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Reverend Edward Paddock, Jane SlocumandThomas Maryattfounded the Intermountain Institute in 1899. By 1923 it had the largest payroll in Washington County. Reverend Paddock offered young people a chance for an education if they were willing to work for five hours a day for the privilege of studying.
Donors to the Institute included Teddy Roosevelt, George Eastman and Kimball Piano Company.
The school was devastated by the Depression, the assets sold to benefit the College of Idaho and Whitman College and the school used by Weiser School District until 1967. The site is in the National Register of Historic Places.
The first school Paddock established was the Weiser Academy. However, he eventually broke with the academy over a disagreement with the school’s trustees and faculty. The trustees and faculty did not support Paddock’s vision of starting a vocational training program at the school.
Paddock then established the Idaho Industrial Institute in 1899. Paddock believed schools should educate “the hand and heart as well as the head” of the students. The school became a boarding school for rural youth who did not have access to a high school in their area. The motto of the Idaho Industrial Institute was “An education and trade for every boy and girl who is willing to work for them.”
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