There’s something about looking at old photos that does more than any history textbook ever could. Books are great for telling the hard facts, but it’s photos that give you insight into what it was like to actually live in that time. These photos were all taken in Idaho in the early 1900s, mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. Accessible through the Library of Congress, they show us what it was like to live in Idaho way back when!

The daughter of a farmer living in the Resettlement Administration purchase area in Oneida County. Her family is about to be removed to better farmland and the present land converted for grazing.
Arthur Rothstein/LOC
Workers unload crates of freshly-picked peas in Nampa, Idaho in 1941.
Russell Lee/LOC
Japanese-Americans taking a break in Minidoka, Idaho. In 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive order that put 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans into 10 isolated "war relocation centers." Minidoka was one of them.
Russell Lee/LOC
People walking down the main street in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1941.
Russell Lee/LOC
Funnily enough, this scene hasn't changed that much! A view of Stanley, Idaho, including the Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains in 1942.
Russell Lee/LOC

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In Lemhi County, Idaho in 1942. To cross the Salmon River to the ranch house, you had to use this cable car to get to the opposite side.
Russell Lee/LOC
The railroad station in Bonners Ferry and what looks to be an arriving train in the background.
Russell Lee/LOC
An Idaho state employment representative (left) chats with farm workers living at the FSA migratory labor camp in Wilder, Idaho. The state employment service had offices at most FSA camps.
Russell Lee/LOC
A group of kids and a chaperone enjoying their summer at a local swimming pool in Rupert, Idaho.
Russell Lee/LOC
Some of the children of a family of 14 lived in this old chuck wagon in Oneida County, 1936.
Arthur Rothstein/LOC

Wow. These photos are truly incredible. Which of these historic photos of early Idaho stood out to you the most? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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