"Building Most Valuable: The Story of the Idaho Assay Office,"
The early 1860s saw a keen competition for branch mints. Idaho lost in its bid, but Boise was awarded an Assay Office.
Attached pdf (12 pages) is a comprehensive article detailing the political origins, building and operation of the Assay Office from its conception until l closure. Did find how the community gathered together to plant trees etc, and the pride it showed in hosting the Office of note. It does also detail the importance of the Office to Oregon & Idaho miners.
Full citation: John A. Hussey, Building Most Valuable: The Story of the Idaho Assay Office, Idaho Yesterdays, Idaho Historical Society, Vol.5, No. 1, pp.2- 13 (1961).
Good details are provided on the amount of ore the Office handled from Idaho and Oregon, .
Pdf does contain a historic photo. Due to preservation in the 1970s, the Assay Office remains. I do think they did a very good job on the exterior restoration. Photo below shows original to the left, as restored to the right.
Comments
Very cool article and a nice building.
Ya gotta love good history 😉
Nice - thanks for posting!
I'd like to get over to ID and research this bar - finding the intended recipient would be sweet!