Bellevue The Gate
City
Bellevue is situated about five miles south east of
Hailey. In 1880 the first building was erected there. It was a log
building owned by Owen Riley, who was the first Postmaster. L. Young
succeeded him in that office. The present Postmaster is Mrs.
Florence V. Clark. In the building in which the first Post Office
was located was a drug store owned by W. T. Riley and conducted by
J. J. Tracy. The latter moved to Hailey in 1881 and has been
conducting his own drug store here since that date. In 1883 a
charter for the City of Bellevue was granted by the legislature, and
with some amendments, is the charter under which the city still
operates. Bellevue had a weekly newspaper, a bank, a school house,
good business buildings and residences, and did a thriving business
while the mines near Broad ford flourished. It was also the county
seat of Logan County for five years. Today it has several general
stores, a hardware store, a drug store, two garages with service
stations combined, three churches, a grade school and an accredited
high school, etc. It is one of the large lamb and sheep shipping
stations.
On December 6, 1880, Hon. John Hailey filed on a desert land entry
of 440 acres, for which he was granted a patent on April 5, 1884.
This is the land on which the principal part of the city of Hailey
is situated. The town was named for him, a pioneer of pioneers, and
who served as a delegate to Congress for two terms. His first term
began March 4, 1873 and ended March 4, 1875, and his second term
began March 4, 1885, and ended March 4, 1887. The townsite was
located by John Hailey, A. H. Boomer, W. T. Riley and E. S. Chase.
It is situated about five miles northwest of Bellevue and about 12
miles southeast of Ketchum. It has an elevation at the Court House
of 5332 feet. The promoters of this townsite at first thought of
locating it at the mouth of Indian Creek, about three miles north of
town, and naming it Marshall, in honor of Doctor R. W. Marshall, who
was the first doctor on Wood River. But that idea was abandoned and
the townsite never was established there. Ernest Cramer, S. J.
Friedman, J. C. Fox, W. T. Riley, J. J. Tracy, Leon Fuld and H. Z.
Burkhart were some of the early merchants, all of whom came in the
spring of 1881.
Ernest Cramer erected the first building in the spring of 1881. It
was a log structure situated on Lot 10, Block 42, and was used as a
business building. The town developed very rapidly as the mines at
Bullion and vicinity which were tributary to Hailey were being
worked at capacity. Most of the merchants conducted their business
in tents until they were able to have suit able buildings erected.
Geo. M. Parsons was the first Postmaster and Leon Fuld the second.
Austin A. Lambert is the present Postmaster. H. Z. Burkhart had the
first express office. He burned 350,000 brick for the Court House,
Alturas hotel and other buildings. J. C. Fox retired in 1927 with
the record of the oldest dry goods merchant in the state.
Alturas County |
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