Replica of Idaho’s 1st Territorial Capitol (hint: not in Boise) has just been relocated
It suffered a temporary decapitation in the process, but Lewiston’s popular replica of the original Idaho Territorial Capitol has a new home.
The rustic re-creation of Idaho’s first seat of government has attracted thousands of visitors to its Main Street location over the last seven years. But the move became a necessity after tour groups stopped visiting because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pressure also came from Nez Perce County’s plans to build a new courthouse. That project is likely several years away, but it may include city land at the intersection of Main and 12th streets that hosted the capitol since its dedication in 2013.
So last April, the First Territorial Capitol of Idaho Revitalization Project board that created the replica voted to cede its ownership to the Nez Perce County Historical Society for $1. The society used a $50,000 donation from member Marion Shinn to purchase land on the northwest corner of Capital and Fourth streets downtown next to its museum. A crew from McDermott Construction in Lewiston successfully completed the move Tuesday.
The site is less than 150 feet away from the Territorial Capitol’s original location on Third Street. But that land is occupied by Lewis-Clark Recyclers, so it couldn’t be placed there.
“It’s been a lot of years,” former board President Bill Miller said wistfully as a truck pulled away, fully revealing the building in its new environment. “The original concept was to get it as close to the original site as possible.”
Congress created the Idaho Territory in 1863 and designated Lewiston, at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, as its capital. But it wasn’t a capital for long. Gold had just been discovered in the Boise Basin, and Southwest Idaho was rapidly gaining opportunity-seeking settlers, including some moving from Lewiston. So the Territorial Legislature moved the capital to Boise in 1864.
Moving the replica took weeks of prep, but the McDermott crew was able to move the 20-by-30-foot structure in about four hours Tuesday. The original site was never meant to be a permanent home, so the building was erected atop a steel-beam framework so it could be easily moved when the time came. It was also never meant to be separated in two, but McDermott was able to avoid the expense of temporarily moving overhead utility lines by lopping off the roof and trucking the pieces separately.
“It was a shame that they had to cut it apart,” Miller said. “But it was the only way to get it down here. It was too tall.”
Dozens of onlookers gathered at the Main Street site to watch the move unfold. They included county elected officials, city of Lewiston staffers, historical society members and curious passers-by. Makinzie Akkerman of Perfection Traffic Control helped keep vehicles at bay during the process, and said the move was one of the more interesting wrinkles her job has thrown her way.
“You get to see new things all the time,” Akkerman said. “But this will be one of the cooler things I’ve been on.”
Crew members methodically attached cables to steel beams that had been bolted to the building’s roof section, then used a telescoping crane to gingerly coax it from the walls. The connection at the rear of the structure didn’t initially want to come free, but some quick work with a reciprocating saw separated the halves, and the roof rose skyward, seeming to defy gravity.
The crane operator expertly lowered the roof onto a waiting truck. Workers then attached the same rigging to the building’s lower steel superstructure, hoisted it into the air and plopped it on another flatbed. The pieces then paraded the half-mile to the new site, where the crew undertook a similar process, only in reverse.
The Capitol replica now sits next to the historical society’s Lewiston Clarkston Transit Co. No. 8 trolley installation. The historic Luna House is also nearby, and there has also been talk of moving the historic Miranda cabin to the site from its current location across from Lewiston City Hall.
Miller said that would add to a historic park that pays respect to different eras in Lewiston’s history. He would like it to also include a nod to the Nez Perce Tribe, possibly with the construction of a longhouse, and an installation on the city’s rich history with Chinese immigrants.
The historical society is continuing to raise funds to help cover the costs of the remaining site improvements, including landscaping, sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
The Idaho Statesman contributed.