Recent National Register of Historic Places Listings
The Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is pleased to announce the recent listing of five properties in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The NRHP is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. In Idaho, the National Park Service (NPS) manages the NRHP program in partnership with the Idaho SHPO and the Idaho Historic Sites Review Board (HSRB). A property becomes “listed” in the National Register after the HSRB and the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. approve a nomination form documenting its historic significance.
To be listed in the NRHP a property must not simply be “old,” rather it must be important (historically significant) and look much like it did during its historic period (retain historic integrity).
Idaho has a total of 1,080 NRHP listings which encompass more than 7,000 individual historic resources. The state’s most recent NRHP listings encompass a variety of interesting historic properties. Notably, three of the five listings are early twentieth-century school buildings, reflecting the enduring importance of historic educational institutions to their respective communities.
Contact
(208) 488-7468
Boise | Ada County
J. Gordon and Barbara J. Brookover House, Boise
The Brookover House is significant for its association with J. Gordon and Barbara J. Brookover who were important figures in Boise’s retail clothing community in the second half of the twentieth century. They managed and grew Brookover’s Inc., a women’s fine clothing business originally established in 1917, from a single downtown store to multiple locations in Boise and Nampa. Designed by the Boise-based firm Grider & La Marche Architects and completed in 1961, the Brookover House also is locally significant as an outstanding example of Modern Movement architecture. Its distinctive plan, complex form, and Contemporary design with a Japanese aesthetic put it among a select subset of custom-built, architect-designed Modern Movement residences in the greater Boise area.
Hammett | elmore County
Hammett School
The Hammett School is significant for its association with the settlement of Hammett, Idaho and the local development of educational institutions and school buildings in the early twentieth century. It operated as a public school from 1911 until 1965. Designed by the Boise architectural firm Nisbet & Paradice, the Hammett School also is a notable example of early twentieth century school design in rural Idaho. It was architecturally ambitious and advanced for its time and place in comparison to contemporaries, particularly in terms of being carefully designed for future expansion and for incorporating the latest advancements in safety and classroom lighting. Today, the building serves as a private residence.
Riggins | idaho County
Riggins High School
The former Riggins High School is locally significant for its association with the evolution of rural education in early-to-mid-twentieth century Idaho County. Completed in 1940, the building served as the community high school until 1958 and then functioned for several years as classroom space for elementary education as well as various other education- and community-related functions. As the oldest surviving public-school building in Riggins, it embodies decades of local educational history that includes district consolidation and adaptation to evolving needs and standards. Today, the building houses elementary art school classes. lunchroom space, and storage for the local school district.
Kendrick | latah & nez perce counties
Sperry Bridge
Located at the southern end of Kendrick, the Sperry Bridge spans the Potlatch River between Latah and Nez Perce counties. Completed in 1908, the bridge is significant at the statewide level as the earliest remaining pin-connected vehicular steel truss bridge in northern Idaho. Built by the Columbia Bridge Company of Portland, Oregon, a major contractor in the Pacific Northwest, the Sperry Bridge is notable for its design as an excellent example of a steel, pin-connected Pratt through truss bridge.
Weiser (vicinity) | washington County
Sunnyside School
In operation as a public school between 1923 and 1969, the Sunnyside School is significant for its association with the development of schools in southwestern Washington County during the early-mid twentieth century. Designed by the prolific Boise architectural firm Wayland & Fennell, the Sunnyside School is also significant as a notable local example of early-to-twentieth-century school design, particularly in terms of its impressive Colonial Revival architectural style. Today, a private preschool leases the property.