Between 1897 and 1914 fourteen masonry buildings rose along this stretch of Lower Main Street, marking Boise's leap into a true metropolitan community, and eleven of them still front the street in front of you. Between 1897 and 1914 fourteen buildings rose here; today eleven remain, each brick and stone telling a bit of that story. The oldest building dates to 1897, and since 1922 Hannifin’s Cigar Store has been doing business in that very space.
Take in the lone later intrusion: the Safari Motor Inn of 1966, once the Hotel Grand of 1914, a reminder of continuing change. This stretch was recognized and protected when the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1980. Nearby you’ll notice the Gem Block of 1902 at 1000–1002 Main Street, a two‑story Romanesque Revival composition that includes the corner Gem Building at 10th and Main and the adjoining Gibbons & Knight Building at 109 N. 10th.
Both storefronts were designed by Tourtellotte & Co. and built in 1902; their brick and sandstone facades were sourced from separate locations yet present the appearance of a single unified block. Follow Main toward 10th, where the Gem Building and Gibbons & Knight meet in one unified brick and sandstone facade.