April 4, 2000
Contact: Mel Coulter, Public Information Specialist, (208) 334-8002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Become a road scholar with new Idaho Highway Historical Marker Guide

BOISE — Do you know where Idaho's first capital was, or what Idaho's oldest town is, or what town's bank was robbed by Butch Cassidy? You'd know the answers — Lewiston, Franklin and Montpelier — if you looked on pages 141, 118 and 111 of the Idaho Highway Historical Marker Guide. Test your Idaho history IQ with this quiz.

A new edition of the guide is now available, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) announced. Organized by highway, the compact guide provides a location and description for more than 240 historical markers. The guide is also packed with 90 old-time photos, drawings and maps, most of which illustrate the historical places described in the book.

"Demand for the last guide was so great that they sold out," said ITD Public Information Specialist Joe Relk. "We expect even higher demand for the new version."

The guides are a non-profit undertaking to promote interest in Idaho's rich historical past. ITD has been working with the Idaho Historical Society since 1956 to standardize, organize and update the highway marker system. The Idaho Historical Society proposes sites and prepares information for the signs. ITD directs the preparation, location, installation and maintenance of the four-foot by eight-foot wooden signs.

The program was revitalized in 1986 with the installation of more than 100 new signs in preparation for Idaho's centennial celebration in 1990. Now over 240 historical markers are found at roadside turnouts and rest areas throughout Idaho's highway system from U.S. 2 to Idaho 200.

The new guide updates markers, and also offers maps of historic trails, an index of license plate designators and their history and an Idaho history primer. The new 164-page guide offers interesting historical facts and fascinating photos of an Idaho that no longer exists — 26 more pages than the old guide.

By providing the location and text for each historical marker, the guide acts as a historical compass to enhance the traveling pleasure for both Idahoans and their visitors. Whether gracing a coffee table or fitting neatly into a car's glove compartment, discovering Idaho is always just a page away with the Idaho Historical Marker Guide.

The $5 cost for the guide covers production costs and ensures that the guide will continue to be produced and illuminate Idaho's history for future generations. To order, send a check or money order to:

Idaho Transportation Department
Public Information Section/ Historical Guide
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, Idaho 83707

For comments, suggestions and corrections, e-mail the Office of Public Affairs at: PublicInfo@itd.idaho.gov .