Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bovill

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Bovill

Bovill’s post office opened in 1907, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Hotel Bovill and the Bovill Opera House. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
3on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bovill began

When was Bovill founded?

1907

The Bovill post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 589 in 19202020 census: 191119 years
Founding year: the first Bovill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bovill’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bovill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bovill’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bovill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bovill’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Bovill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bovill.

Read it all →

Bovill was named for a settler. Hugh Bovill was an Englishman who bought the Warren Meadows homestead in 1901 to ranch. With the rapid infusion of loggers, homesteaders, and sportsmen, Bovill and his wife Charlotte opened a hotel in 1903, which included a store and post office in 1907. The railroad arrived that same year and as logging activity increased nearby, the town became too wild for the couple and their two daughters, and they left for Coeur d'Alene in 1911; (Hugh died in 1935 in Oregon, Charlotte in 1947 in California).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bovill, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Road to Bovill from the North, circa 19102014Road to Bovill from the North, circa 1910PostcardRail Line Cut, 19092014Rail Line Cut, 1909PostcardPotlatch Lumber Company Horses on Pasture, circa 19282014Potlatch Lumber Company Horses on Pasture, circa 1928PostcardMy View of Bovill, 19172014My View of Bovill, 1917PostcardMan and Bear, Circa 19102014Man and Bear, Circa 1910PostcardMain Street, circa 19302014Main Street, circa 1930PostcardMain Street in Winter, circa 19302014Main Street in Winter, circa 1930PostcardLumberyard, circa 19102014Lumberyard, circa 1910PostcardLaborers Yarding Logs, 19092014Laborers Yarding Logs, 1909PostcardHeadquarter's Boville Townsite Company, 19072014Headquarter's Boville Townsite Company, 1907PostcardForest Scene, circa 19302014Forest Scene, circa 1930PostcardForest Road, circa 19302014Forest Road, circa 1930PostcardCivilian Conservation Corps Camp, P 208, at Collins, 19332014Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, P 208, at Collins, …PostcardBovill Hospital2014Bovill HospitalPostcardBird's Eye View, 19112014Bird's Eye View, 1911PostcardLatah county (ID) roads2007Latah county (ID) roadsBovill-id-us-tavern2007Bovill-id-us-tavernIDMap-doton-Bovill2004IDMap-doton-Bovill
On the map

Bovill on the map, 1961 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bovill. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bovill on the 1961 USGS mapBovill on the 1990 USGS map1961Bovill sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bovill.

Every building

Bovill, building by building, 1916–1928

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Bovill fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Bovill

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Joseph's Catholic ChurchHotel BovillBovill Opera House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow1
St. Joseph's Catholic ChurchBungalow
Hotel BovillBuilding
Bovill Opera HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Bovill, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 589

Between 191 and 589 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bovill’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bovill

Nobody well known was born in Bovill itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Georgia ColemanDiver · b. 1912
Josh RitterAmerican musician · b. 1976
A
Andrea LloydAmerican basketball player · b. 1965
T
Tom MuellerAmerican aerospace engineer and rocket engine d… · b. 1961
Jeanette LoffAmerican actress · b. 1906
Guyle FielderAmerican-born Canadian ice hockey player · b. 1930

Questions about Bovill’s history

What year was Bovill founded?

The Bovill post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bovill?

Three places: the St. Joseph's Catholic Church (listed 1982), the Hotel Bovill (1994) and the Bovill Opera House (2010).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.