Emmett
Emmett, as we know it today, first began as Martinsville.
Lyons writes that Nathaniel Martin and Jonathan Smith "built a commodious hand-hewn log roadhouse in about 1864, on one side of the Basin Trail (into the Boise Basin in Boise County) as well as a large feed barn that stood across the road. It was the right time to establish such a business because hundreds of miners were hurrying to Placerville and Bannock City, later Idaho City, to seek their fortunes." Mills writes Smith and Martin, known as Smith & Company, built one of the first ferries across the Payette River. Smith took land on the south river bank as early as February 1869 and, to the east, Martin filed on a scant 50-acre tract near Emmett's present-day North Washington Ave. In honor of Martin, the first village on the river was Martinsville.
The name "Emmett" was first given to the post office on the Cahalan holdings, seven miles west of present-day Emmett, west of the former Vanderdasson School, north of Seven-Mile Slough. "In 1868 Thomas Cahalan secured an office at his place seven miles west of Martinsville, called Emmettsville, in honor of his small son, Emmett Cahalan. James M. McDonald was the postmaster (p. 91) . . . The Cahalan home was seven miles west of the present Emmett, on what was then known as the Government ranch, afterward owned by the Kesgard family." (Mills) The Kesgard place was on the south bank of the Payette River, in Sections 5 and 6, Township 6 North, Range 2 West, B.M. Cahalan was Ada County Assessor in 1867 & 1869, (see Ada County Officials). This area was part of Ada County until Canyon County was formed in March, 1891. Postmaster James Donnell (or McDonald) is more illusive.
Lyons writes that Aaron Bascom bought the roadhouse from Smith and Martin and later, when he opened his store, he sold it to his son-in-law William Hammersly, who in turn eventually sold it to David Murray. In 1883 James Wardwell, who had moved to Emmettsville ten years earlier, platted the townsite. It was bounded on the north by the alley north of Main Street, on the east by the street now known as Hayes, on the south by the alley south of Third street, and on the west by Boise Ave. He built a store on the corner of Main and Boise Ave with a second story that was used for social gatherings. Wardwell donated a block of the newly platted townsite to be used as a school site. The period between 1900 and 1909 was a time of growth and development . . and during this period the town was incorporated and outlying additions were taken into the city.
April 3, 1902, The "Emmett Index" headline story read
FIRST IDAHO NORTHERN TRAIN ARRIVED HERE LAST SATURDAY The completion of the Enterprise marks the Beginning of the Progress of Emmett and Surrounding Country. The railroad has come at last. The unfamiliar sight of a steam horse, snorting in over the streets, is one of great interest to our citizens. With the arrival of the railroad all realize that our bands of isolation are broken and now it is fair field and no favors. Emmett has cause for congratulations . . .complete story
When Gem County was formed in March 1915, Emmett was named the county seat.
Post Office and Postmaster History
MARTINSVILLE: established May 31, 1867, by Jonathan Smith discontinued May 25, 1870.
EMMETT: established as EMMETTSVILLE, Oct. 31, 1868, by James M. Donnell; John Poole March 18, 1869 discontinued November 1, 1869 reestablished July 5, 1871 Nathaniel Martin, September 19, 1871 Douglas Knox, September 21, 1875 Benjamin Leonard Marriner, October 19, 1876 Aaron Buscom, February 6, 1878 (aka Bascom) William Hamersley, August 25, 1880 name changed to Emmett December 9, 1885 Elsie Wardwell , May 31, 1890 Hugh N. Fulton, May 13, 1891 Stephen Dempsey, June 17,1892 Edward Allen, June 28, 1897 Daniel E. Smithson, Sept. 19, 1902 Edward Waring, April 16, 1907 Samuel O. Riggs, January 6, 1916 Robert R. Coon, July 9, 1924 Joseph W. Tyler, May 1933 Mr. Clare G. Zimmerman, October 1938
Sources:
"History of Post Offices in Idaho." U.S. Post Office; Gem County Historical Society collection
Ruth B. Lyons. "The Village that Grew." Privately printed, 1979.
Nellie Ireton Mills. "All Along the River/Territorial and Pioneer Days on the Payette." Privately printed for Payette Radio Limited, 1963.
Metsker's Atlas of Gem County Idaho, 1939
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