Historical Guide

A Treasured Past

Pocatello is a unique city, not only in the name it shares with no other, but because of its Downtown Historic District. This district is architecturally and historically significant and is one of the region's most diverse and well-preserved urban streetscapes. Founded in 1882 and named for a chief of the Shoshoni-Bannock Indian tribe, Pocatello began as a collection of boxcars and construction workers' tents on the Indian reservation where 40 acres had been set aside for the railroad. A special act of Congress on September 1, 1888, created the original town site and a temporary business district was developed.

This Short 8 minute film covers the history of the Pourtneuf valley and the Cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck.
Created by The Greater Pocatello Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Pocatello owes its foundation and much of its continued development to the railroad industry. With the construction of the Utah, Northern route in 1878 and the Oregon Short Line in 1882, Pocatello's future as a north-south junction point became assured. The appellation of "The Gate City" was acquired because of Pocatello's early importance as a junction point and rail route through the mountains.

The Old Town Historic District encompasses all or part of eighteen city blocks and is composed primarily of two and one-story commercial buildings. The primary building material throughout the district is brick, although hand-hewn stone and terra cotta were also used. The predominant facade line on the top of many second floors is accentuated by sheet metal cornice. A variety of architectural styles is
represented in the district, including Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Sullivanesque, and Art Deco, as well as many adaptations of
early 20th century commercial styles with classical details rendered in
either sheet metal or terra cotta.


For more Pocatello history, see the online edition of Rocks, Rails & Trails.

Walking Tour

Abeautiful brochure is available at the Old Town Pocatello office for those who would like to take a walking tour through the west side of the Downtown Historic District.

Produced by the Historic Preservation Commission and the Pocatello Convention & Visitors Bureau, this brochure includes intriguing historic pictures of the featured buildings. A second brochure highlighting the east side of the district is also available at the Old Town Pocatello office.

Or, if you'd like, you can see the brochure in PDF format now (the file is over 1 MB in size so it may take too long for slow connections; to save the brochure on your computer, click here with the right-hand mouse button and select "Save Target As" from the menu).