country". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. p. 26.
  4. Tim Woodward (January 25, 1999). "65 Years in Wrong Town". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  5. "Court to Meet in New Building". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 14, 1936. p. 20.
  6. "It wasn't very much of a fire...". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. April 30, 1939. p. 6.
  7. "Local Art Works May Adorn Revamped Owyhee Courthouse". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. February 9, 1974. p. 14.
  8. "Jet". Johnson Publishing Co. August 21, 1980. p. 19. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  9. "Penny Kills Lone Meter in Owyhee". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. September 9, 1966. p. 19.