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KUNA
IDAHO

KUNA

Kuna is a city in Ada County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Boise Metropolitan Statistical Area, otherwise referred to as the Boise Valley, and is located approximately 18 miles southwest of downtown Boise, the state capital. Kuna is located at an elevation of 2,694 feet above sea level.

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In 1863, silver and gold ore were discovered in the Owyhee Mountains, resulting in a boom town called Silver City and a trail toward it from Fort Boise. A one way station along that treacherous route was known as Fifteen Mile Station, because it was 15 miles southwest of Boise and approximately 20 miles from the Snake River. The station was abandoned after a mine shutdown due to violence. In 1881, when the Oregon Short Line Railway Company started building its line westward across Idaho, it bypassed Boise City due to the uneven terrain, and instead established a construction and materials camp at Fifteen Mile House station, because the Silver City road crossed the railway right of way there. Weather, accidents, and violence reportedly killed nine mine workers, followed by a diphtheria epidemic that killed 11 more.

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When the line was put into operation in September of 1882 or 1883, a station was placed at that point and called "Kuna." A settlement grew up around the station and flourished. During the years 1883 to 1887, supplies for Boise City, Idaho City, Placerville, Centerville, and Silver City were transported by freight wagon from the railroad at Kuna. Hauling goods and passengers to Boise became an important local industry. The early town consisted of at least three warehouses, a depot, and a post office, which was established in 1884. But the early settlement of Kuna was short. After the branch line from Nampa to Boise was completed in 1887, the need for a depot at Kuna was over. The settlement closed down and Kuna became just another railroad siding. Years after the original settlement, all that remains is a signboard with the name Kuna and a graveyard containing the victims of the diphtheria epidemic, now known as Pioneer Cemetery.

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