See the ‘B’ on your Table Rock hike? Here’s how it came to be, Boise
Just below the giant cross overlooking the city from Table Rock is another prominent Boise icon.
The Boise “B” — fashioned out of rocks — was created in 1931 by Boisean Ward Rolfe and a group of his friends from Boise High School. The teenagers drove a Model T Ford up the hill the year they graduated and formed a giant letter out of the rocks on Table Rock’s southern slope.
“We decided Boise needed a B. So we went up there and put it up there,” Rolfe told the Idaho Statesman in a 2006 interview.
While the B is traditionally painted white, rival schools on occasion will repaint the rocks. It was even turned into a peace sign in the 1970s, the Idaho State Historical Society’s Anthony Parry told the Idaho Statesman in a 2016 interview.
The rocks have since been cemented down to prevent any more movement.
With permission from the historical society, a state agency that owns Table Rock and the surrounding land, the rocks also have been painted colors such as purple in support of Alzheimer’s awareness.
But the rocks get repainted once or twice a year, usually by community volunteers, to restore the clean, white look.
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
