On the recordMarch 25, 2010
today I congratulate and acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city of Middleton, ID. On April 10, 2010, the citizens of Middleton will gather at Roadside Park to commemorate the 100th year of its founding. This is a very historic and special day for this western Idaho community. From its early days as a settlement in 1863, Middleton's history has embodied the frontier spirit and entrepreneurship that makes the United States a promised land of opportunity. After a gold rush struck Boise Basin, Middleton became the earliest settlement in what is now Canyon County. Middleton was named for its location on the old Oregon Trail midway between Boise City and Olds Ferry on the Snake River. Primarily an agricultural community, Middleton became a center for milling in the West in 1871 when J.M. Stephenson and J.C. Isaacs opened their flour mill. The turn of the century brought the Idaho Northern Railway to Middleton and with it a bank, hotel and other business development. A few short years later, the town was officially incorporated on April 10, 1910. Today, Middleton remains rooted in agriculture with potatoes, sugar beets, corn, mint, grains and dairy among its products. At the same time, it is one of Idaho's fastest-growing communities with greater portions of the Treasure Valley workforce moving there to enjoy the amenities of country living and small-town friendliness.
