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Official Website
History
The Wood River Valley in present-day Blaine County was organized as part of Alturas County by the Idaho Territorial Legislature in 1864. By the 1880s the valley supported a thriving mining commerce; in 1882 the county seat of Alturas County was moved from Rocky Bar in present-day Elmore County to Hailey, in response to a population shift from Rocky Bar – which would eventually become a ghost town – to the Wood River Valley.
The Blaine County boundaries described in its 1895 creation ordinance contained lands that soon were partitioned off to form other counties. Only thirteen days after the official formation date of Blaine, Lincoln County was formed from the county. Lincoln itself was later partitioned to create Gooding (1913), Minidoka (1913), and Jerome (1919) counties. Blaine County was further reduced in 1917 when Camas County was formed.
The strong mining economy of the 1880s had substantially declined by 1890, when Idaho Territory became a state. The county began to recast itself as a tourism destination in 1936 with the opening of the Sun Valley resort, originally owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The area soon attracted celebrity visitors, and later residents, most notably Ernest Hemingway, who is buried in the Ketchum Cemetery. Celebrities who have lived in Blaine County include Adam West, Demi Moore, and John Kerry.
Adjacent Counties
- Butte County
- Bingham County
- Power County
- Cassia County
- Minidoka County
- Lincoln County
- Camas County
- Elmore County
- Custer County
Cities & Communities
- Bellevue
- Boulder
- Carey
- Cathedral Pines
- Cream Can Junction
- Doniphan
- Galena
- Gannett
- Gimlet
- Hailey (County Seat)
- Ketchum
- Picabo
- Rocky Bar
- Sawtooth City
- Stanton Crossing
- Sun Valley
- Tikura
- Triumph
- Vienna
Links
Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve (part)
Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Salmon-Challis National Forest (part)
Sawtooth National Forest (part)
Sawtooth National Recreational Area (part)
national Register of Historic Places
