Did you know there are four Boises in the US? One’s a ghost town, another bombed during WWII
Boise … a growing city cloaked in a layer of trees, looming foothills backdrop the bright white Capitol and bustling 8th Street, full of restaurants, bars and stores.
There’s no other place like Boise … except maybe those three other towns in the United States that are also called Boise.
Boise, Idaho, rightfully claims the title of America’s most well-known Boise. The city’s population of 237,250 is by far the largest of the Boises, and it’s also likely the Boise that most people know.
It derives its name from 19th-century French fur trappers, who called the region “Boise” in 1863 because of the town’s location next to a “wooded” river. The word for “wooded” in French is “Boise.”
But did you know that Boises also exist in Washington, Texas and even Oklahoma? Here’s what to know about America’s other small towns that share Boise’s name.
Boise, Texas
This version of Boise is a ghost town in the Texas panhandle, just south of Interstate 40 in Oldham County. According to the Texas State Historical Society, the town initially acted as a shipping point for local ranchers and farmers because it was on the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad.
People lived in Boise, Texas, until 1980, when the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad discontinued its services to the Texas panhandle, leaving little else to do in the small town.
The ghost town’s closest notable city is Amarillo, which sits about 67 miles east.
Boise, Oklahoma
Another Boise exists in the Oklahoma panhandle, about 140 miles north of Boise, Texas. But unlike the Texas version, people still live in Boise, Oklahoma.
Boise, Oklahoma, is the county seat of Cimarron County and has a population of 1,776 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The town was established in 1908, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society, and sits at the convergence of five U.S. highways and two state highways, making it a prime location for the county seat.
The Oklahoma Historical Society makes a couple of guesses about the origin of the name, one of which is a reference to Boise, Idaho, which was established 45 years prior. The society also believes it could be because of a Civil War hero named Captain Boise or from the Boice Cattle Company, which operated in Kansas but ran cattle in the area.
Boise, Oklahoma, also claims to be one of the few U.S. cities to have been bombed during World War II. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, a B-17 bomber dropped practice bombs on the city, mistaking the city’s town square lights for a practice target. The 100-pound dummy bombs harmed no one, but they did damage a church, sidewalk and garage.
Boise, Washington
Boise, Idaho, isn’t even the only Boise in the Northwest. Washington state lays claim to the farthest north Boise, but unfortunately, there’s not a lot of information about the location.
Boise, Washington, is about 43 miles southeast of Seattle, nestled along State Route 410 between Enumclaw and Buckley.
The location could be named for the Boise Ridge, a north-to-south forested ridge that sits on the western edge of the Cascade Mountain Range, around the same area as Boise, Washington.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 1:10 PM.
