Boise State University District in Ada County, Idaho — The American West (Mountains)

First Protestant Episcopal Church

In Montana · Idaho · Utah

— Erected 1866 —

First Protestant Episcopal Church Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, June 27, 2023

1. First Protestant Episcopal Church Marker

Inscription.

A witness in a new country to Christian faith
High adventure · Missionary courage

This tablet is erected to the memory of
Daniel Sylvester Tuttle
First Missionary Bishop of Idaho 1867 - 1886

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1866.

Location. 43° 36.189′ N, 116° 11.635′ W. Marker is in Boise, Idaho, in Ada County. It is in the Boise State University District. It is on West Cesar Chavez Lane, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Boise ID 83706, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Idaho’s Snake River Plain.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Christ Chapel (within shouting distance of this marker); Crossing the River (within

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shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Crossing the River (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Crossing the River (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named Crossing the River (about 600 feet away); Bronco Stadium (approx. 0.2 miles away); Father of Bronco Football (approx. 0.2 miles away); Bronco Gymnasium (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boise.

Other markers no longer nearby. Boise State University (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed); Airmail Service (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed).

More about this marker. The marker is monumented on the southwest corner of the chapel.

Also see . . . National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.

NRHP Nomination Form Statement of Significance: In 1866, at a cost of $2000, the Reverend St. Michael Fabler and his congregation built an Episcopal church in Boise. Fackler was the only minister of any denomination when he came to Boise in 1864. Born in
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, June 27, 2023

2. First Protestant Episcopal Church Marker
Staunton, Virginia, he was graduated from the Theological Seminary at Alexandria in 1840. He was ordained deacon on July 9, 1840, and priest (Episcopal) on July 20, 1846.

Answering a call for a volunteer to go to the mining country of the newly-established territory of Idaho, Fackler found that the rough miners and pioneers of Boise liked him and urged him to stay. He agreed on the condition that they help him build a church and congregation. He held services in a schoolhouse until the church was built. It was opened for services on September 2, 1866.

Fackler left Boise in October 1866 to rejoin his wife and child ren in New York. Cholera broke out on his ship and he ministered to the sick constantly. Weary, he too fell sick, died of cholera and was buried on Key West, Florida on January 7, 1867. To the hardy pioneers of Boise, there was only one way that seemed suitable for them to pay their respect to St. Michael Fackler. On August 29, 1867, the Rev. G. D. B. Miller christened the little church St. Michael's.

In September 1867, St. Michael's began serving as an educational institution when it opened its doors to fifteen
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, June 27, 2023

3. First Protestant Episcopal Church Markers
Christ Chapel
Erected 1866
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
July 17,1974

Historic Landmark designated by the Historic Preservation Commission
City of Boise, 2013
In Celebration of Boise's Sesquicentennial
students. One of its most noteworthy instructors was the famous pioneer bishop, Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, who taught there for three months in the fall of 1870. St. Michael's continued to serve certain educational needs until 1892 when St. Margaret's school for girls took over. In 1932, St. Margaret's became Boise Junior College, and at the prospect of the little church's demolition in 1962, the Board of Trustees of Boise Junior College unanimously agreed that the college wanted the building. $20,000 was donated by the Idaho Daily Statesman to move and restore it. Concerned citizens formed the Christ Chapel Historical Society in the summer of 1963 and this body now holds ownership.

Idaho's earliest Gothic Revival buildings have either disappeared or become badly decayed. Christ Chapel is an exception, and today stands restored, as an early tribute to this architectural style in Boise.

(Submitted on February 19, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon.)

First Protestant Episcopal Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, June 27, 2023

4. First Protestant Episcopal Church

Credits. This page was last revised on February 20, 2025. It was originally submitted on February 18, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 119 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 18, 2025, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.