[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S2111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING MIDDLETON, IDAHO

  Mr. RISCH. Madam President, today I congratulate and acknowledge the 
100th anniversary of the founding of the city of Middleton, ID. On 
April 10, 2010, the citizens of Middleton will gather at Roadside Park 
to commemorate the 100th year of its founding. This is a very historic 
and special day for this western Idaho community.
  From its early days as a settlement in 1863, Middleton's history has 
embodied the frontier spirit and entrepreneurship that makes the United 
States a promised land of opportunity. After a gold rush struck Boise 
Basin, Middleton became the earliest settlement in what is now Canyon 
County. Middleton was named for its location on the old Oregon Trail 
midway between Boise City and Olds Ferry on the Snake River.
  Primarily an agricultural community, Middleton became a center for 
milling in the West in 1871 when J.M. Stephenson and J.C. Isaacs opened 
their flour mill. The turn of the century brought the Idaho Northern 
Railway to Middleton and with it a bank, hotel and other business 
development. A few short years later, the town was officially 
incorporated on April 10, 1910.
  Today, Middleton remains rooted in agriculture with potatoes, sugar 
beets, corn, mint, grains and dairy among its products. At the same 
time, it is one of Idaho's fastest-growing communities with greater 
portions of the Treasure Valley workforce moving there to enjoy the 
amenities of country living and small-town friendliness.
  In 2006, Middleton celebrated the election of a hometown girl, Donna 
Jones, Idaho's first female State controller. Donna was raised in 
Middleton, went to school there, and married in the historic Methodist 
church.
  Middleton gained national prominence in the summer of 2007, when the 
community came together to build a home for the Stockdale family on the 
television show ``Extreme Makeover Home Edition.'' Over the course of a 
week, hundreds of volunteers worked side by side in 100-degree heat to 
accomplish the task, demonstrating the true spirit of their community.
  Middleton has much to celebrate and look forward to in its next 
century as it provides important goods and services at home and abroad. 
Congratulations to the city of Middleton for 100 years of service and 
success.

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