New Plymouth

History

New Plymouth was a colony town, bought and planned before it was settled. It was the combined project of a group of people purportedly dissatisfied with city life in Chicago, who in 1895 formed what they called "The Plymouth Society of Chicago" and William E. Smythe, who was the chairman of the executive committee of the National Irrigation Congress and a famous irrigation promoter. Mr. Smythe was determined to found a colony to serve as a striking argument in favor of his project - irrigation. He spoke throughout the east, urging young and old men to go west in colonies and develop the country with the help of irrigation. He wanted the first colony to be called New Plymouth — after Plymouth, Massachusetts — and wanted it located in southwestern Idaho in the Payette Valley, which he had found apt for his purpose because of the extraordinary water supply via the nearby Payette River. The Plymouth Society of Chicago selected a committee to investigate the irrigated Payette River Valley in the five-year-old state of Idaho, and another site in Colorado, to be purchased for the colony. The present city of New Plymouth was on the drawing boards in Chicago, designed as a town able to be self-reliant through the use of irrigation, solidly built on an agricultural and railroad economy. In February 1896, each colonist purchased 20 shares of stock at $30 per share, which entitled him to of land and a town lot. He was to clear the land of sagebrush and plant fruit trees, preferably apples. The town was platted with a horseshoe shape with its open end facing to the north, toward the railroad and the river. This area was planned as an industrial zone, and the acre tracts around the horseshoe were the residential lots. The homes were to be built on the street side and the balance…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,717
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  3,564
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,113
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,052
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,763
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,637
• American Kestrel

  Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,568
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,545

Largest nearby schools

• FRUITLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · FRUITLAND · 557 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• FRUITLAND HIGH SCHOOL
  High · FRUITLAND · 542 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• TREASURE VALLEY CLASSICAL ACADEMY
  Other · FRUITLAND · 537 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• FRUITLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · FRUITLAND · 510 students · 22.2:1 ratio
• PAYETTE PRIMARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · PAYETTE · 458 students · 21.8:1 ratio
• NEW PLYMOUTH ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · NEW PLYMOUTH · 456 students · 21.7:1 ratio
• PAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · PAYETTE · 394 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• NEW PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NEW PLYMOUTH · 306 students · 19.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2025-10-18
  20 km SE of Cascade, Idaho
• M 2.7 — 2024-12-27
  6 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
• M 2.7 — 2024-12-15
  7 km NNW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
• M 2.7 — 2024-11-29
  6 km N of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
• M 3 — 2024-08-04
  7 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho
• M 2.7 — 2024-08-04
  7 km NW of Smiths Ferry, Idaho