Declo, ID

    Declo, ID

    • Settled:  Originally a Mormon settlement, founded in late 1870s; townsite was surveyed in 1909 and 1910; incorporated in 1912
    • Original Name: Marshfield, after Marsh Creek, that ran through town before emptying in the Snake River
    • Origin of Name: When Marshfield applied for a post office in 1917, officials insisted the settlement be renamed, since there were already 5 Marshfields; according to tradition, when its name was changed, it was decided to create a name consisting of the initials of the first five people to come into the post office so it was christened Declo, after August Detlef, General Enyeart, James Cooley, Hyrum Lewis and Lorenzo Olsen, using the quintet’s inititials of their last names         
    • Known for: Pumping stations for the Minidoka Reclamation Area are located north of town; Hwy 30 South, the main route from Boise ran through town  before the freeway was built, continuing south through Malta, Strevell, Snowville, Salt Lake City, and other southern points
    • Famous Residents:  J.R. (Jack) Simplot & family moved to the area in 1909, when he was one-year old, and raised near Declo; Simplot, the founder of J.R. Simplot Co. was Idaho’s first billionaire, an industrialist and philanthropist 
    • Notable Features: Cemetery, City Hall, Post Office; LDS Church; Declo Elementary School K-5, Declo Middle School 6-9, Declo High School 10-12; LDS church; Convenience Stores, Restaurants,  Beauty Shops, Farm-related Service Businesses; once had banks, a grocery store, several retail businesses, and for many years had an antique railroad car, said to have contained the mummified remains of John Wilkes Booth, which currently resides at Burley’s Cassia Historical Museum
    • Location:  9.2 miles (10 minutes) east of Burley on Hwy 81 E
    • Population 2022: 338

    Last Mortified: