Boise's "Midget Town" on Main near Warm Springs. No, really.
A coworker today told me what I was convinced was the tallest oftales, about a "midget town" in Boise in the 60s, on Main Street near
Warm Springs. I found an interesting article that confirmed (sort of)
his tale:
http://bit.ly/mt
Turns out it "Spanish Village," a group of cabins housing Mexican
workers, was popularly called "midget town" by children of the day.
The article is an interested read for the historically-minded.
As a relative old-timer (born here) Boise resident, I can vividly remember "Urquides Village." It was directly behind what is now the Ronald McDonald house, just south of St. Lukes Hospital.
I always thought it was Basques who lived there. That's what my father told us, when we'd drive through, now and then. (Tiny little quaint houses arranged in a circle, with a dusty dirt road and a small "plaza" in the middle. My memory is that there was also a common water well in the middle.) Back then, the Nicholsons lived in the "McDonald" house. They were sheep barons, and hired sheepherders during the season. I believe many of the Village residents were sheepherders, and returned to the Village during the winter months.