© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Here's What A 1930's Guidebook Said About Boise Architecture. (Hint: It Wasn't Great)

Boise State University Special Collections and Archives
Vardis Fisher visited Boise in the 1930s and created a guidebook that had been forgotten by history. Until now.

What was Boise like in the 1930s? 

"Boise is physically attractive, but it is the trees and not the buildings that make it so." - Vardis Fisher

Now we know more, thanks to an unpublished guide book from the time that was just discovered. Vardis Fisher’s manuscript sat in storage for more than 80 years before Boise State University's Alessandro Meregaglia stumbled upon it in the Library of Congress this month. 

Credit Vardis Fisher Papers / Courtesy of Beinecke Library
/
Courtesy of Beinecke Library
The original cover design for The Boise Guide by William Runyan.

Meregaglia told Idaho Matters about Vardis Fisher’s unrestrained critiques of Boise, particularly the city's architecture. 

“As cities go,” Fisher’s book begins, “Boise is physically attractive, but it is the trees and not the buildings that make it so.”

Fisher skewered iconic downtown buildings, including some that are still standing: he thought the Idanha, the Hoff Building and the Idaho Capitol were all uninspiring. 

When it comes to what the discovery of the manuscript means to the archivist, Meregaglia said that “there are countless untold stories that exist. They are just waiting to be found and brought to light by researchers.”

Now, Fisher's insights have been published in a new book. Rediscovered Books in downtown Boise is holding a special release party tonight at 7:00 p.m. 

Have a question or comment for the show? Tweet @KBSX915 using #IdahoMatters

 

Stay Connected
Molly Wampler is a newsroom intern at Boise State Public Radio. Originally from Berkeley, California, she just graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. There, Molly worked for her university's newspaper but is stoked to try her hand at and learn all there is to learn about radio journalism.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.