Idaho Falls, Idaho facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Idaho Falls, Idaho
City
Downtown Idaho Falls
Seal
Location within Bonneville County
Idaho Falls, Idaho Location in Idaho Show map of Idaho Idaho Falls, Idaho Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Idaho
County	Bonneville
Founded	1864
Incorporated	1891
Area
• Total	24.55 sq mi (63.59 km2)
• Land	24.00 sq mi (62.16 km2)
• Water	0.56 sq mi (1.44 km2)
Elevation	4,705 ft (1,434 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	64,818
• Density	2,700.75/sq mi (1,011.75/km2)
• CSA	243,805 (US: 124th)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (Mountain)
ZIP Codes	83401–83406, 83415
Area code(s)	208, 986
FIPS code	16-39700
GNIS feature ID	396684
Interstate
U.S. Highway(s)
State Highway

Idaho Falls is the fourth most populous city in Idaho and the county seat of Bonneville County. It is the state's most populous city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 64,818. In the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813 (2019 estimate: 62,888), with a metro population of 133,265.

Idaho Falls serves as the commercial, cultural, and healthcare hub for Eastern Idaho, as well as parts of western Wyoming and southern Montana. It is served by the Idaho Falls Regional Airport and is home to the College of Eastern Idaho, Museum of Idaho, Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and the Idaho Falls Chukars minor league baseball team. It is the principal city of the Idaho Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Idaho Falls–Blackfoot-Rexburg, Idaho Combined Statistical Area.

History

Taylor's Bridge, c.1870

Montana Trail origins

What became Idaho Falls was the site of Taylor’s Crossing on the Montana Trail which was a timber frame bridge built across the Snake River. The 1865 bridge was built by Matt Taylor who was a Montana Trail freighter who built a toll bridge across a narrow black basaltic gorge of the river that succeeded a ferry seven miles upstream by several years. Taylor’s bridge served the new tide of westward migration and travel in the region that followed the military suppression of Shoshone resistance at the Bear River Massacre near Preston, Idaho in 1863. The bridge improved travel for settlers moving north and west and also for miners, freighters, and others seeking riches in the gold fields of Idaho and Montana and especially the boom towns of Bannack and Virginia City in western Montana.

Eagle Rock

Utah & Northern Bridge, c.1880, looking north, or upriver, with railroad shops in background.

Idaho Falls on the Snake River with the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple in the background

Mail service postmarks indicate that by 1866 the emerging town had become known as Eagle Rock. The name was derived from an isolated basalt island in the Snake River, 7 miles (11 km) upstream at 43°36.112′N 112°3.528′W / 43.601867°N 112.058800°W / 43.601867; -112.058800 in the Snake River that was the nesting site for approximately twenty eagles. Previous to Taylor's bridge, in 1864, Harry Rickets built and operated a ferry at this location and so this area of crossing at the Snake River was already known as Eagle Rock to those who did business or that traveled on the Montana Trail. A private bank (the fourth in Idaho), a small hotel, a livery stable, and an eating house also developed at the bridge in 1865 along with the post office and a stage station.

There had been a few cattle and sheep ranchers in the area for years. In 1874 water rights were established on nearby Willow Creek and the first grain harvested. Settlement was sparse and consisted of only a couple of families and small irrigation ditches. The first child of European descent was born at Eagle Rock being delivered in 1874.

The winds of change arrived in the form of the Utah and Northern Railway (U&NR) that came north from Utah through Eagle Rock and crossed the Snake River at the same narrow gorge as the wooden bridge. The U&NR was building its road to the large new copper mines at Butte, Montana and had the backing of robber baron Jay Gould as Union Pacific Railroad had purchased the U&NR a few years prior. Grading crews reached Eagle Rock in late 1878 and by early 1879 a wild camp-town with dozens of tents and shanties moved to Eagle Rock with the typical collection of saloons, dancehalls, and gambling halls. The railroad company had 16 locomotives and 300 train cars working between Logan, Utah at the once quiet stage stop. A new iron railroad bridge was fabricated in Athens, Pennsylvania at a cost of $30,000 and was shipped, by rail, to the site and erected in April and May 1879. The bridge was 800 feet (240 m) long and in two spans with an island in the center. The camp-town moved on but Eagle Rock, the little town at the wooden bridge, now had regular train service and was the site of several of the railroad’s buildings, shops, and facilities which were expanding and completely transforming the town.

As soon as the railroad came through settlers began homesteading the Upper Snake River Valley. The first of the new settlers carved out homesteads to the north at Egin (near present-day Parker) and at Pooles Island (near present-day Menan). Large scale settlement ensued and in a decade there appeared roads, bridges, dams as well as irrigation canals which brought most of the Upper Snake River Valley under cultivation. In 1887, following the construction of the Oregon Short Line, most of the railroad facilities were removed to Pocatello where the new line branched off the U&NR but Eagle Rock was fast becoming the commercial center of an agricultural empire.

In 1891 the town voted to change its name to Idaho Falls, in reference to the rapids that existed below the bridge. Some years later, the construction of a retaining wall for a hydroelectric power plant enhanced the rapids into falls. In 1895 the largest irrigation canal in the world at that time, the Great Feeder, began diverting water from the Snake River and aided in converting tens of thousands of acres of desert into green farmland in the vicinity of Idaho Falls. The area grew sugar beets, potatoes, peas, grains, and alfalfa and became one of the most productive regions of the United States.

Nuclear reactors

This image of the SL-1 core served as a sober reminder of the death and damage that a nuclear meltdown can cause.

In 1949, the Atomic Energy Commission opened the National Reactor Testing Station in the desert west of the city, and on Dec. 20, 1951, a nuclear reactor produced useful electricity for the first time in history. There have been more than 50 unique nuclear reactors built at the facility for testing. All but three are shut down now.

The site was the scene of the only fatal nuclear reactor incident in U.S. history on the night of January 3, 1961. The event occurred at an experimental U.S. Army reactor plant known as the Argonne Low Power Reactor, which the Army called the Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One (SL-1) once built. Due to poor design and maintenance procedures, a single control rod was manually pulled out too far from the reactor, causing the reactor to become prompt critical, and leading to a destructive power excursion. Three military, trained men had been working inside the reactor room when a mistake was made while reattaching a control rod to its motor assembly. With the central control rod nearly fully extended, the nuclear reactor rated at 3 MW rapidly increased power to 20 GW; this rapidly boiled the water inside the core. As the steam expanded, a pressure wave of water forcefully struck the top of the reactor vessel upon which 2 of the men stood. The explosion was so severe that the reactor vessel was propelled 9 feet into the air, striking the ceiling before settling back into its original position. One man was killed instantly as he was impaled by a shield plug and lodged into the ceiling. The other men died from their injuries within hours. The three men were buried in lead coffins, and that entire section of the site was buried. The core meltdown caused no damage to the area, although some radioactive fission products were released to the atmosphere. While nuclear reactors like SL-1 were predicted to have lower total costs than conventional systems, the Army program to build and use reactors of this kind was scrapped due to the higher initial procurement costs of nuclear reactors.

The Idaho National Laboratory, the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University, and the University of Wyoming have labs, classrooms, offices, and other facilities just north of downtown. Among these partnerships is the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), shown here, which overlooks the Snake River.

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), as it is now known, remains a major economic engine for the city of Idaho Falls, employing more than 8,000 people and functioning as an internationally renowned research center. INL operates and manages the world-famous Advanced Test Reactor (ATR).

Geography

The Snake River seen through trees along the greenbelt

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.80 square miles (59.05 km²), of which 22.35 square miles (57.89 km²), 98% is land and 0.45 square miles (1.17 km², 2%) is water.

Natural disasters are rare in the area, although an F2 tornado hit the Idaho Falls area on April 7, 1978, causing up to $5 million in damage.

River Walk

Idaho Falls has an extensive river walk trail featuring running and bike trails, art installations, and points of interest along several miles of the Snake River. It is maintained by the city and periodically receives donations and grants that allow for expansion.

Neighborhoods

Notable Idaho Falls neighborhoods include:

• Downtown - Historic downtown Idaho Falls sits on several blocks of the original townsite along the east side of the river. It features restaurants, plazas, shops, and cultural amenities including the Museum of Idaho, Colonial Theatre, Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls Public Library, and Japanese Friendship Garden. It is home to the Idaho Falls Farmers' Market and many other community events.
• The Numbered Streets - The numbered streets area was the first planned neighborhood in Idaho Falls. The streets run west and east between South Boulevard and Holmes Avenue. Traffic on the odd-numbered streets travels east, and west on the even-numbered streets. Kate Curley Park is located in the neighborhood, as is the Wesley W. Deist Aquatic Center and the Eleventh Street Historic District.
• West Side - The West Side houses Idaho Falls Regional Airport and I-15. It has retained more of a small-town feel than the east side, which has grown and developed much more rapidly since the 1980s.
• Snake River Landing - SRL is a large, mixed-use development on the west side of the river near I-15, which includes residential, restaurant, park, and community event space, including a planned mid-sized indoor arena. It now hosts the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration, a large Independence Day event.

Climate

Idaho Falls experiences a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters (Köppen Dfb). Precipitation is relatively sparse, but not low enough to classify the climate as semi-arid.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 64,818 people, and 23,875 households in the city. The population density was 2,700.5 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 85.1% White, 0.6% African American, 0.8% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, and 5.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 17.5% of the population.

28.4% of the population was under 18, and 7.3% were under 5. 13.5% of the population were over 65. The gender makeup was 50.5% female, 49.5% male.

The median household income was $57,412, and the per capita income was $29,395. 12.6% of the population were under the poverty line.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 56,813 people, 21,203 households, and 14,510 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,542.0 inhabitants per square mile (981.5/km²). There were 22,977 housing units at an average density of 1,028.1 per square mile (397.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.3% White, 0.7% African American, 1.0% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.6% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.9% of the population.

There were 21,203 households, of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.6% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.20.

The median age in the city was 32.2 years. 29.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 23.4% were from 45 to 64; and 11.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

Economy

Idaho Falls serves as a regional hub for health care, travel, and business in eastern Idaho.

The community's economy was mostly agriculturally focused until the opening of the National Reactor Testing Station in the desert west of Idaho Falls in 1949. The city subsequently became largely dependent on high-income jobs from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), known locally simply as "The Site." Since the 1990s, the city has added a significant retail, entertainment, and restaurant sector, as well as a regional medical center.

Idaho Falls hosts the headquarters of the United Potato Growers of Idaho and District 7 of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. It is the home to several small-to-medium-sized national corporations such as North Wind, Inc. and Melaleuca, Inc.

The median home price in Idaho Falls was $224,800 in January 2007.

Idaho Falls, Idaho / U.S. average:

• Area population 122,995 / 647,500
• Median home price $224,800 / $235,000
• Cost-of-living index 99.8 / 100.0
• Unemployment rate 2.7% / 4.6%
• Job growth—5 years 18.84% / 4.90%
• Job growth—1 year 2.74% / 1.66%
• Median household income $47,719 / $46,326

Public transport in Idaho Falls is run by the Greater Idaho Falls Transit, which runs the GIFT On Demand demand-responsive transport system.

Arts and culture

Melaleuca Freedom Celebration 2014

Entrance to the Idaho Falls Zoo

Mountain America Center

The Willard Arts Center, The Colonial Theatre, and Frontier Center for the Performing Arts host musical concerts, plays, and events.

The Mountain America Center, a multi-purpose arena and convention center, opened to the public in November 2022.

The Museum of Idaho showcases local artifacts and history. It also brings in major traveling exhibits such as fossilized dinosaurs, Gutenberg Bibles, Titanic remnants, and "Bodies: the Exhibition."

Downtown Idaho Falls once struggled as the city expanded eastward, but it has been revitalized in recent years due to the efforts of local business owners, the City of Idaho Falls, and other organizations such as the Downtown Development Corporation and the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce. Today, it is home to a handful of locally owned shops, stores, restaurants, galleries, theaters, and future revitalization efforts.

The city attracts many tourists visiting nearby Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Jackson Hole, and fishing on the Snake River.

Parks and recreation

There are three 18-hole golf courses in Idaho Falls, and four disc golf courses.

Education

Higher education

The College of Eastern Idaho was established in 1969 as a vocational-technical college named Eastern Idaho Technical College. In 2017 it transitioned into Eastern Idaho's only community college.

A campus of the University of Idaho in Idaho Falls provides access to the university's resources.

Primary and secondary education

Skyline High School

Schools located in Idaho Falls administered by the Idaho Falls School District #91 include:

Schools located in Idaho Falls administered by the Bonneville Joint School District #93 include:

Each fall, the varsity football teams of Idaho Falls and Skyline compete in a rival football game called the Emotion Bowl. Each year, after the game, the winning team and its fans traditionally paint the goalposts of the stadium in their school colors (orange for Idaho Falls and blue for Skyline). Bonneville and Hillcrest participate in a similar event known as the Civil War.

Media

The Post Register, a daily newspaper, serves the Idaho Falls area. The area is also served by seven radio stations. The Idaho Falls/Pocatello region is served by five major television stations. There are four major news outlets in the area: KIDK (Dabl, also broadcast on sister Fox station KXPI-LD), KIFI-TV (ABC/CBS), KPVI-DT (NBC, licensed to Pocatello), and Idaho Public Television. Online media outlet East Idaho News also serves the area with news coverage.

Notable people

• Chandler Brossard - beat novelist, author of Who Walk in Darkness
• Gregory C. Carr - telecommunications entrepreneur and philanthropist; head of Gorongosa National Park restoration in Mozambique
• Steven E. Carr - only American ever elected to Standing Commission of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, organization's highest governing body worldwide
• Barzilla W. Clark - Governor of Idaho 1937–1939. Mayor of Idaho Falls 1913–15, 1926–36
• Bethine Clark Church - Scion of the Clark family and wife of Frank Church
• Chase A. Clark - Governor of Idaho 1941-1942. Mayor of Idaho Falls 1937-1938. U.S. district judge 1943-1966
• D. Worth Clark - U.S. Senator 1939-1945. U.S. Congressman 1935-1939
• Mike Crapo - U.S. Senator 1999–present. U.S. Congressman 1993-1999
• Dame Darcy - avant-garde cartoonist and author of Meatcake
• Jared Gold - fashion designer, featured on America's Next Top Model
• Gregg Hale - guitar player for multi-platinum selling British band Spiritualized
• Orval H. Hansen - U.S. Congressman 1969-1975
• Mary Kornman - actress, best known for Our Gang comedies
• Rachel Martin - NPR journalist, host of Morning Edition
• Janice McGeachin - Lieutenant Governor of Idaho 2019–2023
• Edgar Miller - designer and artist
• David Neiwert - freelance journalist and blogger
• Yo Murphy - former CFL/NFL wide receiver; played at Idaho Falls High School
• Ryan Nelson - federal judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2018–present)
• Martha Raddatz - ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, recipient of 4 Emmy Awards
• Wilson Rawls - author of Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys
• Brandi Sherwood - Miss Idaho Teen USA 1989, Miss Teen USA 1989, Miss Idaho USA 1997, Miss USA 1997 (succeeded)
• John L. Smith - head football coach at Michigan State, Louisville, Utah State, Idaho, and Arkansas
• Frank L. VanderSloot - businessman, owner of Melaleuca Inc., a home-goods/health-product marketing company; national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign

Sister city

Idaho Falls has a sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan

Gallery

• 

  Fountain and sculpture on Utah Avenue Roundabout in Idaho Falls

• 

  Idaho State Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Freeman Park

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  Sculpture of Snake River Fur Trapper by Roy Reynolds on the bank of the Snake River (along the River Walk) in Idaho Falls

• 

  Idaho Falls Library; sculpture by Marilyn Hoff Hansen dedicated to Wilson Rawls, author of Where the Red Fern Grows

See also

In Spanish: Idaho Falls para niños