Green lawns and river air greet you here at Julia Davis Park, tucked into downtown Boise. Created in 1907 with a land donation from Thomas Jefferson Davis, this park was the first in the city’s "String of Pearls," a series of parks along the Boise River operated by the Parks and Recreation Department. As you breathe in the river air, you can picture the park’s long roots reaching back to an 1862 journey by Thomas and Frank Davis from Cincinnati, Ohio, when they came hoping to join the gold rush in the Idaho Territory.
Around you are a cluster of cultural anchors: the Boise Art Museum, the Idaho State Historical Museum, and the Idaho Black History Museum, with Zoo Boise nearby and the Gene Harris Band Shell offering musical life. The Boise River Greenbelt runs through the park; amenities include river access, statues, a rose garden tended by the Idaho Rose Society, a playground, a tennis court, a pond with paddle-boat rentals, and a pedestrian bridge that connects to Boise State University. Broadway Avenue holds the park's eastern edge, Capital Boulevard the west, the Boise River the south, and Myrtle Street the north, with the pedestrian bridge crossing over to Boise State University.