Written by Bryton Caviness
Edited by Kai Migilo
In Hidden Valley there is a mysterious body of water known as “the lake.” A monumental structure of architecture built with such precision many question if it's natural or not. It's what brings the community together and a place where so many of my summer days have been spent.
Today we set out to find out why it was built, when it was built, and what the intentions behind it were.
Hidden Valley was started in 1968 by the Boise Cascade Corporation during its real-estate development named “heyday”. It was then sold to the Hidden Valley Lake association in 1974. Then the Hartmann building was constructed in the late 1960s to early 1970s.
Sometime before the Boise Cascade corporation sold the land to HVL, the lake was put in. According to the HVL.com page, “The earth fill dam was built across Coyote Creek in 1969. It is 90 feet high, and its spillway spans 410 feet”
So the lake was put in in 1969 but the question of why still remains. Why would the Boise Cascade corporation spend an immense amount of money, time, and effort on a project like this?
I think that the lake was put in to increase the value of the property, since Boise bought the land probably on a really great deal. Hidden Valley back in the 60s just being a huge piece of useless land in the middle of mountainous wilderness that nobody really could do anything with.
So by putting a giant lake into the mountain Boise probably sold the land for 10x what he bought it for, making the land have a lot more value now having a lake. Essentially the lake was put in to be a big cash grab for a bunch of people associated with the boise cascade corporation.
But the lake stands as a monument to the entirety of Hidden Valley; the lake is what makes Hidden Valley a great place to live and to grow up. It's something that the Hidden Valley residents are very lucky to have and many don't realize just how lucky they really are.
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