History of Star (part 1)

The community of Star was one of the earliest in the Boise Valley.  The Pioneer ditch was started in 1863 by M.B. Palmer and later extended to the Middleton Mill.  Due to this irrigation ditch and its supply of water, the country between Star and Middleton was one of the first areas settled in the Boise Valley.

One of the first settlers was B. F. Swalley who in 1864 drove his ox team and wagon onto 300 acres of land along the Boise River, a mile east of the present town.  Others followed, homesteading the good farm land along the Boise River.  The surrounding farms often catered to the needs of early travelers and miners, providing them with food and lodging in Star on their way to and from Boise and the mines in the Boise Basin.

The first location of the village of Star was one mile to the east of present Star, about half way between the present town of Star and the Star-Emmett junction. The first schoolhouse, part of District 20, was built there in the 1870's on land donated by B.F. Swalley.  When settlers finished building the schoolhouse, they couldn't decide on a name for the building.  One of the men sawed out a star and nailed it to the front door, pounding nails all around the edge of the star.  This became an important landmark for miles around, and was a guide for travelers and miners.  When they came to the schoolhouse with the star on the door, they could travel west one mile and find board and lodging for the night.  So in time, the town became known as Star.  (Ada County Historic Preservation Council)

Winter in Star

Sometimes the temperature dips into the teens. (Like once or twice.)

Sometimes we get snow.  (An inch on a big day.)

Usually the snow is gone by lunchtime.  (or earlier)

Most of the time there is sunshine.  (No cloudy skies here.)

We do get fog on occasion.

Did I mention the Sun?

Can I just say that we picked a good year to move to Idaho!

Views of Star

I sent Ethan out one day on his bicycle to take some photos of our little town.

This is the town hall.  Ethan took only a close up shot of the building.  We haven't actually been inside, yet.  This building sits near the fire station & the food bank.  Yep, we actually have one. Local scouts have come by several times to collect food. The food bank is actually housed in a little house.

As you can tell from the sign, this is our local post office.  It is actually bigger than the little post office down the street from us in Ohio.  The parking lot was recently paved.  That was exciting.  Simply because, as the post mistress shared with me, some people got mad that the post office was closed.  Can't make everybody happy.

This is the one "fancy" restaurant in town.  Yep, we haven't been there, either.  I have no idea if the food is any good; no one we know has been there, either.  They do broadcast the Boise Broncos games.  We usually only watch the Scarlet & Gray.  

Our neighbor across the street works for the Star Fire Department.  One day, he and another fireman stopped by his house for lunch.  The boys are actually friends with his son & have been able to visit the firehouse a couple of times.  Nice folks.  They have snowmobiles.  I think we should become better friends!!

This is the little club house for our neighborhood.  I had no idea our neighborhood as one of these until I was invited to the Relief Society Progressive Dinner (next week).  I guess it will end here.  Sadly, there's no pool, hot tub, work out equipment, etc.  It is across the street from Lucas' school & does provide some convenient parking when you don't want to get stuck in the student pick up line!

This is the sign for little park in our neighborhood.  It's a nice little park, but you won't get to see that since Ethan only photographed the sign.  We have a couple of pieces of nice play equipment.  There are a couple of soccer fields.  There is one gazebo, that Sage & I like to stop at & have picnics when we have finished volunteering at Lucas' school.  There are a couple of benches.  And a great sign.

Ok everyone.  As me questions about what you see so that I know what else to blog about.  Stay tuned for Toon Time!

5 Random Thoughts

The City of Star is having a writing contest that ends in February.  The subject is "Living in Star."  I'm thinking about entering.

Ivan and I have been preparing for our first Thanksgiving away from home.  We have invited a family who has been good about making us feel welcome here.

Sage is drawing for Santa.  It is a dinosaur with a santa hat.  But she said she is too shy to give it to him.

Pictured to the right is the craft I made at our ward's Souper Saturday craft event.  Not sure why the photo is backwards, but you can get the general idea of it.  It was fun & easy to make!!!

Fall 2010 in Idaho is really cold!  -30 degrees F in the mountains tonight!  Glad I live in the valley!

Star Factoid:

  

   Here is our fair city and it's limits.  Can you find the street we live on?

This is our library.  It is in a strip mall.

To the right of the library you will find our only other fast food chain restaurant.  It is Pizza Hut!

We found out the hard way, that they close at 10 p.m. on the weekends.  Welcome to small town life!

Saturdays in Star

Here's is a photo of the one traffic light that we have in Star.  This is the intersection of Star Road & State Street.  


A right turn will take you the slightly larger Middleton, Id.  They may have more traffic lights than we do, but we have our own police department & they don't.


If you go straight you will end up in Meridian.  (They have lots of traffic lights.  A LOT!)


A left turn will get you right to the heart of our fair city.  From the official Star City website: 


Welcome to Star, Idaho. We are a small town located about 20 miles west of Boise. Our community offers a pleasant atmosphere and we are close to many of the recreational opportunities that Idaho has to offer. Star offers a lifestyle that is still within reach, a four seasons climate and a very low crime rate. Because of this, many have found Star to be the community of choice to raise their children. It isn’t uncommon in Star to see local children walking down to the river with their fishing poles in hand.


It's true!  I've seen Opie Taylor.  Actually, the kids and I have gone fishing in that very river, the Boise River.  It's a short bike ride, south on Star Rd., just down the street from our church building.  


In the photo, you can see one of the two chain fast food joints in town.  And yes, they sell the $5 footlong!  Can you guess what the other fast food joint is?  A prize to the winner!


The building that you just barely see on the left houses a message parlor (do they still call them that?) and two hair salons (one on each end with the masseurs in the middle.  


Idaho is quite tough on speeders (since the crime rate is so low).  Most towns boast a speed limit of 20 mph unless otherwise posted.  And most traffic lights also have cameras.  Say cheese!  Luckily I don't have one of those souvenirs!!!

Star (one 'r')

Star, Idaho.  Population 1795.  (1800 if you count us!)  

One traffic light.  One gas station.  One Mercantile. 

 One Elementary School.

We do have our own police department, fire dept., town hall, & BMV.

This isn't really what our fair city looks like.  I will have to go on a photo expedition.  

Stay tuned for more info!