McCall, Idaho

Location of McCall, Idaho

McCall is a city in rural Valley County, Idaho, located approximately 100 miles north of Idaho's capital city of Boise on Payette Lake. McCall is a popular weekend destination for four-season outdoor recreation, including skiing, snowmobiling, boating, golf, and hiking. The population of McCall was 2,084 at the 2000 census.

Geography

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

According to the United States Census Bureau, 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

Three Native American tribes, the Shoshone, a sub-band of the Shoshone known as the "Sheepeaters," and the Nez Perce, occupied the land in and around McCall.

In the early 1800's 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 as little gold was located they moved 50 miles north to the town of Warren.

McCall was formally established by Thomas and Louisa McCall in 1889, the year before Idaho became a state. For assumed rights to the land, they traded a team of horses with Sam Dever, who held the squatter rights. That same year the Idaho Statesman newspaper called McCall "a pleasure resort".

Tom McCall established a school, hotel, saloon and post office, naming himself as postmaster. He 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 Statesman a "30 foot sailing yacht for the use of parties who might visit the lake".

Tourism continued in the early 1900's. 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 Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad in 1914 secured McCall as a viable community and tourist destination. In the 1920s the State Land Board started leasing homesites along the lake.

The now famous Winter Carnival started in 1923-1924. 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 they selected the area to film 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 1755-1763.

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 first opened in 1937 as a diversion for local forest workers. It was the second ski resort in Idaho, after Sun Valley. It has a T-bar surface lift and a vertical drop of 405 feet (123 m). Its summit is at 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 and a platter tow. 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 face west. The mountain receives over 300 inches (762 cm) of snowfall.

The new Tamarack Resort is southwest of McCall on the west side of Cascade Reservoir (Lake Cascade). Originally conceived as "Valbois", then "WestRock" in the early 1980s, 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 snowmaking capability along many of its runs. The slopes on Tamarack face east, overlooking the reservoir.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 2,084 people, 902 households, and 549 families residing in the city. The population density is 136.1/km² (352.4/mi²). There are 2,247 housing units at an average density of 146.8/km² (379.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 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 are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

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

In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 99.9 males.

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

External links

• City of McCall
• McCall Chamber of Commerce
• Brundage Mountain Resort
• Little Ski Hill
• Ponderosa State Park
• Winter Carnival
• Smokejumpers
• Payette National Forest
• McCall Memorial Hospital
• McCall Fire Protection District