It started – as more than a few archeological digs have started – by accident.
In the summer of 2024, the historic Assay Office (built in 1871) in downtown Boise was undergoing a $1.5 million renovation. And when a utility crew began digging a trench to lay in new fiber optic cable, they found something. What the “something” truly was, they had no idea.
But before they began digging, the crew was given strict instruction that if they were to uncover “something” … they were to notify officials at the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office. Which, quite appropriately, is headquartered inside the Assay Office.
“Our archaeologists immediately went to work, recovering what was inside that trench,” said Dan Everhart, SHPO’s Outreach Historian and Interim Administrator. “So, we knew there was a site here, and that we wanted to do further investigation.”…