Nampa is the largest and fastest growing city in Canyon County, Idaho. It is the second largest city in Idaho after the capital Boise. Currently, around 85,000 people live here, and their number is still increasing. Nampa is part of the Boise metropolitan area. The name Nampa comes from a Shoshone Indian word meaning “moccasin” or “foot”.
According to iamaccepted, the history of Nampa began around 1880, when the Oregon Short Line Railroad was built in these places, running from Granger, Wyoming to Huntington, Oregon. Nampa was one of the stops on this route and thus became a very important railroad town. Among the first settlers were Alexander and Hannah Duffes, who built the first homestead here. From the beginning, the newly emerging settlement was called New Jerusalem, mainly because the local residents were strongly religious. Within a year, the town grew from the original 15 houses to 50. In 1850, Nampa was officially declared a city.
In 1910, the first state school and hospital were built in the northwest of the city. There were huge farms in the area, which were subsequently sold and today there are golf courses in their places. Nampa has hosted annual harvest events and farmers markets, and since 1937 has also hosted the Snake River Stampede Rodeo, said to be one of the best in the country. The city is home to Northwest Nazarene University, which dates back to 1915 and currently has around 2,500 students. Nampa is a rapidly developing city, new houses, shopping centers, cultural, sports and entertainment centers are constantly being built here. The city has 24 parks, the largest of which is Lakeview Park.
Minidoka Internment National Historic Site
Between the towns of Jerome and Twin Falls in central Idaho is the Minidoka Internment Conservation Area. After the attack on the American port of Pearl Harbour, hatred between Americans and Japanese permanently living in the US increased. At the time, President Roosevelt signed an executive order requiring over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes, families, and jobs and relocate to one of ten relocation centers. It was the largest forced relocation in American history.
Today, the Minidoka Internment National Monument preserves the remains of these barracks that Japanese Americans were forced to inhabit. The visitor center houses a collection of historical and modern paintings, information, literature and brochures. A large part of the historic buildings that were part of the center are now private property. Even though the barbed wire is no longer here and only the ruins of the watchtowers remain, many Japanese prisoners have never forgotten the years they spent there.
