Rick Just
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Moving the Mackay Depot

6/23/2020

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History sometimes turns up in the most surprising places. For instance, Riverside Boot and Saddle in Blackfoot is a store stuffed with Western wear and riding gear. They have a great selection of new and used trailers. They also have stores in Jerome and Caldwell.
 
I know that sounds like a commercial, but it’s only background for a little Idaho history trivia.
 
Up until 1972 the building where the Blackfoot store resides sat alongside railroad tracks in Mackay. In fact, it was the Mackay Depot, built by Union Pacific in about 1901. The Mackay Branch line was discontinued in 1961.
 
It’s not unusual for an old railroad depot to find another purpose, but the move from Mackay to Blackfoot (Rockford, to be exact) must have been one of the longer ones for traveling depots, a distance of about 80 miles.

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This is a photo of the Mackay Depot in 1962, about a year after the spur line shut down.
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It's not easy to spot the depot in its new role as Riverside Boot and Saddle.
Speaking of Idaho history posts are copyright © 2020 by Rick Just. Sharing is encouraged. If you don’t find a button that lets you do that, find the post on Speaking of Idaho. If you’re missing my daily posts, select the RSS button, or select See it First under the Facebook Following tab.
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    Author, Speaker

    Rick Just has been writing about Idaho history since 1989 when he wrote and recorded scripts for the Idaho Centennial Commission’s daily radio program, Idaho Snapshots. One of his Idaho books explores the history of Idaho's state parks: Images of America, Idaho State Parks. Rick also writes a regular column for Boise Weekly.

    Rick does public presentations on Idaho's state park history and the history of the Morrisite war for the Idaho Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau.idahohumanities.org/programs/inquiring-idaho/
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    Check out Rick's history of Idaho State Parks.

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