Liam Guthrie, Regional History Librarian On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress voted to overwhelmingly to enter into The Great War in Europe following an impassioned plea by President Woodrow Wilson. As reported on April 4th in the local Wood River Times, Wilson stated, “…the United States must enter the war to make the world safe for democracy, as only one of the champions of the rights of mankind, and will be satisfied when those rights are as secure as the faith and freedom of … [Read more...] about Ketchum Goes to War
Ketchum
Ketchum’s Industrial Past: The Philadelphia Smelter
The Wood River Valley is best known today for its outdoor recreation and scenic beauty, but in the late 1800s, its mountains buzzed with industry. A newly acquired painting at the Wood River Museum of History and Culture offers a rare visual record of that era: a detailed 19th-century depiction of the Philadelphia Smelter, once located at the mouth of Warm Springs Canyon in Ketchum. The painting likely dates to the 1880s and illustrates a moment of booming silver industry in the Wood River … [Read more...] about Ketchum’s Industrial Past: The Philadelphia Smelter
Ketchum’s Industrial Past: The Philadelphia Smelter
The Wood River Valley is best known today for its outdoor recreation and scenic beauty, but in the late 1800s, its mountains buzzed with industry. A newly acquired painting at the Wood River Museum of History and Culture offers a rare visual record of that era: a detailed 19th-century depiction of the Philadelphia Smelter, once located at the mouth of Warm Springs Canyon in Ketchum. The painting likely dates to the 1880s and illustrates a moment of booming silver industry in the Wood River … [Read more...] about Ketchum’s Industrial Past: The Philadelphia Smelter
The Bald Mountain Hot Springs
Kristine Bretall, Wood River Museum Community Engagement Manager School’s out for summer! For many across the country, swimming only happened in the summer time, but here in Ketchum, Bald Mountain Hot Springs was a year-round fixture on the south end of Main Street in Ketchum from 1927 until the late 1990s. Hot springs were the very first tourist attraction in the Wood River Valley and in the late 1880s in Ketchum, near the Warm Springs base of Baldy, Guyer Hot Springs was built and … [Read more...] about The Bald Mountain Hot Springs
The Flowers Sawmill
Liam Guthrie, Regional History Librarian Adams Gulch is well known today for its popular hiking and biking trails, but the gulch’s history is deeply intertwined with the lumber industry and the Flowers Sawmill, which inhabited it for decades. This 1911 photo shows the sawmill that once stood at the mouth of Adams Gulch, along with wagons and sleds used to haul lumber. The gulch’s first sawmill was built much further up the gulch, near the confluence with Eve Gulch, by Abijah Adams, for … [Read more...] about The Flowers Sawmill
Gloria Batís and Club Rio
Mary Tyson, Director of the Center for Regional History Club Rio, where this photo was taken, was known for great Basque meals served by chef Gloria Batís. It was also frequented as a place to drink, to gamble, and for Basques to board for a night or two. Gloria and her husband, Pete Batís, started the club in 1941, and lived in the back. It was in a central location on the north side of Sun Valley Rd. just behind where Enoteca is now. Gloria served traditional fare in the Rio such as … [Read more...] about Gloria Batís and Club Rio
