Town file
Garden City, Idaho
Garden City, Idaho (Ada County, Idaho) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 122, "An Irresistible Force" (6 June 2019). Garden City, Idaho, is a town of about 4.27 square miles and 11,637 people, wrapped entirely around by Boise.
- Town
- Garden City
- County
- Ada County
- State
- Idaho
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 122
- Approximate location
- 43.668, -116.294
Episode 122 / 6 June 2019 / 155 min / full
An Irresistible Force
"We're going to Gardens City, Idaho... it's technically inside of Boise... but it's its own town; this is in Ada County." about 0:06:36
The case: Murder of Brian Gettys (October 2012). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2019
- Population
- 11,637
- Median age
- 45.9
- Median household income
- about $43,000
- Median home value
- $326,400
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $850
- Cost of living
- about 117
- Religious
- 44.3%
- Property crime
- ▲ about 25% high
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 20% high
History, in brief
- Explorers and fur trappers began coming to the area in the early 1800s and established a trading post. about 0:10:11
- The British Hudson's Bay Company opened a post at the Snake River in 1834, where Parma is now. about 0:10:30
- In 1841 settlers passed through on the Oregon Trail on their way to Oregon's Willamette Valley. about 0:11:31
- Fort Boise was a supply station and a landmark on the Oregon Trail. about 0:12:00
- In 1862 eleven prospectors found gold nearby and 16,000 more prospectors arrived the next year. about 0:13:05
- In 1863 the US Army sent troops to establish a military post in the area. about 0:14:12
- A town was laid out next to Fort Boise and called Boise City, with a hay reserve for the cavalry's horses. about 0:14:41
- In the 1880s Tom Davis came to Boise to mine gold, planted apple trees and vegetables, went into cattle, and assembled about 650 acres, most of what is now Garden City. about 0:15:37
- Davis leased land to Chinese immigrants, who mined and farmed strawberries, onions and hogs upstream of his property. about 0:16:38
- In 1949 the county commissioners approved the incorporation of Garden City, promoted by Boise businessmen who wanted an amusement centre and gambling houses just outside Boise. about 0:19:04
- Gambling houses, restaurants, bars and prostitution flourished up and down the street, and the city took a cut of the slot machine profits. about 0:19:47
- A 1951 Life Magazine article said gambling profits paid for a $10,000 park and playground, a new water system, a city hall and a re-equipped police force. about 0:20:29
- In 1953 the Idaho Supreme Court ruled slot machines and lotteries illegal under the state constitution, calling them a well recognised evil and mischief and a moral nuisance. about 0:21:23
- Garden City was incorporated again in 1967. about 0:21:52
The reviews read out
3 stars
"It is not bad to live in, but the reviewer would not recommend visiting: there is not much to see, though the Expo Idaho fair every year is fun."about 0:22:07
3 stars
"There are chain places and some awesome places, including the Dutch Goose."about 0:22:22
3 stars
"Boise has many entry-level jobs; teachers are paid poorly but better than in other districts in the state."about 0:22:32
3 stars
"There are not very many abandoned houses in the area."about 0:22:39
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Ontario, Oregon42 miles
- Bellevue, Idaho103 miles
- Jerome, Idaho111 miles
- Hazelton, Idaho132 miles
- La Grande, Oregon145 miles
- Denio, Nevada166 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.