History:

Our small town of Wilder, Idaho is nestled between the Boise and Snake Rivers in the western part of Canyon County, conveniently located thirty miles west of Boise.

Homesteaders began arriving as early as 1904 with the hope of irrigation water being provided soon with the development of the Boise Project. Referred to as a barren tract of sagebrush land, the area bloomed into one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the nation.

The settlement and history of Wilder was not only irrigation and farming though. Like many towns, the possibility of a railroad passing through created opttimism. Corresponding in time with the new irrigation project, a railroad company captured the interest of the area settlers. The project, as proposed, envisioned a line from San Francisco, California to Butte, Montana through Wilder. The San Francisco-Idaho-Montana Railway Company was incorporated in 1904 and sold to the Short Line Railroad Company in 1909 who actually constructed the present railway service from Caldwell to Wilder instead of going on to San Francisco as first planned.

The name "Wilder" is believed to have been named for Marshall P. Wilder, publisher of a popular woman's magazine, "The Delineator." Mr. Wilder allegedly offered to print a positive article about the community, if the town received his name.