Our mission is to preserve Idaho's historic places through collaboration, education, and advocacy.
For over 50 years, Preservation Idaho has worked to protect historic places of significance to Idahoans. Preservation Idaho has worked across the state to preserve those places that make Idaho unique. We rely on collaboration with public and private property owners to ensure they understand and appreciate the architectural and historic value of their property. Our education and advocacy work are the means by which we affect change and we welcome all who would join us in our mission. We are an all-volunteer board with various committee and volunteer opportunities over the course of the year. We work to preserve the craftsmanship and the stories of people and events that are told through our built environment and that have brought us to where we are today.
Preservation Idaho is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We do not receive any ongoing state or federal operating funds. We fund our education and advocacy work through memberships, donations, sponsorships, and grants.
our story
In a Harper’s Magazine article of 1974, L.J. Davis noted that “if things go on as they are, Boise stands an excellent chance of becoming the first American city to have deliberately eradicated itself.” Davis was referencing the recent wave of demolitions, which had washed over the city. Under the guise of “urban renewal”, these demolitions had robbed Boiseans of dozens of historic structures, and had cut a swath through the downtown core that is still visible today. Much of this destruction was the result of the Boise Redevelopment Agency’s misguided attempt to build a massive downtown mall complete with shopping, parking, and an absence of historic character or distinction. Davis went on to note that the citizens of Boise were beginning to notice the loss of their cultural heritage. He remarked that:
““Boiseans are an amiable, even-tempered people…not long ago, though, a great many of them made the common discovery that cars were parked where their childhoods used to be, that their city was in serious danger of ceasing to exist, and that directly in the path of the bulldozers lay virtually all that remained of their architectural heritage. It made them mad as hell.” ”
In describing the nascent historic preservation movement in Boise, Davis encouraged grass roots efforts to save the remainder of the downtown core. He was speaking of individuals such as Joan Carley and Mary Lesser who in 1972 banded together with others to form the Idaho Historic Preservation Council (now Preservation Idaho), a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of Idaho and Boise’s heritage. Please join us as we honor their foresight and continue their dream of preserving Idaho’s significant buildings. Attend our events and consider membership, sponsorship, or a donation today! Contact us to learn more.