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Article Source: Southern Idaho Architecture: The Twin Falls Grain Elevators - KMVT
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —Southern Idaho has a rich history that has been persevered through its architecture. Our very own agricultural history is no exception and to see that history all you have to do is visit downtown Twin Falls. Towering above the rest of the historic warehouse district you will immediately notice the three grain silos. “This is a symbol of agricultural history, and this is the center of original Twin Falls. That is the Pan-American Highway that way, the Oregon Trail that way. This is one of the most central historic sites in the state of Idaho,” Professor Emeritus of History at the College of Southern Idaho, Dr. Russ Tremayne said. For decades the railroad near the warehouse district would take the grain export from southern Idaho to the rest of the continental United States. “This was a time when we, in this area, developed agricultural products and Duncan Hines Flour and Cake Mixes,” Dr. Tremayne explained. It was part of the largest flour mill between Denver and Portland in 1916, but soon the economy would change.
“The creation of the irrigation system early Twin Falls, the Jarbidge Gold Rush in 1909, World War One. And here Idaho is set to produce food materials that are in high demand in the country and around the world. With the end of the war, the economy changed, essentially Idaho went into a 20-year agricultural recession,” Dr. Tremayne said.
With the recession in place, the grain that the elevators would store would become vacant as it became cheaper to produce grain elsewhere in the country. Becoming an eyesore within the city of Twin Falls. Then in the 1990s the building mysteriously caught on fire and the city was ready to tear them down and that’s when Preservation Twin Falls was founded. “The engineering study concluded that it (the grain silos) was sound and to tear them down would have cost over $200,000…So, we took the responsibility to beautify this area, to clean it up, to make it safe, and to make it a historic park,” Dr. Tremayne said. Taking on that responsibility meant a seemingly never-ending process had begun. “So, we went in and covered all the windows to keep the pigeons out. We spent several years cleaning up this property. I brought Phi Theta Kappa students down here for a couple of years,” Dr. Tremayne explained.
Then a conflict happened. On top of the historical courthouse was a cell tower that was damaging the building, Preservation Twin Falls floated the idea of moving the cell tower from one historical property to the newest addition.
“The cell towers were down on another very important building in Twin Falls, the courthouse, and those towers were damaging the building. It never should have been put there in the first place. We made a deal to move the cell tower from the courthouse to here, and those cell towers serve the 911 service for the area,” Dr. Tremayne said.
The deal for the service helps fund the Preservation Twin Falls’ other projects like History at the Barn.
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