The rustic building at 1301 S. Capitol Blvd. that's now home to Papa Joe's Casual Italian and Cup of Joe dates to the 1930s.

Over the years, it's housed the New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps, a furniture showroom, a seafood restaurant called Dixon's, a tire store and a bakery. But it's the distinctive totem pole outside that's been turning heads since the 1960s.

Its carvings appear to be a wolf, a beaver, an eagle and what might be a masked man holding a fish. The carved name "Gordon" is barely visible in the chipped yellow paint at its base.

Statesman columnist Tim Woodward answered the question of the pole's origins in 2010.

A Boise native named Ed Magden opened Totem insurance agency in the building in the 60s. Magden loved Alaska. He got the pole from the Tlingit tribe and had it sent down to Boise, all the way from Ketchikan.

Anna Webb: 377-6431