McCall, Idaho facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
McCall, Idaho
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Payette Lake at McCall in July 2010
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Location of McCall in Valley County, Idaho.
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 McCall, Idaho
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Idaho |
| County | Valley |
| Settled | 1889 |
| Incorporated | 19 July 1911 (town) |
| Government | |
| • Type | council-manager |
| Area | |
| • Total | 9.92 sq mi (25.7 km2) |
| • Land | 9.06 sq mi (23.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.86 sq mi (2.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 5,030 ft (1,530 m) |
| Population
(2010)
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| • Total | 2,991 |
| • Density | 396.98/sq mi (153.27/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (Mountain Daylight Time) |
| ZIP codes |
83635, 83638
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| Area code(s) | 208, 986 |
| FIPS code | 16-48790 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2411058 |
McCall is a fun resort town located in Valley County, Idaho, in the United States. It's named after its founder, Tom McCall. The town sits right on the southern shore of Payette Lake, surrounded by the beautiful Payette National Forest. In 2010, about 2,991 people lived there.
Contents
Geography
McCall covers an area of about 9.9 square miles (25.7 square kilometers). Most of this area, about 9.1 square miles (23.5 square kilometers), is land. The rest, about 0.86 square miles (2.2 square kilometers), is water, mostly from Payette Lake.
Getting Around McCall
McCall is about 100 miles (160 km) north of Boise, which is Idaho's capital city. It takes about two hours to drive there. You can reach McCall by taking State Highway 55. This road is also called the Payette River Scenic Byway because it's so pretty! It's even a special national scenic byway.
The highway follows the Payette River and goes through towns like Cascade before reaching McCall. It then turns west at Payette Lake and ends in New Meadows.
SH 55 - Payette River Scenic Byway
The McCall Municipal Airport is right on the south side of town. It's about 5,021 feet (1,530 meters) above sea level. This airport is home to a special U.S. Forest Service Smokejumper Base. Smokejumpers are brave firefighters who parachute into remote areas to fight wildfires.
McCall's History
Long ago, Native American tribes were the first people to live in the McCall area. These included the Tukudika (also called "Sheepeaters"), the Shoshone, and the Nez Perce. They usually lived here in the summer and moved to warmer places during the cold winter.
In the early 1800s, famous mountain men like François Payette, Jim Bridger, and Jedediah Smith traveled through this area. They were often fur trappers.
The settlement of McCall officially started in 1889. A man named Thomas McCall and his wife, Louisa, traded a team of horses for 160 acres (0.65 square kilometers) of land. They built a cabin by the lake. Thomas McCall opened a school, a hotel, a saloon, and even the first post office, making himself the postmaster.
McCall also bought a sawmill, which he later sold to the Hoff & Brown Lumber Company. This company became a very important employer for many years.
Early on, people started visiting McCall for fun. A man named Anneas "Jews Harp Jack" Wyatte offered the first boat rides on the lake for tourists. Newspapers even called McCall a "pleasure resort."
Tourism grew in the early 1900s. More hotels and camping areas opened. When the Oregon Short Line Railroad (part of the Union Pacific Railroad) arrived in 1914, it made McCall an even more popular place for tourists. The town of McCall officially became a city on July 19, 1911.
McCall's yearly winter carnival began in the 1920s. Thousands of tourists would visit to enjoy the fun.
In 1938, Hollywood discovered McCall's beauty. The movie Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy, was filmed here. Even though the movie was set in eastern North America during the French and Indian War, Idaho's forests looked perfect for the scenes.
In 1943, the U.S. Forest Service opened the McCall smokejumper base. This is one of only eight smokejumper training bases in the whole country.
After World War II, McCall changed from a lumber town to a tourism center. The famous Shore Lodge opened in 1948 on Payette Lake. It became a central spot for both locals and visitors. The Shore Lodge was designed to be a cozy place, different from the fancy resorts like Sun Valley.
In 1965, a large area of land became Ponderosa State Park. This park is known for its huge, very old trees.
Skiing in McCall
McCall is a great place for skiing!
Little Ski Hill
The Little Ski Hill is just west of town. It opened in 1937 and was the second ski area in Idaho. It has a "T-bar" lift that pulls skiers up the hill. The hill drops about 405 feet (123 meters) from top to bottom.
Brundage Mountain
Brundage Mountain, northwest of McCall, opened in 1961. It has five chairlifts and a Magic Carpet lift. The top of Brundage Mountain is about 7,803 feet (2,378 meters) above sea level. Skiers can drop about 1,921 feet (585 meters) from the top. Brundage gets a lot of snow, usually over 320 inches (813 cm) each year! They also offer special "snowcat skiing" trips into the Payette National Forest. This lets people ski on fresh, untouched snow.
Tamarack Resort
Tamarack Resort is southwest of McCall. It opened for skiing in 2004. The top of West Mountain at Tamarack is about 7,660 feet (2,335 meters) high, with a vertical drop of over 2,700 feet (823 meters). Tamarack closed for a while but reopened in December 2010 with some limited operations.
People of McCall
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1920 | 307 | — | |
| 1930 | 651 | 112.1% | |
| 1940 | 875 | 34.4% | |
| 1950 | 1,173 | 34.1% | |
| 1960 | 1,423 | 21.3% | |
| 1970 | 1,758 | 23.5% | |
| 1980 | 2,188 | 24.5% | |
| 1990 | 2,005 | −8.4% | |
| 2000 | 2,084 | 3.9% | |
| 2010 | 2,991 | 43.5% | |
| 2020 | 3,686 | 23.2% | |
| US Decennial Census | |||
In 2010, McCall had 2,991 people living there. There were 1,348 households. About 25% of households had children under 18. Most people in McCall are White, but there are also people from other backgrounds, including Native American, Asian, and Hispanic or Latino. The average age of people in McCall was about 40.7 years old.
Media
McCall has a few local publications and radio stations. You can read McCall Magazine and McCall Home, which are published twice a year. There's also a weekly newspaper called The Star News and another magazine, McCall Life. Two radio stations, KDZY (98.3 FM) and Star 95.5, are based in the town.
Climate
McCall has cold, snowy winters and warm, mostly dry summers. It usually has snow on the ground from late November until early April. By February, there can be 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) of snow!
| Climate data for McCall, Idaho (McCall Municipal Airport) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1906–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 51 (11) |
59 (15) |
66 (19) |
84 (29) |
90 (32) |
97 (36) |
102 (39) |
104 (40) |
95 (35) |
86 (30) |
68 (20) |
58 (14) |
104 (40) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 41.1 (5.1) |
45.9 (7.7) |
54.7 (12.6) |
67.4 (19.7) |
77.8 (25.4) |
84.7 (29.3) |
91.4 (33.0) |
90.6 (32.6) |
85.1 (29.5) |
73.1 (22.8) |
56.0 (13.3) |
41.6 (5.3) |
93.0 (33.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 30.6 (−0.8) |
35.2 (1.8) |
42.1 (5.6) |
49.9 (9.9) |
61.1 (16.2) |
69.0 (20.6) |
81.0 (27.2) |
80.5 (26.9) |
70.6 (21.4) |
55.6 (13.1) |
40.4 (4.7) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
53.8 (12.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 22.1 (−5.5) |
24.9 (−3.9) |
31.5 (−0.3) |
38.8 (3.8) |
48.5 (9.2) |
55.3 (12.9) |
64.1 (17.8) |
62.9 (17.2) |
54.2 (12.3) |
42.5 (5.8) |
30.9 (−0.6) |
22.0 (−5.6) |
41.5 (5.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 13.5 (−10.3) |
14.6 (−9.7) |
20.9 (−6.2) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
35.9 (2.2) |
41.6 (5.3) |
47.2 (8.4) |
45.4 (7.4) |
37.8 (3.2) |
29.4 (−1.4) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
13.9 (−10.1) |
29.1 (−1.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −10.5 (−23.6) |
−7.3 (−21.8) |
1.5 (−16.9) |
13.6 (−10.2) |
22.5 (−5.3) |
28.9 (−1.7) |
35.3 (1.8) |
33.2 (0.7) |
24.2 (−4.3) |
14.8 (−9.6) |
1.8 (−16.8) |
−8.3 (−22.4) |
−14.3 (−25.7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −35 (−37) |
−33 (−36) |
−22 (−30) |
−17 (−27) |
14 (−10) |
20 (−7) |
22 (−6) |
20 (−7) |
9 (−13) |
1 (−17) |
−18 (−28) |
−31 (−35) |
−35 (−37) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.46 (62) |
2.32 (59) |
2.71 (69) |
2.43 (62) |
2.30 (58) |
2.03 (52) |
0.58 (15) |
0.54 (14) |
0.96 (24) |
1.60 (41) |
2.30 (58) |
2.83 (72) |
23.06 (586) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 34.9 (89) |
24.1 (61) |
15.5 (39) |
4.2 (11) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
2.1 (5.3) |
17.3 (44) |
33.5 (85) |
132.2 (336) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 15.5 | 12.9 | 16.0 | 12.6 | 12.8 | 10.0 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 9.1 | 13.2 | 15.3 | 130.7 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 11.6 | 8.8 | 7.2 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 7.2 | 12.2 | 50.9 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Education
Students in McCall go to schools in the McCall-Donnelly School District. These include Barbara R. Morgan Elementary School, Payette Lakes Middle School, and McCall-Donnelly High School.
Fun Facts About McCall
- Ponderosa State Park and McCall hosted the 2008 Masters World Cup, a big competition.
- The Harshman Skate Park in McCall is the largest in Idaho! Famous skateboarder Tony Hawk helped celebrate its opening in 2006.
- In January 2018, McCall held its first annual McCall Ultra Sleddog Challenge race. This race celebrates the area's history of dog mushing.
- The annual Winter Carnival, which started in the 1960s, brings over 60,000 people to town. It features amazing ice sculptures and live music.
Famous People From McCall
- Patty Boydstun-Hovdey - A skier who competed in the World Cup and the Olympics.
- Corey Engen - The captain of the U.S. Nordic ski team at the 1948 Winter Olympics.
- Helen Markley Miller - A writer who wrote historical and biographical stories for children about the Western United States.
- Mack Miller - An Olympic cross-country skier and trainer.
- Barbara Morgan - The first teacher in space.
- Torrie Wilson - A former WWE Wrestler.
See also
In Spanish: McCall (Idaho) para niños
