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Ada County
ESTABLISHED December 22, 1864COUNTY SEAT Boise
Ada County is named for Ada Riggs1, daughter of H. C. Riggs, a member of the legislature which established the county. Fur trappers were the first white men in the area, in 1811. The U.S. Army's Fort Boise was established in 1863, and the city of Boise was established the same year. Boise became the territorial capital in December, 1864. During the mining boom in Boise Basin, Boise City was the distributing center for miners' supplies. As irrigation expanded, Ada County became an agricultural center. It is the most populous county in the state: is the site of Boise State University; has the largest civilian airport; is headquarters for several multi-billion dollar businesses; has numerous small industries; and is a center for state and federal governmental agencies. -- "The Idaho Almanac," 1977 Edition, State of Idaho." map
In 1863, the Fort Boise military post was established to protect the local mining industry and emigrants from Indian attacks. U.S. Army Major Pinckney Lugenbeel chose the site on July 4 of that year at the intersection of the Oregon Trail and the road to the mines in the Boise Basin. . . continued.
"he Capitol Boulevard Memorial Bridge, also known as the Oregon Trail Memorial Bridge, is a historic bridge over the Boise River in Boise, Idaho, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. . ." - wikipedia 1 bio of H. C. Riggs in "History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains Vol. 2" by James H. Hawley 1920:
"In 1864 he (H. C. Riggs) was elected a member of the house of representatives from Boise county and introduced the two famous bills of that session. The first was a bill changing the capital of the state from Lewiston to Boise and the second was a bill creating a new county in the vicinity of Boise, with that city as its seat of government. After a hard fight both bills were passed and in appreciation of the great work he had done it was unanimously decided to call the new county Riggs. Not caring to be thus honored himself, Mr. Riggs suggested to his colleague to name the county Ada for his little daughter. At the time of the marriage of this daughter, in commenting thereon one of the local papers said in regard to the organization of Ada county: "Hon. H. C. Riggs and a Mr. Parkinson were but two of Boise county's numerous delegation in that session. Mr. Parkinson, of Boise, and the writer of this sketch, who then represented the great county of Shoshone, occupied the same table in the hall, when the question of naming the new county came up. Several names were proposed, those of Grant, Lincoln, Douglas being among the number. Some good natured sparring ensued, during which Mr. Parkinson whispered to his deskmate that Ada was a pretty name, and that as it was the name of his colleague's little daughter, he, Mr. Parkinson, would esteem it a personal favor if his friend from Shoshone would offer Ada as the name of the new county. This was done and the motion carried promptly and unanimously." Ada (1856-1909) married John Riggs Coons and died in San Francisco in 1909 findagrave. Updated October 2025 I am Sharon McConnel, your temporary county coordinator. If you have anything to share, please do so. If you have questions, I will try to help. I do not live in Ada County, but I have in the past and I have ancestors buried in Pioneer Cemetery and in Morris Hill Cemetery. This site is available for adoption. I am a neighbor helping out in the interim because I had files to share and history does not stop at the county line. Keeping Free Genealogy on the Internet since 1996 Copyright © 2009 - Ada ID GenWeb. All Rights Reserved.Cities and towns -
Eagle
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Oregon Trail Markers in Boise
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