Fruitland Idaho City Information

Local History

Fruitland is located in and is part of the Snake River basin plain that covers most of the south end of the State of Idaho. Fruitland is in the mouth of a tributary valley, referred to as the lower Payette River Valley that flows into and becomes part of the larger Treasure Valley where Boise, Nampa and Caldwell are located. The Treasure Valley got its name because of its economic prosperity. The Treasure Valley system runs from Vale, Oregon on the west, to Boise, Idaho on the east. It was formerly known as the "Lower Snake River Valley or Boise River Valley" until 1959 when the name was changed.

The lower Payette River valley parallels the Treasure Valley about straight north of Boise then joins into it near the Snake River and Idaho/Oregon border. Near the middle of the valley and the Idaho/Oregon border, five rivers, the Boise, the Payette, the Weiser, the Malheur and the Owyhee drain into the larger Snake River. This is considered a high desert area with most of the moisture occurring and collecting in the surrounding mountains and then being transferred into the valley by creeks, streams and rivers. There are diversion canals and dams that come off the Payette River which feed irrigation canals in and around Fruitland making commercial agricultural possible. Similar waterways provide the irrigation water used by farmers across most of the south end of the state.

Fruitland's general location sprang to life in the earliest years of Idaho. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Treasure Valley following the Boise River, just south of the Payette River, west. In 1811, the Astorian Expedition under Wilson Price Hunt came through on the same route and explored parts of what was later to become the Oregon Trail route. Shortly after this a fort was established for fur traders on the west end of the valley between where the Boise and Payette Rivers flow into the Snake River. It was named Fort Boise.

The Payette River, which flows by Fruitland, was named after Francois Payette, a fur trader that came into the area about 1818 and was later put in charge of Fort Boise from about 1835 to 1844. In 1834, Fort Boise was taken over and upgraded by the Hudson Bay fur trading company. Though fur traders passed through the area following the river, as most trade routes followed the rivers in the early days and in the 1860's became a stopping point for miners heading into the mountain up the Payette River, the area did not attract permanent settlers until the 1880's when the Oregon Short Line Railroad came through this location.

In 1883 railroad survey teams were in the area and "graders," excavation workers, used the location north of the Payette River as a railroad staging area. By 1884 the basic line was in up to Huntington Oregon, a railroad bridge built over the Snake River and by 1885, Payette, the county seat of Payette County which is just a few miles north of Fruitland, got its first train depot. The first reported orchard was put in about the same time a railroad siding was available in the area in 1884. B.F. Tussing established an apple orchard about ¼ miles south of Fruitland. By 1890 apples were being shipped east. Tussing was later responsible for naming the communities streets after US States and eventually the community itself as Fruitland.

In 1897 the original town site was homesteaded by John Hall for orchard ground, in 1907 half the ground was sold off to Zeller and remained in orchards primarily. The spot was called Zellers crossing for a short time. In 1908, a temporary school house was built and in 1909 a permanent, 2 story brick, school was completed. In the 1930's the Fruitland location was referred to as "Hooverville" due to the many homeless migrants camping out there looking for work in the orchards. This was a slight on President Hoover because he had promised employment and delivered the great depression instead. In 1948 Fruitland was incorporated.

Just north of Fruitland was the intersection of two State Highways, Hwy 95 the primary north/south road and Hwy 30 the primary east/west road before the Interstate Freeway system was put in. It was called Gay Way Junction. It appears that the name came from a famous dance and music hall that was built at the intersection. This later became a bowling alley and finally was torn down to make a small strip mall. This was the busiest intersection in the state for a few years and brought commercial service businesses to the location. Hwy 95 still serves as the primary north/south highway but with Hwy 30 being replaced with the I-84 Freeway that services east/west traffic through the region. In 1950, Gay Way Junction was annexed into Fruitland.

Fruitland has primarily been an orchard based community until recently. Today Fruitland is tearing out the orchards in order to build, primarily, upgrade residential properties that are supporting larger markets in the Boise area to the east and in Ontario, Oregon to the west.

Fruitland is considered a full service community except for higher education, which can be found within 50 miles in Boise to the southeast. It has a K-12 school system, medical offices and most other services available. Fruitland's commuting distance puts it on the edge of what commuters are willing to drive to go to work. Fruitland is just across the Snake River from Ontario, Oregon. Ontario is larger in population, has a full hospital, higher education facilities, has a regional prison and most importantly has no sales tax. This brings Fruitland's residents across the river to shop to avoid paying Idaho's sales tax. Oregon has higher property taxes, Idaho lower property taxes but with a sales tax. The trend has been to live in Idaho to capture the lower county taxes and then to shop in Ontario to avoid the sales tax. The result has been for positive residential development in Fruitland with a high percentage of upgrade residential properties per capita for the county with the big franchise stores being built just across the river to service both counties.

Fruitland is part of the greater Boise economic region of Southwest Idaho. Fruitland is on the edge of the Boise Metro area that now has the greatest concentration of people between Salt Lake City Utah and Portland Oregon at about 588,000. Boise and the surrounding areas have also become a hub for transportation and storage, higher education, communication call centers, medical services and most other major demographic factors that allow clean and sustained growth.

Whatever your reasons for coming to Fruitland, it can be considered a good choice and one of the positive puzzle pieces that make up the "Treasure Valley" whose real treasure has always been its people. Trust the experts at Stewart Realty, LLC to help you find your own piece of Fruitland Idaho real estate.

Still unsure about where you want to move? Keep reading about Fruitland Idaho or check out other city pages to find the area of the Treasure Valley that best fits your needs. This site also has up to date information from the Boise MLS on available homes in the area so you can find the perfect home.