The Harrison Boulevard Historic District [†] is linked by one of Boise's most beautiful streets. Harrison Boulevard is a wide avenue flanked by mature trees and a parkway median. The boulevard was laid out in 1891 in the general location of an ear- ly stage and emigrant route, an alternate route of the Oregon Trail, and was named for President Benjamin Harrison, who signed the Admissions Act making Idaho a state in 1890.
The district displays a rich variety of architectural styles with large mansions in Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, and Art Moderne style alongside more modest bungalows and cottages. A variety of building materials including brick, wood shingle, wood siding and stone are represented.
Continuity in this diverse architectural setting is created by the boulevard. The uninterrupted parkway with the consistent line of ornamental pear trees and street lights, flanked by mature deciduous trees along the outside, bind the neighborhood. The variety in housing sizes and lot configurations is connected by the symmetry of the street.
† Design Guidelines for Residential Historic District, 2013, www.cityofboise.org, accessed May, 2021.
