Horseshoe Bend is the largest city in rural

Boise County Boise County is a rural mountain county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,610. The county seat is historic Idaho City, which is connected through a series of paved and unpaved roads to Lowm ...

, in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Its population of 707 at the 2010 census was the largest in the county, though down from 770 in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. It is part of the Boise City– Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is named for its location at the

horseshoe-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical ...

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the U, letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as ...

of the

Payette River The Payette River () is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 3, 2011 river in southwestern Idaho and a major tributary of the Snake River. Its headwaters originate in ...

, whose flow direction changes from south to north before heading west to the Black Canyon Reservoir.

History

The area was originally settled as a gold miners' staging area, as prospectors waited along the river for snows to thaw at the higher elevations.

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

had been discovered in 1862 in the Boise Basin mountains to the east, near Idaho City. The settlement became known as Warrinersville, after a local

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

operator. The name was changed to Horseshoe Bend in 1867, and after the gold rush quieted, the city became a prosperous ranching and logging community. The

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, from

Emmett Emmett may refer to: Places ;In the United States * Emmett, Idaho * Emmett, Kansas * Emmett, Michigan, a village in St. Clair County * Emmett Charter Township, Michigan in Calhoun County * Emmett Township, St. Clair County, Michigan * Emmett, Misso ...

up to Long Valley following the

(its North Fork above Banks), was completed in 1913. In 1998 the city's primary employer,

Boise Cascade Boise Cascade Company is an American manufacturer of wood products and wholesale distributor of building materials, headquartered in Boise, Idaho. with sales over $7.9 billion in 2021, it is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under th ...

, closed its

on September 30. Horseshoe Bend has attempted to become the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, replacing historic Idaho City.

Highways

- SH-52 - to

and Payette (west) * ID-55

- SH-55 to

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

(south) and McCall (north) Horseshoe Bend sits along State Highway 55, the primary north–south route out of

, to the south and accessed over the Spring Valley summit, a.k.a. "Horseshoe Bend Hill." Highway 55 was designated the "

Scenic Byway" in 1977.payetteriverscenicbyway.com
- about - accessed 2011-12-10 The new multi-lane grade was completed in fall 1991; the old curvier road is to the west, long plagued by landslides and closures.

Recreation

Within an hour's drive north of Horseshoe Bend are the outdoor recreational areas of the

basin, including

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

, Tamarack Resort, and McCall. Horseshoe Bend's current culture is a blend of ranching and a growing bedroom community for Boise. Its annual events include a

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

festival in late May, the national senior pro

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

in June, and a fall festival in October. A scenic railroad, th
Thunder Mountain Line
was based in the city, but it closed operation in 2016.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Horseshoe Bend has either a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(''Csa'') or a dry-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dsa'') depending on isotherm used.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 707 people, 284 households, and 195 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 330 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 4.0% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.2% of the population. There were 284 households, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.3% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 40 years. 24.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 29.1% were from 45 to 64; and 15.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 770 people, 261 households, and 192 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 290 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.34%

, 0.78% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 4.29% from other races, and 2.47% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 8.96% of the population. There were 261 households, out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were

living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.6% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,125, and the median income for a family was $35,882. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $24,063 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $12,486. About 11.2% of families and 19.5% of the population were 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 ...

, including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.