Saturday, June 22, 2013

Boise Idaho Real Photo Postcards

Just going through some of the continual piles of stuff that seem to accumulate immediately following the last clean up. Here are three RPPC's from Boise, Idaho. They are not postmarked and are early divided back era 1907-1914. They do not have white borders as what you see is a part of the blog formatting. Click on each one to enlarge for viewing.
A reader (Jackie) has identified this as the Collister mansion. See comment section below.
A winter scene of a Boise street. Perhaps looking down a portion of Warm Springs? I have not searched extensively online or through my Boise books, specifically some of Arthur Hart's, but I guessing I will find it eventually if one of you don't come to my rescue first. 

h
Ancestry.com

The photo above appears to be a rather large home in a winter scene with snow on the ground. I have not been able to specifically identify the home but looks to be quite the place so I hope it has survived.

Update 9/13/14: Thanks to Jackie, we now know this is the Collister house in Boise, ID. There doesn't  seem to be many pictures around but I found a couple others on Ancestry.com. Jackie says the house no longer exists as was razed in the 1960's. I will have to do more research on Dr. George and Mary Collister.

 And here is a bit more info on Dr. Collister from our neighbor Revue Guru (AKA Evan Filby) over at South Fork Companion.
This is an enlarged detail from the post card. I have leveled it out as the original (or the photographer!) was leaning a bit as can be seen above.

And a couple courthouse photos below.

 
We can see that the postcard immediately above is of the original Boise courthouse (no longer there) where the Haywood trial took place. 

This one was sold as a souvenir of the trial with the inset of the courtroom. You have seen them before as I have quite a few of the souvenir version. All the above cards (except the one from Ancestry) are from my private JTR Collection.

6 comments:

Jackie Beverage said...

I sent you an email regarding the Winter Scene Mansion. It is the Collister Mansion belonging to George and Mary Collister. It was built at the corner of Sycamore and Taft Streets off of State Street in Boise, Idaho. There is more information (not many photos though) if you google Dr. Collister. It became the first Idaho Elks Hospital following their deaths and was razed in the 1960's unfortunately. My "aunt" Patricia Scovell Byers was her granddaughter.

John T. Richards said...

Jackie:
Thanks for your comment. I would love to have a photograph of the house or after it became the first Elks Hospital if you run across one. Too bad it was razed in the 1960's. Probably the unfortunate consequence of too much urban renewal. John

Jackie Beverage said...

John, we had quite the discussion on a Facebook Group with the original photo (we asked permission in an email, but never heard back from you, so it was "borrowed") I knew it looked familiar but I couldn't quite place it and I found the small photo on the Elk's Hospital as their beginnings, but then that page shut down. (shoulder shrug). Within the group, a bunch of us worked diligently across the internet searching and researching Dr. and Mary Collister. I knew they had been related to Aunt Pat, but I couldn't put it together as her maiden name was Scovell. It finally all clicked and another member of the group found the same photos on Ancestry.com that you found and it was a match! The post card is actually the back side of the mansion and probably shortly after it was built. The photos on Ancestry.com are during the building phase. I was actually at the mansion when I was very young and then saw it a couple more times when I was a teen and then it was gone. :( We lost way too many of these beautiful structures during the 60's-70's and it is a shame.

John T. Richards said...

Thanks Jackie. I appreciate your attempt to ask permission. I may have missed the email or it could be buried in a batch I never got to yet. No problem borrowing as I am elated when someone makes a new discovery and identifies a photo and/or has new information to share. It is why I put it out there for all to see. Yes, I am saddened by all the historic buildings we lost in the 60's and 70's and sorry this one won't be there to go see during my next Caldwell/Boise visit. However, I am glad to know you remembered the house, did some research and actually visited as a child.

Let me know if you run across other information and I will do the same. Regards, John

Unknown said...

John the group Jackie is talking about in my group.
Boise & The Treasure Valley History.
I found your photo and posted it. Mystery solved.
If you would like to join the group,your more than welcome too. It was a week before we figured out what mansion it was. Jackie and a few more were a big help.

Unknown said...

So glad I posted this. Our group did help you. You should Join my Group John. Boise & The Treasure Valley History. We talk about Boise and all of Idaho. Awesome group. Glad to help you solve your mystery mansion.