Twin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho. As of the 2000 census Twin Falls had a total population of 34,469 (2003 estimate: 36,742).
Twin Falls is the largest city of Idaho's Magic Valley region and the seventh largest in the state. As the largest city in a 100-mile (166-kilometer) radius in any direction, Twin Falls serves as a regional commercial center for both south-central Idaho and northeastern Nevada.
Twin Falls is the principal city of the Twin Falls, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which officially includes Jerome and Twin Falls Counties. The resort community of Jackpot, Nevada, in Elko County is unofficially considered part of the greater Twin Falls area.
Twin Falls is located at 42°33'41" North, 114°27'49" West (42.561420, -114.463715).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.1 km2 (12.0 mi2). 31.1 km2 (12.0 mi2) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
The Snake River Canyon forms the city's northern limits, separating it from Jerome County. Shoshone Falls is located approximately five miles east of Twin Falls. The other falls for which the city is named, Pillar Falls is located approximately 1.5 miles upstream from the Perrine Bridge.
As of the census of 2000, there are 34,469 people, 13,274 households, and 8,867 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,108.1/km2 (2,870.1/mi2). There are 14,162 housing units at an average density of 455.3/km2 (1,179.2/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 91.77% White, 0.22% African American, 0.74% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 3.71% from other races, and 2.35% from two or more races. 8.89% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 13,274 households out of which 32.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% are married couples living together, 11.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% are non-families. 26.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.51 and the average family size is 3.05.
In the city the population is spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $32,641, and the median income for a family is $38,632. Males have a median income of $30,742 versus $20,934 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,439. 14.1% of the population and 9.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 17.5% of those under the age of 18 and 9.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Humans may have been present in the Twin Falls area as long as 14,500 years ago. 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 the area included the Northern and Western Shoshone.
The first people of European ancestry to visit the Twin Falls area are believed to be members of a group led by Wilson Price Hunt, which 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 when 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 Junior High School in Twin Falls was named in his honor.
While other explorers passed through the Twin Falls area throughout the first half of the 19th Century, none saw fit to stay in what was then considered a particularly inhospitable region of the American West.
The first permanent settlement in the area was rail station established in 1864 at Rock Creek near the present-day townsite. By 1890 there were a handful of successful agricultural operations 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 the Twin Falls Land and Water Company was formed largely to build an irrigation canal system for the area. Three years later I.B. Perrine, who had been a successful farmer and rancher in the Snake River Canyon, obtained private financing under the provisions of the Carey Act of 1894 to build Milner Dam on the Snake River near Caldron Linn. Completed in 1905, Milner Dam and its accompanying canals made commercial irrigation outside the Snake River Canyon practical for the first time. As a result Perrine is generally credited as the founder of Twin Falls. Twin Falls city was founded in 1904. It is named for a nearby waterfall on the Snake River of the same name. In 1907 Twin Falls became the seat of the newly-formed Twin Falls County.
The original townsite follows a unique design. It is laid out on northeast-to-southwest and northwest-to-southeast roads. The northwest-to-southeast roads were numbered and called avenues, while the northeast-to-southwest roads were numbered and called streets. Only two central streets, the northwest-to-southeast Main Avenue and the northeast-to-southwest Shoshone Street, were named. This system created situations where one side of a street may have an entirely different address than the other, and where the corner of "3rd and 3rd," for example, was in more than one location. In 2003 the numbered northeast-to-southwest streets were renamed to alleviate decades of confusion. Later city roads, such as Blue Lakes Boulevard, Addison Avenue and Washington Street, are laid out in standard north-south and east-west orientations.
After Milner Dam was constructed agricultural production in south-central Idaho increased substantially. Twin Falls became a major regional economic center serving the agriculture industry, a role which it has sustained to the present day. The city became a processing center for several agricultural commodities, notably beans and sugar beets. In later years other food processing operations augmented the local economy. By 1960 Twin Falls had become one of Idaho's largest cities even though its origins were still within living memory for many.
Twin Falls became the center of national attention in September 1974 thanks to an attempt by Evel Knievel to jump the Snake River Canyon in a specially-modified rocket cycle. Watched by millions on television, the attempt ultimately failed due to high winds and a premature deployment of Knievel's parachute. The foundation of the launch ramp, which lies on private land, can still be seen.
During the last quarter of the 20th Century, gradual diversification of the agriculture-based economy allowed the city to continue to grow. Major Twin Falls employers in 2006 included computer maker Dell, Inc. and Jayco, a recreational vehicle manufacturer.
In recent years Twin Falls has become quite multicultural. Thanks in large part to a refugee center operated by the College of Southern Idaho, since 1995 significant numbers of people from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Soviet Union have settled in Twin Falls. The city also has a sizeable Hispanic population.
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Twin Falls, ID
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