Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Canyon County, Idaho
Canyon County is located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 231,105, making it the second-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat is Caldwell, Idaho, Caldwell, and its largest ...
.
The population was 59,996 at the time of the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
.
Caldwell is considered part of the
Boise metropolitan area
The Boise–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (commonly known as the Boise Metropolitan Area or the Treasure Valley) is an area that encompasses Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee counties in southwestern Idaho, anchored by the c ...
. Caldwell is the location of the
College of Idaho
The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni include eight Rhode ...
and
College of Western Idaho
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is a public community college in Southwest Idaho with its primary campus locations in Boise and Nampa. CWI also offers classes at several community locations throughout the Treasure Valley. It is one of four compr ...
.
History
The present-day location of Caldwell is located along a natural passageway to the Inland and
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
. Native American tribes from the west coast, north Idaho and as far away as Colorado would come to the banks of the
Boise River
The Boise River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 3, 2011 tributary of the Snake River in the Northwestern United States. It drains a rugged portion of the Sawtooth Range in sou ...
for annual trading fairs, or rendezvous. European, Brazilian, Armenian, and some Australian explorers and traders soon followed the paths left by Native Americans and hopeful emigrants later forged the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...
and followed the now hardened paths to seek a better life in the Oregon Territory. Pioneers of the Trail traveled along the Boise River to Canyon Hill and forded the river close to the
Silver Bridge
The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio.
On Dec ...
on Plymouth Street.
![Indian Creek Park, Fall 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Indian_Creek_Park%2C_Fall_2019.jpg)
During the Civil War, the discovery of gold in Idaho's mountains brought a variety of new settlers into the area. Many never made it to the mines but chose to settle along the Boise River and run ferries, stage stations, and freighting businesses. These early entrepreneurs created small ranches and farms in the river valleys. Caldwell's inception occurred largely as a result of the construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, which connected Wyoming to Oregon through Idaho. Robert E. Strahorn came to the Boise River Valley in 1883 to select a route for the railroad. He rejected the grade into Boise City as too steep and chose a site thirty miles to the west. He drove a stake into an alkali flat of sagebrush and greasewood and the City of Caldwell was platted. Caldwell was named after one of Strahorn's business partners, Alexander Caldwell, a former Senator from the State of Kansas.
When Caldwell was platted in August 1883, its founder, the Idaho and Oregon Land Improvement Company, started persuading settlers and businessmen to move to the area. Within four months, Caldwell had 600 residents living in 150 dwellings, 40 businesses in operation, a school, a telephone exchange and two newspapers. On January 15, 1890, the Board of Commissioners of Ada County issued a handwritten order incorporating the City of Caldwell. The College of Idaho was founded in Caldwell in 1891 and still is in existence today. In 1892, Canyon County was established from a portion of Ada County. Caldwell was named the county seat. Irrigation canals and waterways were constructed throughout Canyon County. These facilities provided the foundation for an agricultural based economy in Caldwell. The Oregon Short Line Railroad became part of the larger Union Pacific Railroad network and in 1906 the Caldwell freight and passenger depot was constructed. Caldwell experienced moderate growth as an agricultural processing, commercial retail and educational center during the twentieth century.
In 2009, the City of Caldwell completed a revitalization project to restore
Indian Creek, which runs through downtown Caldwell, but had been used for sewage disposal by local industries, and had been covered over. The restored creek includes suspended bridges, walkways and picnic tables.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Climate
Caldwell experiences a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BSk'') with short, cold winters and hot, dry summers.
Demographics
2010 census
At the 2010
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
,
there were 46,237 people, 14,895 households and 10,776 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 16,323 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 77.5%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.6%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.2%
Native American, 0.9%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 16.1% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 3.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 35.4% of the population.
There were 14,895 households, of which 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.7% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.51.
The median age in the city was 28.2 years. 33.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.4% were from 25 to 44; 18.2% were from 45 to 64; and 8.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.
The
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...
was $37,336. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
was $15,731. About 20.2% of the population was below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
.
Arts and culture
![Indian Creek, Caldwell, ID](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Indian_Creek%2C_Caldwell%2C_ID.jpg)
Caldwell has held an annual Indian Creek Festival every September since 2003. The event includes a fun run and a tug of war. Indian Creek Plaza, located in downtown Caldwell, includes an ice ribbon each winter, as well as many events throughout the year.
Parks and recreation
![Caldwell, Idaho public pool](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Caldwell%2C_Idaho_public_pool.jpg)
Caldwell has 12 city parks, two golf courses (Purple Sage and Fairview), a city pool, and two
skatepark
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...
s.
Education
Caldwell has five secondary schools—including
Caldwell High School and
Vallivue High School—and six elementary schools.
The
College of Idaho
The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni include eight Rhode ...
is located in Caldwell and is one of the oldest four-year institutions in the state.
Infrastructure
Caldwell Industrial Airport is located southeast of downtown.
Caldwell has a high-quality water system, which remained untreated and met all federal guidelines until the 1990s when the Federal Government mandated chlorination.
Notable people
*
Joseph Albertson, founder of
Albertson's
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
grocery store chain
*
Troy Beyer
Troy Byer (born November 7, 1964) is an American psychologist, author, director, screenwriter, and actress.
Early life and education
Born in New York City to an African-American mother and white father, Byer spent the first part of her caree ...
, actress; attended high school in Caldwell
*
Ronee Blakley
Ronee Sue Blakley (born August 24, 1945) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, composer, producer and director.
She is perhaps best known for her role as the fictional country superstar Barbara Jean in Robert Altman's 1975 film ''Nashville ...
, actress and singer
*
George Blankley, former BSU head basketball coach
*
Daniel Carter, LDS composer
*
Thomas C. Coffin, congressman
*
Dame Darcy
Darcy Megan Stanger (born June 19, 1971, Caldwell, Idaho), better known by the pen name Dame Darcy, is an alternative comics, alternative cartoonist, fine artist, musician, cabaret performer, and animator/filmmaker. Her "Neo-Victorian" comic boo ...
, cartoonist and performer
*
Shirley Englehorn
Shirley Ruth Englehorn (December 12, 1940 – October 2, 2022) was an American professional golfer. Nicknamed "Dimples", she won 11 tournaments during her LPGA Tour career, including one major, the 1970 LPGA Championship.
Early life and amateu ...
, LPGA golfer
*
A. J. Feeley, NFL quarterback
*
Mike Garman
Michael Douglas Garman (born September 16, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. A relief pitcher, he played for five different teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1969 and 1978. He was a first-round draft selection of ...
, Major League Baseball pitcher
*
Lawrence H. Gipson
Lawrence Henry Gipson (December 7, 1880 – September 26, 1971) was an American historian, who won the 1950 Bancroft Prize and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for History for volumes of his magnum opus, the fifteen-volume history of "The British Empire Be ...
, Pulitzer Prize winner
*
Ron Hadley
Ronald Arthur Hadley (born November 9, 1963) is a former professional football player, a linebacker with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers in 1987 and 1988, when the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII.
Hadley attended the University of Washington from 19 ...
, NFL linebacker
*
Maria Dahvana Headley
Maria Dahvana Headley (born June 21, 1977) is an American novelist, memoirist, editor, translator, poet, and playwright. She is a ''New York Times''-bestselling author as well as editor.
Her work includes ''Magonia'', a young-adult space-fant ...
, writer
*
Sarah Hokom
Sarah Hokom is an American professional disc golfer. She is a former World Champion and 2-time US Women’s Champion. Hokom is known best for her sidearm drives.
Hokom became a touring professional in 2009, and was sponsored by Discraft. She won ...
, professional disc golfer and 2012
PDGA World Champion
*
Wayne Hooper
Wayne Hillard Hooper (July 4, 1920 – February 27, 2007) was widely known as a gospel music composer, arranger and as a singer in the King's Heralds quartet for the Voice of Prophecy radio program.
During his prolific career he produced nine v ...
, gospel music composer and singer
*
Gary Hubler
Gary Hubler (June 14, 1955 – September 14, 2007) was a crop duster and commercial transport pilot with over 17,000 flight hours from Caldwell, Idaho. He was most notable for being Champion of the Formula 1 class of the Reno Air Races
The Re ...
, champion of the Formula 1 class of the Reno Air Races
*
David Kamo, motorcycle racer
*
James Knight, former University of Washington football coach
*
Mark Lindsay
Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders.
Early life
Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon, and was the second of eight children of George and Esther Ellis Lindsay. The ...
, musician
*
Edward Lodge, U.S. District Court judge
*
Larry Lujack
Larry Lujack (born Larry Lee Blankenburg; June 6, 1940 – December 18, 2013), also called Superjock, Lawrence of Chicago, Uncle Lar, and King of the Corn Belt, was a Top 40 music radio disc jockey who was well known for his world-weary sarcastic ...
, disc jockey
*
Dean McAdams
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
, NFL player
*
Ray McDonald
Raymondo Antoine McDonald (born September 2, 1984) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida, where he was a member o ...
, NFL running back, graduated from Caldwell High School
*
Jim McMillan, gridiron football player
*
John T. Morrison
John Tracy Morrison (December 25, 1860 – December 20, 1915) was the List of Governors of Idaho, sixth governor of Idaho from 1903 until 1905.
Biography
Morrison was born in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. He was married to Grace Darling Mackey ...
, original faculty member of the College of Idaho; former Idaho governor
*
Butch Otter
Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (born May 3, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2006, and reelected in 2010, and 2014. Otter ...
, governor of Idaho and former congressman
*
Cody Pickett, NFL quarterback
*
Jay Pickett, actor
*
Frank Reberger
Frank Beall Reberger (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants from 1968 to 1972.
Early life and amateur ...
, Major League Baseball player and coach
*
Paul Revere
Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...
, musician
*
Jim Rohn
Emanuel James Rohn (September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009), professionally known as Jim Rohn, was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.
Early life
Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was born in Yakima, Washington, to Emmanuel ...
, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker
*
Frank Steunenberg
Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861December 30, 1905) was the fourth governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He was assassinated in 1905 by one-time union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple C ...
, governor of Idaho
*
Gary Stevens, jockey, won
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
three times
*
Steve Symms
Steven Douglas Symms (born April 23, 1938) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a four-term congressman (1973–81) and two-term U.S. Senator (1981–93), representing Idaho. He is a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a ...
, former U.S. senator and congressman
*
Renee Tenison
Reneé Tenison (born December 2, 1968) is an American model, actress, and the first African-American selected to be the '' Playboy'' Playmate of the Year (1990).
Personal life and career
Tenison was born in Caldwell, Idaho. She has three old ...
, 1990
Playboy Playmate
A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...
of the Year
*
Rosie Tenison
Rosie Tenison (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and model.
Personal life and modeling career
Tenison was born in Caldwell, Idaho. She has three older brothers and an identical twin sister, Renee, who also works as a model. Ros ...
, actress and model
*
Randy Trautman, Canadian football defensive lineman
*
Gys van Beek, Dutch-American inventor and member of the Dutch resistance during World War II
[ Gys van Beek]
See also
*
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...
, an early 20th-century dog from the Caldwell area
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Caldwell Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control
Cities in Idaho
Cities in Canyon County, Idaho
County seats in Idaho
Boise metropolitan area