Southslope Emmett Valley

Went out early in the morning to beat the heat for a geocache and we found the cache on this overlook of the Emmett Valley. The southslope use to be... more

by Robert Bales

Title

Southslope Emmett Valley

Artist

Robert Bales

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

Went out early in the morning to beat the heat for a geocache and we found the cache on this overlook of the Emmett Valley. The southslope use to be the main fruit producing area of the valley, but now as you can see it has changed to mostly houses with a few orchards still left.
Originally called "Emmettville," it was primarily a post office named after Emmett Cahalan, the son of Tom Cahalan, an early settler of the area. The post office was later moved but retained the name. A few years later the "ville" was dropped and the post office and town became simply Emmett. In 1883 James Wardwell had the town platted, and in 1900 the town was incorporated as Emmett. Later, in March 1902, the Idaho Northern railroad came to the valley.
After the closing of the mines in 1906, the power lines were extended to Emmett. A series of irrigation projects made it possible for more rapid expansion of the town as the major service center for a farming and fruit-growing valley. In the early 1900s fruit packers adopted the label of "Gem of Plenty" because of the fertility of the valley. During the mining era the valley was known as the "garden" for the mining regions.
Until 2001, the city was home to a Boise Cascade manufacturing facility The Black Canyon diversion dam on the Payette River, built in the early 1920s, is east of the city.

Uploaded

August 19th, 2013