Gooding City Hall is located at 308 5th Avenue West, Gooding, ID 83330.
Phone: 208‑934‑5669.
Neighborhoods
Beginnings [1]
The station of Toponis, Shoshone Indian word for "black cherries", located on the Oregon Short Line (O.S.L.) railroad was established in 1881 or 1883 according to the county records. The first train made its maiden trip in July 1883 and a post office was established at Toponis.
Before Toponis or Gooding, there was some early hardy pioneer settlers who liked the Little Wood River flats area. Samuel Briggs, an early settler in the area, was forced out because of Indian harassment. Nathan R. Woodworth homesteaded on the eastern part of the little wood river, put in a dam and dug the first ditch for irrigation water out of Little Wood River in 1877. The first settlers on the original townsite of Gooding were James Otterson and family. He built the first home on the townsite on the north bank of Little Wood River where Wyoming Street is now, in september 1882. James Otterson, Jr. was the first white child born on the townsite. Frank Gooding purchased Otterson's 160 acres on November 16, 1894 for $3,250.00 and this became part of the townsite for the future city of Gooding.
In august 1907, Frank Gooding hired H.P. Blodgett to survey and plan the future townsite with the main street running north to the railroad with 40 lots on either side. On November 14, 1907, lots went on sale and the Village of Gooding was incorporated april 25, 1908. Those present at this inaugural meeting were trustees, E.C. Egelus, W.J. Gooding, F.T. Furcht, E.W. Gardner and R.H. Pruitt. W.J. Gooding was selected as chairman and A.J. Schubert was named as clerk. It was on November 21, 1910 that Gooding was incorporated as a City with W.J. Gooding as the first mayor and the census was 1,100.
It was in december 1908 that the Idaho Southern Railroad began train service from Gooding through Wendell to Jerome, a distance of 23 miles, making a round trip each day. With the advent of automobiles and extension of the O.S.L. Railroad, the I.S. Railroad ceased service in 1916.