PIERCE COURTHOUSE The Pierce Courthouse, first public building in Idaho, is one block off Main Street (Idaho Highway 11) in Pierce, Idaho. A wayside exhibit summarizes the impact of gold mining on the Nez Perce. Eight panels inside the court house detail the area's history. Mining led to the reduction of the Nez Perce reservation through the treaty of 1863. The courthouse sits on a grassy lot in a small mountain town surrounded on three sides by residential development. The 20' x 40' log building with board and batten veneer was rehabilitated in 1990. Although its original context may no longer exist, it is situated among a number of other suitably scaled mining town structures. The building is open on request and on summer weekends. Shoshone County's original courthouse and Idaho's earliest public building -- still stands in Pierce, where it was built in 1862. Although Pierce gained a large population for a year after gold was discovered here in 1860, most miners soon moved on to other camps. By 1880, Shoshone County had only 469 people left, of whom 296 were Chinese. When a new gold rush 80 miles farther north led to the removal of county government to Murray in 1885, Pierce's courthouse became a private home. Eventually the courthouse was preserved by Mrs. Henry Spencer Lawson.

	State: Idaho Unit: Upper Clearwater / White Bird