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Canyon County IDGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the history of the county. It is a member of IDGenWeb, which is a member of USGenWeb®. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of Canyon county ancestors.

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Temporary County Coordinator: Norma Hass normahass01@gmail.com
State Coordinator: Kerry Hairston kerry.hairston@gmail.com

COUNTY FORMATION

Canyon County was created from Ada County on March 7, 1891, with the county seat at Caldwell. Some of Canyon County's territory was lost to the formation of Gem County in 1915. Shortly after, in 1917, some territory was lost to the formation of Payette County.

"Canyon County was named for the small canyon through which the Boise River flows near Caldwell. What is now Canyon County played an important part in the early history of Idaho. Efforts to establish post at the mouth of the Boise River in 1812-13 and in 1819 were not successful. The Hudson Bay Company established Fort Boise in 1834 near what is now Parma and it was abandoned in 1855. Emigrants traveled through Canyon County on the Oregon Trail, and in 1854, twenty-one persons were killed in the Ward Massacre south of Meridian. The early settlers located farms along the Boise and Snake Rivers, and population quickly expanded when the Oregon Shortline crossed the county in 1883. Caldwell was platted in 1883 and incorporated in 1889. Nampa was incorporated in 1890 and the College of Idaho was founded at Caldwell in 1891. Agriculture is the chief industry of the county made possible by a vast acreage of irrigated land, and it has numerous small manufacturing and processing plants." -- Idaho Almanac, 1977 Edition, State of Idaho.

"County seat is Caldwell. Created from a portion of Ada County by an act of the State Legislature 7 March 1891. Located in SW Idaho, with the Snake River as its western and southern boundary. The Boise River furnishes irrigation water throughout the central and southern portions. Owyhee County lies to the South; Ada County to the East; Payette and Gem counties to the North; Oregon to the West. Current sources attribute the name to the canyon o f the Boise River near Caldwell. However, both John Rees and Vardis Fisher believed it was named for the Snake River Canyon, which forms a natural boundary for the county." -- Idaho Place Names, A Geographical Dictionary by Lalia Boone, 1988.