Oakley

Watch a clip about Oakley from Designing Idaho

The town of Oakley, located near the City of Rocks by the Utah border, began in the 1800's as a railroad town that transitioned to agriculture and mining. When Utah ranchers saw the abundant water resources of this region they settled here, bringing with them skilled European stonemasons.

"As the Mormon settlers came in, it was their intent to build a community and not just random housing for ranching, farming or whatever," says Robert G. Felman, president of the Oakley Valley Historical Association. And so began a construction boom of Victorian homes that lasted well after this style ceased to be popular everywhere else.

By 1911, Oakley had seven miles of sidewalks and was one of the largest cities in Southern Idaho at the time. It was around this time that the construction of Victorian homes finally began to decline here, due mainly to their high cost and energy inefficiency.

Oakley reached its peak in population in the 1920's; but a couple of big fires and the Snake River reclamation project caused a large portion of its residents to move elsewhere, abandoning many of these beautiful homes.

Today this remains a small agricultural town, but current residents have taken on the challenge of restoring these homes to their former glory, giving Oakley perhaps more Victorians than any other small town in the state.