Capitol Replica Building

On March 4, 1863,  President Lincoln signed the Idaho Organic Act creating Idaho Territory.
The original territory encompassed an area of 324,000 square miles - area larger than Texas - and included all of present day Idaho, Montana, virtually all of Wyoming, including western strips of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Lincoln appointed William H. Wallace as the first governor of Idaho Territory and Wallace selected Lewiston as the capital of the new territory before arriving on July 10, 1863.  The first two sessions of the Idaho Territorial Legislature were held in Lewiston and the original capitol building was located on 3rd Street between Beachey Street and Capital Street.
In 1864  Montana became a separate territory and most of present-day Wyoming was transferred to Dakota Territory leaving Idaho Territory much smaller. When the second session of the territorial legislature convened in late  1864, contrary to the Organic Act, a bill purporting to relocate the capital to Boise City was approved.  Despite legal efforts to retain the capital at Lewiston, the territorial seal and most of the governmental archives were removed from Lewiston by force in 1865 and transported to Boise City. 
Coincidentally, on April 14, 1865, when the First Great Territorial Seal of Idaho along with most of the governmental  archives arrived in Boise, the country was stunned by the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Compliments of the First Territorial Capitol of Idaho Revitalization Project, Inc. John and Melva Mock - Co-Curators
 
 
Relocation of Capitol Replica Building
On November 13, 2020,  The Nez Perce County Historical Society and Museum (NPCHS) announced the relocation of the Idaho Territorial Capitol replica building from 12th and Main Street to the museum campus on 4th and Capital Street Tuesday, November 17th, 2020 with the help from the Brian McDermott Construction Company.
"In 2013, a replica of Idaho's First Territorial Capitol was built to commemorate Idaho's sesquicentennial: the 150 year celebration of Idaho’s Territorial status in 1863.  When relocated, the replica will be within 150 feet of the original site of the first territorial capitol, on land recently acquired by the NPCHS adjacent to the museum. Idaho's Territorial history can now be told inside this remarkable reconstruction of our state's past," stated Vice President Garry Bush. 
On July 3rd of 2021,  the rededication ceremony was held for the Capitol Replica with special guest speaker and Idaho Lincoln scholar, David Leroy, at the NPCHS & Museum's Campus .