| Blackfoot, Idaho | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Location of Blackfoot, Idaho | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Idaho |
| County | Bingham |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mike Virtue |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.7 sq mi (14.7 km2) |
| • Land | 5.4 sq mi (14.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.3 sq mi (0.7 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,498 ft (1,371 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 10,419 |
| • Density | 1,926.4/sq mi (743.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 83221 |
| Area code(s) | 208 |
| FIPS code | 16-07840 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0396141 |
| Website | www.cityofblackfoot.org |
Blackfoot is a city in Bingham County, Idaho, United States. The population was 10,419 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Bingham County.[1] Blackfoot is self-designated the "Potato Capital of the World", because it claims to have the largest potato industry in the world.[2] It is home to the Idaho Potato Museum (a museum and gift shop that displays and explains the history of Idaho's potato industry), which is home to the world's largest baked potato and potato chip. Blackfoot is also home to the Eastern Idaho State Fair, which operates between Labor Day weekend and the following weekend.
Blackfoot is the principal city of the Blackfoot, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Bingham County.
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"Blackfoot" is a name applied to several places in the area, including a mountain range and a small river. The name can be traced back to the summer of 1818 when a group of trappers and traders from the Hudson's Bay Company passed through. Earlier, in 1812, there had been some wildfires, and people who walked through the burned areas had their moccasins blackened. Although there were no actual Blackfoot people in the area, the traders referred to the people they met in the area as the Indians with the black feet, or the "Blackfoot Crowd", because of the blackened footwear. They went on to call the nearby stream the Blackfoot River.
The first general store was built in 1874 by Fredrick S. Stevens and Major Danilson after learning that a railroad was to be built in the area. They were hoping that a station would be built there because it was just outside the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, which speculation paid off four years later. On October 10, 1878, a post office was established with Theo T. Danilson as Postmaster. On November 10, 1878, track was laid through town, with the track running right up behind the Stevens Store to take advantage of the store's loading platform (which was originally used to unload freight wagons). The name of the town was changed to Blackfoot on March 20, 1879.
On January 13, 1885, Bingham County was established with Blackfoot as its county seat. Originally, the county seat was to be Eagle Rock (now called Idaho Falls). However, the night before its legal appointment, men from Blackfoot bribed a clerk to erase Eagle Rock and write in Blackfoot. The measure went through without opposition and was signed by the governor.[3]
Blackfoot was incorporated as a town in 1907.
Blackfoot is located at (43.190068, -112.346037).[4]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.7 square miles (15 km2), of which 5.4 square miles (14 km2) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) (4.59%) is water.
Blackfoot has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold winters and hot, dry summers.
| Climate data for Blackfoot, ID | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) |
66 (19) |
77 (25) |
85 (29) |
96 (36) |
100 (38) |
102 (39) |
104 (40) |
98 (37) |
88 (31) |
74 (23) |
69 (21) |
104 (40) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 30.5 (−0.8) |
37.4 (3.0) |
48.7 (9.3) |
59.0 (15.0) |
67.8 (19.9) |
77.3 (25.2) |
85.0 (29.4) |
84.8 (29.3) |
74.8 (23.8) |
61.9 (16.6) |
43.9 (6.6) |
32.0 (0.0) |
58.59 (14.77) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 22.3 (−5.4) |
28.0 (−2.2) |
37.1 (2.8) |
45.2 (7.3) |
53.2 (11.8) |
61.1 (16.2) |
67.5 (19.7) |
66.8 (19.3) |
57.7 (14.3) |
46.8 (8.2) |
33.4 (0.8) |
23.1 (−4.9) |
45.18 (7.32) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 14.0 (−10.0) |
18.6 (−7.4) |
25.5 (−3.6) |
31.4 (−0.3) |
38.5 (3.6) |
44.9 (7.2) |
50.0 (10.0) |
48.7 (9.3) |
40.5 (4.7) |
31.6 (−0.2) |
22.9 (−5.1) |
14.2 (−9.9) |
31.73 (−0.15) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −33 (−36) |
−35 (−37) |
−13 (−25) |
11 (−12) |
17 (−8) |
28 (−2) |
34 (1) |
28 (−2) |
20 (−7) |
12 (−11) |
−16 (−27) |
−29 (−34) |
−35 (−37) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 0.86 (21.8) |
0.73 (18.5) |
0.89 (22.6) |
0.93 (23.6) |
1.33 (33.8) |
0.87 (22.1) |
0.53 (13.5) |
0.45 (11.4) |
0.70 (17.8) |
0.84 (21.3) |
0.81 (20.6) |
0.75 (19.1) |
9.69 (246.1) |
| Source no. 1: NOAA (normals, 1971-2000) [5] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: The Weather Channel (Records) [6] | |||||||||||||
At the 2000 census, there were 10,419 people, 3,685 households and 2,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,926.4 per square mile (743.6/km²). There were 3,929 housing units at an average density of 726.4 per square mile (280.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.76% White, 0.21% African American, 2.51% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 6.33% from other races, and 3.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.17% of the population.
There were 3,685 households of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.27.
31.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.
The median household income was $33,004 and the median family incomewas $36,553. Males had a median income of $31,489 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,529 About 11.5% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.4% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Blackfoot is served by the Blackfoot School District #55 [7] and the Snake River School District #52.[8]
High schools:
Middle schools:
Elementary schools:
Blackfoot is mentioned in the song "When Cowboys Didn't Dance" by Lonestar as the destination of a cattle drive.
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