Payette Idaho City Information

Local History

Payette is located in and is part of the Snake River basin plain that covers most of the south end of the State of Idaho. Payette is at 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 Payette making commercial agricultural possible. These waterways provide the irrigation water used by farmers across most of the south end of the state. Payette's 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 Payette and Payette City itself, 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 Payette, 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, it did not become a permanent settlement until the 1880's when the Oregon Short Line Railroad came into the area.

In 1883 railroad survey teams were in the area and "graders," excavation workers, used the Payette location 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 got its first train depot. From this point there was little growth until about 1890 when Idaho because a state. That same year commercial buildings began to go up in Payette creating the town. It included sawmills, school houses, shops, banks etc. Logs would be harvested up the Payette River then floated down to Payette where they would be milled into dimensional lumber. About this same time irrigation projects went in with the first fruit crops being shipped out in 1891, the same year Payette City was incorporated. The population at that time was about 396.

Because of Payette's location near the convergence of five rivers, the intersection of the railroad and the early development of first mining and then timber it had an early and rapid start. Soon after however, the mines played out, all the timber was cut and transportation shifted from railroad to highway based commerce. Payette was known for many years for its orchards, but this too has become a declining industry with the advent of third world competition. There are still working orchards in the area but it is considered a marginal business at this time.

Today Payette is considered a full service community except for higher education, which can be found within 50 miles in Boise to the south. It has a K-12 school system, small hospital and most other services available. In recent years it has become, to a lesser extent, a bedroom location for the larger Boise market. It s distance puts it on the edge of what commuters are willing to drive to go to work. Payette 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 Payette 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 Payette but very little commercial development with a net revenue shortage on the Idaho side.

Payette is part of the greater Boise economic region of Southwest Idaho, referred to as the "Treasure Valley." Boise is the economic and political hub of this region being the capital of the state, the largest city in the state and the primary location for non- agriculturally based jobs in the region. Recent growth has come mainly through the introduction of clean industries, such as Hewlett Packard and Micron Technologies, in the last 20 years. Payette 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 Payette, 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 Payette Idaho real estate.

Still unsure about where you want to move? Keep reading about Payette 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.