Twin Falls

History

Excavations at Wilson Butte Cave near Twin Falls in 1959 revealed evidence of human activity, including arrowheads, that rank among the oldest dated artifacts in North America. Later Native American tribes predominant in the area included the Northern Shoshone and Bannock. The first people of European ancestry to visit the Twin Falls area are believed to be members of a group led by American Wilson Price Hunt, who attempted to blaze an all-water trail westward from St. Louis, Missouri, to Astoria, Oregon, in 1811 and 1812. Hunt's expedition met with disaster; much of his expedition was destroyed and one man was killed in rapids on the Snake River known as Caldron Linn near present-day Murtaugh. Hunt and the surviving members of his expedition completed the journey to Astoria by land. In 1812 and 1813, Robert Stuart successfully led an overland expedition eastward from Astoria to St. Louis, which passed through the Twin Falls area. Stuart's route formed the basis of what became the Oregon Trail. Some 150 years later, Robert Stuart Middle School in Twin Falls was named in his honor. The first permanent settlement in the area was a stage stop established in 1864 at Rock Creek near the present-day townsite. By 1890, a handful of successful agricultural operations were in the Snake River Canyon, but the lack of infrastructure and the canyon's geography made irrigating the dry surrounding area improbable at best. To address this issue in 1900, I. B. Perrine founded the Twin Falls Land and Water Company, largely to build an irrigation canal system for the area. After an August 1900 area survey of in October 1900, the company was granted the necessary water rights to begin construction of the irrigation system. Several lots in the surveyed area were set aside specifically…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.59%) is water. The Snake River Canyon forms the city's northern limits, separating it from Jerome County. Three waterfalls are in the immediate area. Shoshone Falls is located about east of Twin Falls city. Pillar Falls is located roughly upstream from the Perrine Bridge, while Twin Falls, the city's namesake, is located upstream of Shoshone Falls. Shoshone Falls stands at , which is higher than Niagara Falls. The Perrine Bridge, which spans the Snake River Canyon immediately north of the city, is one of only a handful of artificial structures worldwide where BASE jumping is legal. In September 2005, Miles Daisher of Twin Falls set a BASE-jumping world record by jumping off Perrine Bridge 57 times in a 24-hour period. In July 2006, Dan Schilling jumped off the bridge 201 times in 21 hours to raise money for charity. Unlike Daisher, Schilling was hoisted to the top of the bridge by a crane after every jump.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  3,680
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3,603
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  3,567
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  3,438
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,940
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,877
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,540
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  2,453

Largest nearby schools

• CANYON RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TWIN FALLS · 1,409 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• TWIN FALLS HIGH SCHOOL
  High · TWIN FALLS · 1,286 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• VERA C O'LEARY MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · TWIN FALLS · 783 students · 21.8:1 ratio
• ROBERT STUART MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · TWIN FALLS · 765 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• XAVIER CHARTER SCHOOL
  Other · TWIN FALLS · 672 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• ROCK CREEK ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · TWIN FALLS · 668 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• SOUTH HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · TWIN FALLS · 625 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• KIMBERLY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · KIMBERLY · 616 students · 19.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.68 — 2026-04-27
  32 km SW of Jackpot, Nevada
• M 2.8 — 2002-02-06
  31 km N of Glenns Ferry, Idaho