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If you hadn’t noticed by now, I like to place historical caches and this is a micro at the site of one of Nampa’s most famous former landmarks.
Colonel William H. Dewey came to Idaho in the 1870s after considerable success on ventures, such as a sawmill, a penny arcade (supposedly the first in the US), and allegedly smuggling horses from Canada. In 1884 Dewey killed a man in an argument, after which he spent time in the territorial Prison in Boise until he was acquitted on appeal on the grounds of self-defense. Dewey’s successful claims in Owyhee County mines made him a fortune.
Needing transportation to his mine, Dewey attempted to negotiate with a group in Boise to build a rail line to Silver City. Boise was to raise 300,000 and secure the right of way and Dewey would build the railroad. In addition Boise was to donate a city block on which Dewey could build a $150,000 hotel. While Dewey travel east to raise money for the deal, his Boise partners backed out of the deal.
Angered, Dewey proclaimed, “I’ll never do a thing for Boise as long as I live and I don’t care if grass grows in the streets of Boise.” Dewey promptly drove directly from Boise to Nampa where he agreed to pay off city debts, build the rail line from Nampa to his Owyhee mines, and build his hotel in Nampa.
Work began on the Dewey Palace in 1900 on the southwest corner of 12th Ave and First Street South. The hotel was two hundred feet long by fourty feet wide and took up most of a city block. Completed in December of 1902, the Dewey Palace cost about a quarter million dollars to construct. The Dewey Palace included a billiard room, a bowling alley, a barbershop, a bar, and a grand ballroom. The Dewey Palace was the first electrified building in Nampa, which was generated in its own plant.
The Dewey Palace served as a social gathering place for Nampa until it was shut down in 1956. In a testament to Nampa’s lack of foresight, the Dewey Palace was razed in 1963 to make room for what is a lovely bank, tire store and parking lot. You can see a pretty decent mural of the Dewey Palace about 3 blocks to the East (Nampa East that is). Maybe I should make that a virtal...
Cache is a magnetic key holder. During the day this is in a very busy area, so please be discrete. Please replace the cache so that it can't be seen. Be sure to check out the other caches in the area as well as the businesses and the park with the horse sculpture.
Additional Hints
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Vg'f abg ba srqreny cebcregl.