Gem County Historical Society Inc

Martin House could be dismantled

   Contractors may be able to dismantle the historic Martin House to move it to a different location. The 1878 house still stands behind a business on North Washington Avenue between the sites of the original Martinsville ferry and the river ford at the end of Wardwell Avenue.

    The first estimate by a local contractor to dismantle the house was approximately $25,000. The walls, ceiling, doors and windows could be preserved.

    Before the house would be dismantled, decisions would have to be made regarding lead paint and asbestos. Samples would be taken to a lab to verify if there are hazards.

   The Martin family was one of the founding pioneer families of the valley.

The old home is in great shape but will need internal structural support before it can be moved.

Needs are:

• Engineering and framing costs

• Internal structural support

• Restoration of leakage area

• House moving expenses

• Internal and external restoration

Nathaniel Martin House, A Piece of History Nearly Forgotten!

The Martin House is at the end of Wardwell Avenue in Emmett. She has stood there since about 1878.

Around 1862. the Jonathan Smith family and Nathaniel Martin came west from war-torn Missouri, seeking their fortunes in the newly discovered goldfields. The partners started a ferry crossing on the Payette River and built a hostelry to accommodate the miners coming from Oregon to the Idaho gold strikes and for the emigrants going to Oregon from the States.

The Smith family ran the inn and grew produce to sell to the folks moving both ways across the Payette Valley. "Squire" Martin ran the ferry just west of the present river bridge. He preformed marriages and sold a few supplies from his log cabin. This busy bud of a community was called Martinsville. Martin filed on his homestead in October 1872. The plat was 48.38 acres along the Payette River west of present Washington Avenue. The well-timbered land was remembered by his granddaughter, Pearl, as a great place for family picnics and picking wild flowers and wild currants.

In June of 1877, Nathaniel's son James Madison Martin (known as Matt) came out from Missouri with his wife Sarah and their young family. They all shared the log cabin. Very soon after their arrival, Matt and Nathaniel became interested in building a general merchandise store.

A year or so later, the family built a "pretentious" house, with the assistance of carpenter Clint Brown. Brown was also the first undertaker in the valley, but undertaking business was pretty slow in this new little community. The spacious two-story home was built on ten acres between Martin's Ferry and the low-water ford at the end of Wardwell Avenue. It was built of the best hand-planed lumber available at the Basye sawmill using square, wrought iron nails. The interior was well sealed and painted. The walls in the kitchen sported faux wood-grain panels and the doors through out the house had the same finish. A window frame from Nathaniel's cabin was used in the new kitchen.

Furniture for the new home was built by Nathaniel and later by his brother John Wesley Martin when he brought his family out in 1887. Squire Martin shared the new house with Matt's family until his death in 1884.

James M. "Matt" Martin was a farmer and orchardist. His produce was taken to the Boise Basin to sell. He was immediately active in the public affairs of the village, county, territory and state. Matt served as a member of the 15th legislative session of the Idaho Territory in 1881. He was a longtime board member of the Emmett School District, very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1903, he was again a legislator - this time for the new state of Idaho, as Sergeant At Arms in the Senate Chamber.

Matt and Sarah Martin made their warm home a shelter for travelers to the Boise Basin. It was also a home for the new school teahers and the center of the new settlement's social life. The Martin home continued to serve as a comfortable shelter for many families for over 125 years.

This stoic house still stands rooted between the sites of the ferry and the ford - the oldest reminder of our community's beginning. She is now left to slowly deteriorate and has become a target for vandals, who perhaps do not understand the importance of her long history and what she represents for Emmett.