Declo, Idaho

Declo is a little fly speck of a town that's sitting not far south of the interstate at Exit #216. When we talk about getting to City of Rocks, we say "We take the Declo Route." That's descriptive. Once you're off the fast lane, the first place you go through is Declo. You can miss Declo is you weren't looking. It's that small.

Declo has history. Everyplace has history. History happens, you know?
Declo is special because that's where the legendary J.R. Simplot got his start. Who knew?

Simplot must have been a wild kid. He was born in 1909 and ran away from home at the age of 14. He dropped out of eighth grade and ran off to Declo, of all places, in 1923. Now, you've got to realize that Declo isn't much now so it sure wasn't much back then either. Simplot said he moved into a rooming house. We're guessing it's the same rooming house that still stands here. We're surprised they don't have a historical marker on it--"This is where JR Simplot got his start to being a billionaire!"

I'd like to write a yarn here on this blog about Simplot's start in Declo but Idaho Public Television does it a whole lot better than I ever could--so just click here and read the story for yourself. If you want to read a short biography of Simplot, click here for the Wiki version.