Dewey, Idaho

Dewey is a ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States.

Dewey, Idaho
Ghost town
Dewey in 1898
Dewey, Idaho
Dewey, Idaho
Coordinates: 43°02′25″N 116°45′44″W
CountryUnited States
StateIdaho
CountyOwyhee
Elevation
6,010 ft (1,830 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID397625[1]

History
The Superintendent's Residence (left) and Hotel Dewey, 1898

The town was settled in 1863 and named "Booneville", after its first inhabitant, Captain Boone.[1][2] Booneville was at first very prosperous, but then fell into decay.[2]

In 1896, the property at Booneville and its hotel were purchased by Colonel W.H. Dewey, superintendent of the Florida Mountain Mining Company. Dewey's company erected a mill, and a mine was located nearby.[2][3] The town had a butcher shop, general store, steam laundry, livery stable and barn, and a large hotel, the Hotel Dewey. "Nothing had been neglected in the way of making the town complete as to conveniences for its inhabitants".[2]:69

A post office was established in 1897, and was named "Dewey".[2]

Within a few years, there was a decline in mining, and the hotel had burned down. The town was soon abandoned.[3]

All that remains of Dewey is a large cement powerplant building, and the mine dump.[3]

References
  1. "Dewey". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, January 1898. Owyhee Avalanche. 1898. pp. 67–70.
  3. Sparling, Wayne C. (1974). Southern Idaho Ghost Towns. Caxton Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780870042294.
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