Pictures of Pioneer Tent and Awning Company
Artist Rhonda Marker Hall created a water color sketch of the building.
Several Old Pictures including an indoor view.
In downtown Boise there is a large white horse atop an aged building near 6th and main. The Building was built in 1910 for the Pioneer Tent and Awning Company. For 62 years the building sold everything from tents and canvas, to sporting goods and saddles. In 1972, the building was bought by Joan Davidson Carley, who began collecting historic storefronts in the neighborhood. Today IndieMade, Jimmie Johns, Wise Guy Pizza Pie, Jenny’s Lunch Line, and others are operating out of this historic building which has housed both minstrel shows and the first two sessions of the Territorial Legislature.
While most businesses imported their goods from the East, the success of the Pioneer Tent and Awning Company came from manufacture of local goods. Pioneer Tent and Awning Company began frame building located at 516 Main Street. By 1903 the company was advertising in the city directory that they were manufacturers and dealers in Tents, Awnings, Wagon covers, Machine, Hay and Grain Pauling, Miners’ and Herders’ Supplies, and Cotton Duck goods of every description. By 1905 the company had relocated in slightly more commodious quarters when they moved into a building at 524 W. Main. The rapid expansion soon caused the company to outgrow its quarters, so a new brick building was constructed on the corner of Sixth and Main in 1910. This building was two stories in height, 50x122 feet, modern in every respect and thoroughly equipped for the business of the company with display and sales rooms on the first floor and manufacturing shops on the second floor.
Ira Rohrer stated that he started the business in 1900 with a capital of only $11.00, but by 1912 it was the “largest establishment of its kind in the state, employing on an average of twenty persons.” By this time the company had added a harness and saddlery department, and was manufacturing extensively in this line. Salesmen traveled throughout Idaho and other western states selling the company’s goods.
Through the years the store adapted itself to the changing times. With the advent of automobile transportation, an automobile fitting shop was opened where canvas tops and other accessories were custom made.
After the Pioneer Tent and Awning business finally closed in 1972, the building was transformed into Old Boise, a “mini-mall” with many shops occupying the space that once was used to make and sell canvas and leather goods.
Joan Davidson Carley, a woman with no formal business training, she followed her passion for preservation, built a family business and created a district with character in Downtown’s core. The great-granddaughter of Boise businessman C.W. Moore, Carley got her start in 1974,while others tore down Boise’s old buildings, she bought them. Carley started with the Pioneer Tent and Awning Building at 6th and Main streets, and began collecting other historic storefronts in the neighborhood. She’s considered a catalyst for positive expansion in Boise for reusing many historic buildings.
Current Address: 106 N. 6th St., Boise, ID 83702
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/11/30/1898373/boise-developer-lived-life-on.html
http://www.history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0733.pdf
http://genealogytrails.com/ida/idahostate/bios/bios_letr.html
