McCall, Idaho

Location of McCall, Idaho

McCall is a resort city located in Valley County, Idaho, United States. Named after its founder, Tom McCall, it is situated on the southern shore of Payette Lake and near the center of the Payette National Forest. McCall is one hundred miles north of Boise, accessed via the Payette River Scenic Byway (state highway #55). According to 2005 census estimates, McCall had an estimated population of 2,415.

Traditionally a logging community whose last sawmill closed in 1977, McCall is now an all-season tourist destination for outdoor recreation. The resort town is known for its Winter Carnival, extended winters, and the highest average snowfall in the state. Nicknamed "Ski Town U.S.A.", McCall is the home to many past winter Olympic athletes.

Geography

View of Payette Lake

McCall is located at 44°54′39″N 116°6′11″W (44.910906, -116.103087)Template:GR.

According to the U.S. Census, the city has a total area of 17.2 km² (6.6 mi²). 15.3 km² (5.9 mi²) of it is land and 1.9 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (10.99%) is water.

History

Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the land in and around McCall. Three tribes, the Tukuaduka Shoshone, a sub-band of the Shoshone known as the "Sheepeaters," and the Nez Perce, inhabited the land primarily in the summer and migrated during the harsh winter months.

In the early 1800s, the nomadic French Canadian fur trapper, François Payette, roamed the area alongside other mountain men like Jim Bridger, Peter Skene Ogden and Jedediah Smith.

During the 1860's, miners temporarily named the settlement "Lake City", but only alluvial gold was discovered and they moved fifty miles north to the town of Warren.

The settlement of McCall was established by Thomas and Louisa McCall circa 1889-1891. For a cabin and assumed rights to the 160 acres of land, they traded a team of horses with Sam Dever, who held the squatter rights. Tom, his wife, four sons and a daughter lived in the cabin located on the shore of the lake near present day Hotel McCall. He established a school, hotel, saloon and post office, naming himself as postmaster. McCall purchased a sawmill from the Warren Dredging company and later sold it to the Hoff & Brown Lumber Company, which would become the driving economic force until its closure in 1977.

During this time Anneas "Jews Harp Jack" Wyatte provided the first recreational sailboat rides around the lake for tourists and advertised in the Idaho Statesman a "30 foot sailing yacht for the use of parties who might visit the lake". The Statesman referred to McCall as a "pleasure resort".

Tourism continued in the early 1900s. In June 1902, the Boydstun Hotel in nearby Lardo opened as a "place to stay and camp on Payette Lake". In 1906, Charlie Nelson opened a tented camping area known as Sylvan Beach Resort along the west side of Payette Lake. In 1907, Lardo Inn opened for business. The arrival of the Oregon Short Line railroad (later named the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad) in 1914 secured McCall as a viable community and tourist destination. Three years later McCall was incorporated as a village. In the 1920s, the state land board started leasing homesites along the lake.

The now famous winter carnival started in 1923-24. Reports vary between hundreds to thousands of tourists visiting the festivities.

The beauty of McCall and Payette Lake drew attention from Hollywood in 1938 when it was selected as the filming location for the Academy Award-nominated Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, and Walter Brennan. The film, released in 1940, was about the French and Indian War of 1755-63.

In 1943, the U.S. Forest Service opened the McCall smokejumper base. It is one of only eight smokejumper training bases in the nation. The site includes a smokejumper training unit, paraloft, dispatch office, and the McCall air tanker base.

The iconic Shore Lodge opened July 3rd, 1948, along Shellworth Beach on Payette Lake. The lodge became McCall's centerpiece for the next 51 years. Shore Lodge management and shareholders intentionally created a resort style lodge that was a cozy and intimate place for locals and tourists, contrasting with the glamor and glitz of the other famous Idaho lodge in Sun Valley. The former Shore Lodge is now officially known as Whitetail.

In 1965, a 1,000 acre (4 km²) peninsula 2 miles outside of McCall became the Ponderosa State Park. The park is home to some of the largest old growth trees in the western U.S.

Alpine skiing

McCall's Little Ski Hill and Nordic ski jump are on the west edge of town. After a 76 acre donation from Carl Brown, the ski hill opened in 1937 as a diversion for local forest workers. It was the second ski resort in Idaho, after Sun Valley. It currently operates a T-bar surface lift and has a vertical drop of 405 feet (123 m), with a summit of 5600 feet (1706 m) above sea level. The slopes face north and west.

Brundage Mountain, northwest of McCall, opened in November 1961. It has three chairlifts . Brundage has a summit elevation of 7640 feet (2328 m) above sea level, and a vertical drop of 1800 feet (548 m). The slopes on Brundage Mountain are west-facing and the mountain's average snowfall exceeds 300 inches (762 cm)of fine dry powder. The resort operates a backcountry cat skiing operation, giving guests guided access to 13,000 acres (53 km²) of untracked powder in the Payette National Forest. Brundage Mountain is a family-owned resort, operated by the DeBoer family, descendants of early McCall pioneers.

The new Tamarack Resort is southwest of McCall on the west side of Cascade Reservoir (Lake Cascade). Originally conceived as "Valbois" in the early 1980s, the project was revived as "WestRock" in the late 1990s and ultimately renamed "Tamarack" in 2002. Tamarack opened for lift-served skiing in December 2004 and has a summit elevation of 7700 feet (2347 m) and vertical drop of 2800 feet (853 m). It currently operates five chairlifts and a poma lift. The ski area has extensivesnowmaking capability along many of its runs due to poor east slope snowfall. The slopes on Tamarack face east, overlooking the Cascade reservoir. "Brush skiing" is common, due to poor snow loads.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 2,084 people, 902 households, and 549 families residing in the city. The population density was 136.1/km² (352.4/mi²). There were 2,247 housing units at an average density of 146.8/km² (379.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.83% White, 0.05% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 1.34% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. 2.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 902 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age wes 42 years. For every 100 females there were 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,250, and the median income for a family was $46,420. Males had a median income of $27,955 versus $26,932 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,479. 12.2% of the population and 7.0% of families were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.2% of those 65 and older.

Government

The city has a council-manager form of government with a city manager nominated by the mayor and elected by the city council. The McCall City Council is made up of 4 council members and a mayor elected in an at-large election. During city council meetings, the mayor presides, and all 5 members can vote on any issue. The mayor has no veto powers.

McCall is located in Idaho's 1st congressional district. On the state level, McCall is located in district 8 of the Idaho Legislature. Despite the largest population in Valley County, McCall lost the bid for county seat in 1917 to the more centrally located town of Cascade.

Media

McCall has one weekly newspaper, The Star News, published every Thursday. Discover McCall republishes several news articles (with permission) by the Star News every week. Two radio stations, KMCL (101.1 FM Adult Contemporary) and KDZY (98.3 FM Country) are based in the city. Periodicals covering the city include McCall Magazine and McCall Home, both semi-annual publications. Channel 13 is the only local television station.

Notable

• Ponderosa State Park and the community of McCall will host the 2008 Masters World Cup, a very prestigious Nordic Ski event.
• Barbara Morgan taught second, third, and fourth grades at the McCall-Donnelly elementary school for 22 non consecutive years. Morgan will become the first teacher in space on mission STS-118, and will teach the same lessons that Christa McAuliffe was supposed to teach more than 20 years ago.
• The McCall skateboarding park is Idaho's largest. The park was commemorated in August 2006 by Tony Hawk.
• WWE Diva Torrie Wilson grew up there.

References

• Bowman, Bill C. The Legacy: The Legacy of Military Records in the History of Valley County, Idaho.
• Brown, Warren Harrington Brown (1999). It's Fun to Remember: A King's Pine Autobiography. ISBN 0-9676957-0-8
• Ingraham, Beverly (1992). Looking Back: Sketches of Early Days in Idaho's High Country. Maverick Publications.
• Rutledge, Sally and Elliott, Craig (2005). Sylvan Beach: McCall, Idaho. Its History, Myths, and Memories.
• Valley County History Project (2002). Valley County Idaho: Prehistory to 1920. Action Publishing. ISBN 0-9716671-0-1
• Williamson, Darcy and Wilcomb, Marlee (2007). McCall's Historic Shore Lodge 1948 - 1989. Meadow Cottage Industries. ISBN 0-9785282-0-4

External links

• City of McCall
• McCall Chamber of Commerce
• McCall-Donnelly Joint School District