Payette.
Location - Payette, seat of Payette Connty, is situated on the Payette River in the northwestern corner of the county, very near the Oregon-Idaho Line.
History - The town of Payette, first named Boomerang and later Payette for Francis Payette, a French trader who was placed in charge of Old Fort Boise, had its beginning in 1883. At that time 250,000 ties to be used in the building of the main line of the UP RR (Union Pacific Railroad) were brought down the Payette River and taken on shore at the present site of Payette. Workers made their headquarters at Boomerang. A store in which mail was handled was opened the next year. When the railroad was completed, the townsite was laid out. As the surrounding country became settled - the greatest influx of settlers came from the Middle West between 1902 and 1905, established small farms, constructed irrigation canals, and planted orchards - Payette became its trading and shipping center. In 1891
Payette made its first carload shipment of prunes; in 1903 the Idaho Canning Co. began operation. Payette was incoporated as a village in 1901, and it was made the seat of Payette County in 1917 when the county was created.
Physical Aspect – Payette has 2,618 persons, or about one third of the population of the county. It is situated near the junction of the Payette and Snake Rivers in a level open country at an elevation of 2,159 feet and is especially adapted to the growing of fruits.
Climate – Situated in one the warm sections of Idaho, Payette has a mild climate with little snow during the winter months, warm springs, hot summers, and lovely falls. It has an annual average precipitation of 10.87 inches, and an average growing reason of 140 days.
Transportation - Payette is situated on the main line of the UP RR and is the terminus of the Emmett-Payette branch line. U S 30 passes through the town, and county and State roads extend to Fruitland. Boise, French, and other points. Bus service includes the Salt I,ake City-Portland route of the Union Pacific Stages, and that of the Mt. Hood Stages from Boise to Weiser.
Industries - Payette is the center of a fruit-growing, farming, dairying, poultry-raising, and honey-producing section. In Payette are the Idaho Canning Co., which cans about 100,000 cans of peas and corn annually, as well as some fruits, and has a branch corn-canning plant at Wilder; six fruit-packing plants, and two dehydrators; one of the largest cold storage and ice plants in the State; a vinegar and cider factory; a box and crate factory; two apple evaporators; ice-storage plants; a farmers' co-operative creamery; a grain and feed mill; an alfalfa-meal manufacturing plant; an egg-producers' co-operative. Payette feeds beef cattle extensively at the stockyard, on the river, just outside of the town.
General - The town is made attractive by its sixty or more varieties of trees, which include oak, tulip walnut, Norway maple, purple flowering locust, white oak. and ball locust. In west Payette are the Botanical Gardens of D. H. Snowberger in which are 132 native plants named. 100 native plants unnamed, and 1,500 wild and cultivated varieties. He specializes in native plants and seeds, and receives orders for his plants from European countries as well as from various cities in the United States. Anton Diederichsen specializes in shade trees; he introduced the ball locust from Germany into this country and developed a pink flowering locust and a purple flowering locust which bloom each month. Each year during apple-blossom time, Payette holds an Apple-blossom Festival.
Psyette has one newspaper, the Independent Enterprise; a high school, two elementary schools, and a private kindergarten; fourteen churches; two hotels; two theaters; and Payette City Park which is a block square with fine large trees and a bandstand.
Points of Interest - Bird sanctuary on Birding Island and islands in the Snake River; Beacon Hill, 6 miles northeast of the town; Clay Peak, one and a half miles southeast of the town on Willow Creek; interstate bridge across the Snake River into Oregon; Oregon Trail Memorial Plaque at end of North Main Street.
