See some of Pocatello’s ‘plethora of historic places’ this Saturday

POCATELLO – A tour is scheduled for this weekend that showcases historic Gate City homes – and by extension – the history of the city itself.

On Saturday, Neighborworks Pocatello will hold its 5th annual Historic Home Tour, where attendees get the chance to tour nine of the city’s historic homes. The event, which raises funding for Pocatello’s six core neighborhood associations, will also feature historic talks from four local historians, vintage cars parked at the homes and the chance to ride the Historic Downtown Pocatello trolley.

“Attendees really do get to have a great fun day. And when I say that the day has a vibe, it really has a vibe,” said Catherine McCarthy, director of community engagement and marketing.

Pocatello’s six core neighborhood associations are:

• The Historic University Neighborhood
• Neighborhoods of Historic Downtown
• Alameda
• Bonneville
• Lewis & Clark
• Mountain View Neighborhood

And according to McCarthy, who has the responsibility of coordinating with the associations in her role at Neighborworks, the money raised from Historic Home Tour ticket sales have gone towards making the community a better place.

“We’ve seen a lot of city park improvements and great community events, (like) Movies in the Park and things like that that are happening in Pocatello, all because these neighborhood associations are working together to make it happen,” McCarthy said.

Tickets can be purchased either online or in person at the event, for $20 per ticket.

The events of the day begin at 10 a.m. at Caldwell Park, with “Historic Home Talks” to take place under the Neighborworks Pavillion starting at 11 a.m.. There are four speakers scheduled, and they’ll all speak twice at different points in the day.

• Jennifer Atterbury, ISU professor emeritas – Streets with a Story: The Growth of the University Neighborhood – 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Dirk Anderson, arborist at Top Notch Tree – Rooted in History: The Trees that Shaped our History – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• Marty Vizcarra, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission – A House with a Story: The History of the Servel Home – 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
• Linda Leeuwrik, former city councilwoman – It’s All in the Details: Recognizing the Architectural Styles of Our Historic Homes – 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

When attendees are ready to take their tour through Pocatello history, they’ll have the option to either walk to the destinations, as they are within a relatively close proximity, or ride the Historic Downtown Pocatello Trolley. The trolley will run in a loop around the Historic University Neighborhood, making stops at five trolley stops along the way.

McCarthy estimated that the trolley takes somewhere around 25 minutes to complete its loop, but this is a rough estimate.

“A lot of people park and just walk the tour, but if they want that extra ambiance and experience, they can catch the trolley. … It just adds a little … bit of fun having the trolley touring around the neighborhood,” McCarthy said.

In addition to the historic homes along the tour, people will be able to see a huge variety of early twentieth century automobiles along the tour, provided by Poky Cars & Coffee.

“They’ll have them parked in driveways, and if there’s not driveway parking, on the street. And … it’s a pretty cool thing to add to the tour because a lot of people really like looking at these beautiful automobiles,” McCarthy said.

While in some past years the tour has featured commercial properties, this year it will feature only homes. McCarthy said that not only do attendees get to see these historic homes, but they also can learn more about the history from the information on brochures, as well as through conversations with the homeowners.

“You can learn about the architecture and what they’ve done to upkeep them, but a lot of times you also learn about the people who built them, or people that lived in Pocatello many years ago, and how our history of the city kind of came to be,” McCarthy said.

The homes that will be featured on the tour will be:

• 339 S 11th Ave
• 242 S 7th Ave
• 658 S 9th Ave
• 506 S 7th Ave
• 341 S 7th Ave
• 326 S 9th Ave
• 544 S 7th Ave
• 136 S 8th Ave
• 256 S 6th Ave

Besides the University House, the traditional estate of Idaho State University presidents, all of the homes have never before been featured on the tour. In fact, McCarthy said that the only repeat home the tour has ever used is the University House.

“We’re able to get new locations every year,” McCarthy said.

While at some point, the Historic Homes Tour will no longer have new historic homes to feature on its tours, McCarthy doesn’t expect that day to come anytime soon.

“It’s pretty amazing that we have such a stock of historic properties in Pocatello. … And I know that there’s still a plethora of beautiful historic places out there that we can keep going for a long time on this with new locations,” McCarthy said.