[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING BONNEVILLE COUNTY COURTHOUSE'S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, with my colleagues Senator Jim Risch 
and Representative Mike Simpson, we join the community of Idaho Falls 
and Bonneville County in celebrating the centennial of the Bonneville 
County Courthouse.
  In many ways, the courthouse is a lasting symbol of the area's growth 
and achievements. In 1919, when area citizens voted to bond the 
courthouse, which had an original construction cost of $268,880, the 
Bonneville County Heritage Association reports, ``Bonneville County was 
known as one of the big, wealthy and progressive counties of the state 
with the smallest indebtedness of any county.'' Architects Lionel E. 
Fisher and Charles Aitkins designed the courthouse in the neoclassical 
style. Construction began on December 1, 1919, and was completed on 
March 16, 1921. The community has since grown up around it--developing 
and progressing into modern-day Bonneville County. The population of 
Bonneville County was 17,501 at the time of the 1920 Census when the 
courthouse was built and now surpasses 130,000 people, contributing to 
the area's diverse geography and economy that includes family farms 
producing an abundance of agriculture products and world-renowned 
energy research at the Idaho National Laboratory.
  For more than 100 years, this grand and eminent courthouse, which was 
listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1979, 
has served this area of the Gem State with distinction. The courthouse 
has the largest original stained-glass skylight in a county courthouse 
in Idaho, was constructed of sandstone from Boise, and its original 
grand marble staircase and tile floor in the upper rotunda has 
withstood the test of time. From the Native Americans, explorers, 
trappers, and traders who have passed through and put down roots in 
this area of our great State to the current residents of Idaho Falls 
who have built businesses, families, and beautiful lives, there is no 
doubt the courthouse has witnessed significant achievements.
  We join in congratulating those who built, maintained, and who have 
carried out important work in the Bonneville County Courthouse over the 
past century. We wish the residents of Bonneville County well and 
congratulate Idahoans on this milestone in the county's and Idaho's 
history.

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