Walter E. Pierce

Walter E. Pierce (January 9, 1860 - August 21, 1951) was a prominent real estate speculator in Boise City, Idaho, USA, in the late 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. Pierce served as mayor of Boise City 1895-97 as it evolved from being a frontier community to being a modern town.

Walter E. Pierce
Walter Pierce in the early 20th century
Mayor of Boise, Idaho
In office
July 11, 1895 – July 15, 1897
Preceded byPeter Sonna
Succeeded byMoses Alexander
Personal details
Born(1860-01-09)January 9, 1860[1]
Waco, Texas
DiedAugust 21, 1951(1951-08-21) (aged 91)[2]
Boise, Idaho
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Georgianna Margaret Mundy
ProfessionReal estate developer

Early life

Walter E. Pierce was born January 9, 1860, in Waco, Texas, to parents Charles and Elizabeth (Harding) Pierce, from Providence, Rhode Island. The Pierce family had moved from Providence in 1854 and settled in Bell County, Texas, where Charles Pierce operated a sheep ranch. After Walter was born the family moved to Baxter Springs, Kansas, and Charles died there in 1860, leaving six children. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth Pierce moved the family to Vicksburg, Mississippi, but after seven years the family returned to Kansas. Later, Walter attended business college.[1]

In 1882 Pierce had become proprietor of the Arcade Hotel in Rich Hill, Missouri,[3] and he remained at the hotel at least until May, 1883.[4]

Pierce married Georgianna Margaret Mundy at the Palace Hotel in Butler, Missouri, on February 1, 1882.[3]

Career
Advertisement for W. E. Pierce & Co. in 1891

Soon after Idaho Territory became a state in 1890, the Pierces moved in September from Richfield, Kansas, to Boise City.[5] By October of that year, along with partners John M. Haines and L. H. Cox, he had founded W. E. Pierce & Co., a real estate and abstract company originally located at 820 Main Street, across from the Lemp Block.[6][7] W. E. Pierce & Co. were exclusive agents for the Resseguie Addition, the Hyde Park Addition,[8] the Lemp Addition,[9] Lemp's East Side Addition,[8] the DeLamar Addition,[10] the Bryon Addition,[11] and others.[2][12] The company also planted trees in areas under development.[13]

For the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Pierce & Co. produced 5000 copies of a pamphlet, Boise the Beautiful, to be distributed from the fair's Idaho Building.[14] Then in 1895 the pamphlet was again distributed to attract settlers from Eastern states and capital from Eastern banking interests.[15]

Pierce was nominated for mayor of Boise City in 1895, a position he had not sought and one which his friends mistakenly believed he would decline.[16] A Democrat, Pierce won the election and served one term as mayor 1895-97. During his tenure, Boise City collected road taxes,[17] installed paved streets, cement sidewalks,[18][19] and regulated electric lines, telephone poles, and hydrants.[20] The city also enacted ordinances prohibiting prostitution[21] and promoting orderly conduct on city streets.[22][23][24]

In 1905 Pierce organized the Boise & Interurban Railroad, a 60-mile electric streetcar loop from Boise to Caldwell.[25] One stop on the streetcar loop was Pierce Park, constructed in 1907 four miles from Boise. Inspired by Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, the trolley park was a popular destination during the era of streetcars.[26]

In 1910 Pierce opened Boise's new Idaho Building,[27] a skyscraper of which the Idaho Statesman wrote: "Six stories in height, it towers above its neighbors like a mountain peak."[28]

When the Hotel Boise (Hoff Building) was constructed in 1930, Pierce was president and major stockholder.[29] The building is listed with the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing resource in the Boise Capitol Area District.[30]

In addition to holding other offices, Pierce served as a director of the Artesian Hot and Cold Water Company,[31] as president of the Boise Natatorium, as president of the Allen-Wright Furniture Co.,[32] as president of the Farmer's Bank of Star,[33] and as president of the Boise Chamber of Commerce.[34]

Pierce constructed a series of homes in Boise for his family. The Walter E. Pierce House (1914), designed by Wayland & Fennell, was purchased by the State of Idaho in 1947 and served as the official governor's mansion from 1947 to 1990.[35][36]

Death

Walter E. Pierce died August 21, 1951, in Boise.[2]

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See also

References
  1. French, Hiram T. (1899). An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co. p. 570.
  2. "Walter Pierce, Former Boise Mayor, Dies". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. August 22, 1951. p. 1.
  3. "Rich Hill". The Sedalia Weekly Bazoo. Sedalia, Missouri. May 1, 1883. p. 3. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  4. "Personal". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. September 13, 1890. p. 4.
  5. "Local". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. October 19, 1890. p. 4.
  6. Zion Bank and the bank garage now occupy the site.
  7. "Things Are Moving". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 25, 1891. p. 8.
  8. "Local Brevities". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. October 22, 1892. p. 1.
  9. "Advertisement". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. September 30, 1892. p. 2.
  10. "We Have Just Opened the Beautiful Bryon Addition". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. January 20, 1893. p. 8.
  11. For example, the Locust Grove and Brumbach Additions. "Real Estate Activity". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. June 21, 1894. p. 1.
  12. "Setting Out Trees". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 2, 1895. p. 3.
  13. "Local Brevities". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. June 25, 1893. p. 8.
  14. "Boise the Beautiful". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 5, 1895. p. 6.
  15. "Gossip of Election". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. June 25, 1895. p. 3.
  16. "Ordinance No. 169". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. September 22, 1895. p. 4.
  17. "Notice of Issuance of Municipal Improvement Coupon Bonds". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. February 2, 1896. p. 7.
  18. "Ordinance No. 173". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 11, 1896. p. 3.
  19. "Ordinance No. 203". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 2, 1897. p. 5.
  20. "Ordinance No. 181". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 11, 1896. p. 3.
  21. "Ordinance No. 171, Ordinance No. 172". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. October 15, 1895. p. 4.
  22. "Ordinance No. 196". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. September 8, 1896. p. 3.
  23. "Ordinance No. 198". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 12, 1897. p. 5.
  24. Kali Steppe (2004). "Clang, Clang, Clang, Went the Trolleys" (PDF). Boise State University. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  25. "Boise Plans Big Resort". Lewiston Evening Teller. Lewiston, Idaho. June 5, 1907. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  26. Merle Wells (June 14, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Idaho Building". National Park Service. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  27. "New Lead Set in Building Activity in Boise in All Classes of Construction". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. January 1, 1911. p. 8.
  28. Dale Stewart (April 15, 1962). "1916 Partnership Started Modestly, Grew into Large Baird Business". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. p. 43.
  29. Arthur A. Hart (March 26, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Boise Capitol Area District". National Park Service. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  30. "To Fix Water Rates". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 10, 1894. p. 6.
  31. Hawley, James H. (1920). History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains. 2. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing. p. 639. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  32. "Fifty Years Ago in the Statesman". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. June 30, 1957. p. 15.
  33. "W. E. Pierce Elected President of Boise Chamber of Commerce". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. July 13, 1899. p. 2.
  34. "Chief Executive's Residence Could Tell Its Own Story". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. March 9, 1947. p. 28.
  35. "Pierce House". Idaho Architecture Project. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
The Pierce Building (1903) was across Main Street from the Idanha Hotel (1901). The Pierce Building (right) was demolished in 1975 but remains visible in this 1908 photograph, and the building's corner turret has been preserved in C. W. Moore Park. Pierce & Co. purchased the corner lot with 50-foot frontage on Main Street in 1894, paying owner John M. Bray $9000.[1]
Political offices
Preceded by
Peter Sonna		 Mayor of Boise
1895–1897		 Succeeded by
Moses Alexander
  1. "Real Estate Notes". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. February 9, 1894. p. 3.
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