Nampa began its life as a small railway townrailroad town in the early 1880s. More railroad lines sprung up running through Nampa, making it a very important railway townrailroad town. Nampa was founded in 1886, and a year later had grown from 15 homes to 50. As new amenities were added to the town, Nampa continued to grow. It was incorporated in 1891. Unlike most towns in that historic era with streets running true north and south, Nampa's historic roads run perpendicular to the railroad tracks that travel northwest to southeast through the town. Thus, the northside is really the northeast side of the tracks, and the southside is really the southwest side of the railroad tracks. Founder Alexander Duffes laid out Nampa's streets this way to prevent an accident like one that occurred earlier in a town he had platted near Toronto, Canada. In that town, a woman and her two children were killed by a train when they started across the railroad tracks in a buggy and the wheel got stuck. Nampa has the fanciest of many Oregon Short Line Railroad train stationdepots built in the area. The first primary educationelementary school was built in the 1890's. Lakeview school was located on a hill on 6th Street and 12th Avenue North, with a view of Lake Ethel. Just after the school's centennial celebration, it was condemned as a school and sold to the MennoniteFirst Mennonite Church. The building still stands to this day. Lake Ethel was later drained because it caused some floodflooding in neighboring homes. The area was converted to Lakeview parkPark. It is Nampa's largest park and many community celebrations are held there. Colonel William H. Dewey, a man who made a fortune mining in Silver City, IdahoSilver City, seeing the advantage of 4 railroad lines, built the elegant Dewey Palace Hotel in 1902 for a quarter of a million dollars. Colonel Dewey died in his hotel in 1903, leaving his son a million dollars. The hotel survived the great fire of 1909, which burned several blocks of downtown Nampa, but was razed in 1963 because no one wanted to invest in renovating the grand structure. relicRelics from the hotel, such as the chandelier and the hotel safe can be found at the Canyon County Historical Museum, which is housed in the old train depot on Front Street and Nampa City Hall. A Carnegie library was built downtown in 1908. It burned down after the library moved in 1966. Deer Flat Reservoir, an offstream irrigation storage reservoir, was constructed by the United States Reclamation Service between 1906 and 1911. Known locally as Lake Lowell, it is surrounded by the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The refuge is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Idaho State School and Hospital was built in Nampa in 1910, for the state's Developmental disabilitydevelopmentally challenged population. It opened in 1918. The institution was largely self sufficient. It had a large farm which was worked by the residents. The higher functioning residents also cared for residents who couldn't do anything for themselves. Much has changed in the care of persons with developmental disabilities from the time of the state school's opening. The old farm has been sold as a golf course, and residents no longer give primary care to other residents. The institution is much more modern and remains in operation, though a few of the old buildings are now used to house juvenile offenders. Nampa held an annual harvest festival and farmers' market from about 1908. It was a time of celebration and community fun. From this festival emerged the Snake River Stampede Rodeo in 1937, which continues to this day. It is one of the top twelve rodeos in the pro rodeo circuits. A local congregation of the Church of the Nazarene built a small primary educationelementary school in 1913, later growing to Northwest Nazarene College in 1915 and finally to Northwest Nazarene University. The university currently educates about 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. In 1965, the Karcher Mall was built, becoming the first indoor shopping mall in the Treasure Valley. Many area residents have memories of having an Orange Julius, sitting on Santa ClausSanta's lap (Arthur Yensen), or playing games at the Red Baron video arcadearcade in the mall. Karcher Mall was "the place to gather" for several decades until the Boise towne squareBoise Towne Square was built in Boise, IdahoBoise in 1988, drawing the business and the people away. Karcher Mall is now struggling to remain in operation. Relief may come from a new Interstate 84 (west)Interstate 84 Interchange that was completed in late 2006 and provides easy access to the area for commercial, industrial and residential development. Nampa is booming with new homes, new shopping centers and new roads. Treasure Valley Marketplace north of the Karcher Interchange opened with Costco and Target with Best Buy and Kohl's in opening March 2007. Three interstate exits to the east in Nampa, Nampa Gateway Center with J.C. Penney and other large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, have opened near the Idaho Center. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nampa%2C_Idaho