Boise metro, ID relocation guide
Moving to Placerville, ID
About Placerville
Placerville is a living gold-rush ghost town in the Boise Basin — about 53 year-round residents (2020 census), once a boomtown of 3,200–5,000 in 1863. Founded in December 1862 on rich placer ground, it was the first camp reached by miners coming up the Payette River and Harris Creek, and quickly built 90+ houses, thirteen saloons, seven restaurants, and even a street grid with a town square ("the plaza") — unusual for a mining camp. It obtained one of the first city charters in Idaho Territory. The Great Fire of 1899 (plus an earlier one) destroyed most wooden structures; rebuilding in brick and stone gives today's streetscape its character. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, Placerville survives on gold-panning tourism and summer residents: the Boise Basin Mercantile (1860s, one of Idaho's first chain stores), the Magnolia Saloon (now the Henrietta Penrod Museum), and Donna's Place store keep the plaza alive.
Home prices in Placerville
Home prices in Placerville vary by neighborhood and property type.
Top places in Placerville
- Boise Basin Mercantile — 1860s general store turned museum with period goods and the original one-cell jail in the basement.
- Magnolia Saloon / Henrietta Penrod Museum — fine china, fans, and relics of Chinese miners.
- The "plaza" town square — the rare gold-rush street grid.
- Placerville Historic Cemetery.
- Gold panning in surrounding creeks and visible mining tailings.
- Boise National Forest trails and hunting around the basin.
Commuting from Placerville
- No rail transit in the Boise metro — commutes are by car; no transit service this far out.
- Placerville is about 50 miles northeast of Boise via SH-21 through Idaho City; the drive to downtown Boise is approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Reached via Harris Creek Road off SH-21.
Placerville FAQs
- What is the housing market like in Placerville, ID?
Home prices in Placerville vary by neighborhood and property type. Price snapshot unavailable - How is the commute from Placerville, ID?
No rail transit in the Boise metro — commutes are by car; no transit service this far out.
Town links
Schools
Official town resources. School report cards via the National Center for Education Statistics.