Cassia County, ID

About Cassia County

Cassia (pronounced CAZZ-yuh) County was created in 1879 from the original Idaho counties of Owyhee and Oneida. Its original jurisdiction included all of what is now Twin Falls County and part of Oneida County. According to Wikipedia, ”On December 31, 1863, Owyhee County became the first county organized by the Idaho Territory Legislature. While Boise, Idaho, Nez Perce, and Shoshone counties were organized under the laws of Washington Territory, they were not recognized by the Territory Idaho Territory until February 1864.The original county seat at Ruby City was moved to nearby Silver City. Owyhee County’s original boundary was the portion of Idaho Territory south of the Snake River and west of the Rocky Mountains.

Less than a month after the creation of Owyhee County, Oneida County was formed in January 1864 from the county’s eastern portion.” The vastness of Owyhee County presented enormous logistical challenges, as residents had to travel to the county seat in Silver City or the Territorial Capital in Boise to conduct county business- long journeys that took several days by horseback. A petition to divide Owyhee County into smaller, more manageable areas was drawn up in 1877. But, the petition arrived too late for the Territorial Legislature to act that session, and since the Legislature only met every other year at that time. consideration of the petition was delayed, then finally granted on February 10, 1879. Cassia County originally included all of what is now Twin Falls County in the west and Power County in the east. 

Marsh Basin, later renamed Albion, was originally designated as the county seat, but the county seat was moved to Burley in 1918, since Burley was more centrally-located. The residents immediately began setting up their county government, creating election boards in each of the communities and providing for the building and care of roads. The 1904 completion of the Minidoka Dam, of the Minidoka Reclamation project, delivering irrigation water throughout the Magic Valley, brought in countless families eager to homestead the newly-developed lands.