| Pocatello, Idaho | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — City — | |||
| Historic downtown Pocatello in 2007 | |||
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| Nickname(s): US Smile Capital, (The) Gate City | |||
| Motto: Gateway to the Northwest | |||
| Location in Bannock County and the state of Idaho | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Idaho | ||
| Counties | Bannock, Power | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Brian Blad | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 28.2 sq mi (73.1 km2) | ||
| • Land | 28.2 sq mi (73.1 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 4,462 ft (1,360 m) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • City | 54,255 | ||
| • Density | 1,924/sq mi (742/km2) | ||
| • Metro | 90,656 | ||
| Time zone | Mountain Standard Time (MST) (UTC-7) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) (UTC-6) | ||
| Area code(s) | 208 | ||
| FIPS code | 16-64090 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0397053 | ||
| Website | pocatello.us | ||
Pocatello ( /ˌpoʊkəˈtɛloʊ/) is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County,[1] with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock and Power counties. As of the 2010 census the population of Pocatello was 54,255.[2]
Pocatello is the fifth largest city in the state, just behind Idaho Falls (population of 56,813). In 2007, Pocatello was ranked twentieth on Forbes list of Best Small Places for Business and Careers.[3] Pocatello is the home of Idaho State University and the manufacturing facility of ON Semiconductor. The city is at an elevation of 4,462 feet (1,360 m) above sea level and is served by the Pocatello Regional Airport.
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Founded as an important stop on the first railroad in Idaho during the gold rush, the city later became an important center for agriculture. It is located along the Portneuf River where it emerges from the mountains onto the Snake River Plain, along the route of the Oregon Trail. The city is named after Chief Pocatello of the Shoshoni tribe, who granted the right-of-way for the railroad across the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
The section of the city along the Portneuf River was inhabited by the Shoshoni and Bannock peoples for several centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the early 19th century. In 1834, Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, a U.S. fur trader, established Fort Hall as a trading post north of the present location of the city. The post was later acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company and became an important stop on the Oregon Trail, a branch of which descended the Portneuf through the present-day location of the city. A replica of the Fort Hall trading post is now operated as a museum in southern Pocatello.
The discovery of gold in Idaho in 1860 brought the first large wave of U.S. settlers to the region. The Portneuf Valley became an important conduit for the transportation of goods and freight. In 1877, railroad magnate Jay Gould of the Union Pacific Railroad acquired and extended the Utah and Northern Railway, which had previously stopped at the Utah border, into Idaho through the Portneuf Canyon. "Pocatello Junction", as it was first called, was founded as a stop along this route during the gold rush. After the gold rush subsided, the region began to attract ranchers and farmers. By 1882, the first residences and commercial development appeared in Pocatello.
Pocatello absorbed nearby Alameda in 1962 and briefly became the largest city in the state, ahead of Boise. Pocatello was the second largest city in the state (behind Boise) until the late 1990s, when rapid growth in the Treasure Valley of southwestern Idaho placed Nampa and Meridian ahead of Idaho Falls and Pocatello, which are now the state's fourth and fifth largest cities, respectively.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 73.1 square kilometers (28.2 sq mi), all land.
Pocatello experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk),[4] with winters that are moderately long and cold, and hot, dry summers.
| Climate data for Pocatello Regional Airport | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) |
65 (18) |
75 (24) |
86 (30) |
97 (36) |
103 (39) |
104 (40) |
104 (40) |
98 (37) |
91 (33) |
75 (24) |
64 (18) |
104 (40) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 32.5 (0.3) |
39.0 (3.9) |
48.5 (9.2) |
58.5 (14.7) |
67.7 (19.8) |
78.3 (25.7) |
87.5 (30.8) |
86.8 (30.4) |
75.7 (24.3) |
62.0 (16.7) |
44.5 (6.9) |
33.8 (1.0) |
59.6 (15.3) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 16.3 (−8.7) |
20.9 (−6.2) |
27.3 (−2.6) |
32.6 (0.3) |
39.2 (4.0) |
45.7 (7.6) |
50.9 (10.5) |
49.9 (9.9) |
41.8 (5.4) |
33.3 (0.7) |
24.9 (−3.9) |
16.8 (−8.4) |
33.3 (0.7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −31 (−35) |
−33 (−36) |
−12 (−24) |
12 (−11) |
20 (−6.7) |
28 (−2.2) |
34 (1) |
30 (−1.1) |
19 (−7.2) |
7 (−14) |
−14 (−26) |
−29 (−34) |
−33 (−36) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 1.14 (29) |
1.01 (25.7) |
1.38 (35.1) |
1.18 (30) |
1.51 (38.4) |
.91 (23.1) |
.70 (18) |
.66 (16.8) |
.89 (22.6) |
.97 (24.6) |
1.13 (28.7) |
1.10 (27.9) |
12.58 (319.5) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 9.4 (23.9) |
7.0 (17.8) |
6.0 (15.2) |
3.6 (9.1) |
.8 (2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2.4 (6.1) |
6.4 (16.3) |
9.8 (24.9) |
45.4 (115.3) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 12.7 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 8.8 | 10.2 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 9.9 | 10.6 | 100.0 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 10.8 | 7.8 | 5.9 | 3.0 | .8 | .1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 6.1 | 9.5 | 45.3 |
| Sunshine hours | 124.0 | 161.0 | 232.5 | 261.0 | 303.8 | 339.0 | 381.3 | 347.2 | 294.0 | 241.8 | 132.0 | 114.7 | 2,932.3 |
| Source: The Weather Channel (Records) [5] | |||||||||||||
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1890 | 1,659 |
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| 1900 | 4,046 | 143.9% | |
| 1910 | 9,110 | 125.2% | |
| 1920 | 15,001 | 64.7% | |
| 1930 | 16,471 | 9.8% | |
| 1940 | 18,133 | 10.1% | |
| 1950 | 26,131 | 44.1% | |
| 1960 | 28,534 | 9.2% | |
| 1970 | 40,036 | 40.3% | |
| 1980 | 46,340 | 15.7% | |
| 1990 | 46,080 | −0.6% | |
| 2000 | 51,466 | 11.7% | |
| 2010 | 54,255 | 5.4% | |
| source:[8][9] | |||
As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 51,466 people, 19,334 households, and 12,973 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,822.5 people per square mile (703.7/km²). There were 20,627 housing units at an average density of 730.4 per square mile (282.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.32% White, 0.72% African American, 1.35% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 2.18% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.94% of the population. The top 5 ethnic groups in Pocatello are.
· English - 21%[11] · German - 16% · Irish - 9% · Danish - 4% · Swedish - 4%
There were 19,334 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 16.7% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,326, and the median income for a family was $41,884. Males had a median income of $33,984 versus $22,962 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,425. About 10.7% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.
Idaho Department of Correction operates the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center (PWCC) in Pocatello.[12]
The United States Postal Service operates the Pocatello,[13] Bannock,[14] and Gateway Station post offices.[15]
Idaho State University (ISU) is a public university operated by the state of Idaho. Originally an auxiliary campus of the University of Idaho and then a state college, it became the second university in the state in 1963. The ISU campus is in Pocatello, with outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls. The university's crown jewel is the 123,000-square-foot (11,400 m2) L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center, which occupies a prominent location overlooking Pocatello and the lower Portneuf River Valley. The center's three venues provide state-of-the-art performance space, including the Joseph C. and Cheryl H. Jensen Grand Concert Hall. Idaho State's athletics teams compete in the Big Sky Conference, the football and basketball teams play in Holt Arena.
Pocatello is a part of the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District. The city has three public high schools:
Feeding the high schools are three public middle schools, thirteen public elementary schools, two public charter schools, and various alternative and church-based private schools and academies.
Pocatello is home to Holt Arena, a multipurpose indoor stadium which opened in 1970 on the ISU campus. Known as the "Minidome" until 1988, Holt Arena was the home of the Real Dairy Bowl, a junior college football Bowl game. Holt Arena also plays host to the Simplot Games, the nation's largest indoor high school track-and-field meet.
In Pocatello, it was against the law not to smile. Today, this law is remembered with the annual Smile Fest.[19]
The Idaho Gateway Chorus, a barbershop singing group, is based in Pocatello.
The Pocatello Zoo features only native Idaho species and is located in Ross Park.
The North American Vexillological Association ranked Pocatello's flag 150th of 150 city flags in its 2004 American City Flags Survey.[20]
Pocatello gained pop culture fame from the 1954 musical "A Star is Born", in which Judy Garland sang the song "Born in a Trunk" about being born in the "Princess Theatre in Pocatello, Idaho". Pocatello is mentioned in John Fogerty's song "Somebody Help Me" in the "REVIVAL" album (2007). Pocatello is mentioned as the hometown of Aaron Davis, a character from the motion picture Latter Days played by Steve Sandvoss. Part of the 2006 film Bonneville took place in Pocatello. Although it was not filmed in Idaho, actress Kathy Bates attended an LDS Church in Pocatello to research her character.
The Pocatello region is the setting for Ruth Ozeki's novel All Over Creation[21] and for Tom Spanbauer's Now Is the Hour.
Portions of the movie Napoleon Dynamite were also filmed there.
Comedienne and actress Billie Bird (1908–2002), known for films such as "Home Alone" and "Sixteen Candles", was born in Pocatello, where she maintained family ties.
Danish-born photographer Benedicte Wrensted lived in Pocatello from 1895 to 1912 where she recorded the growth of the town and took many photographs of the native American inhabitants of the area.[22]
Merril Hoge, currently an ESPN analyst, was born in Pocatello and played football at Highland High School as well as Idaho State University. He spent eight seasons in the NFL as a running back.
Pocatello has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:
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