This Boise-area landmark makes the National Register of Historic Places. What that means

Rachel Spacek
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Adam Nelson remembers picking up trash and restocking the popcorn machine at the Meridian Speedway when he was a kid in the 1980s. Now, as general manager of the speedway, he has witnessed the longtime Meridian institution earn a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Some of the Treasure Valley’s oldest residents may remember when the Meridian Speedway was built in 1951. Seventy-five years later, the hybrid Meridian Speedway/Dairy Show Park Arena serves as a local landmark and reminds people of a time when Meridian was a much smaller city and the center of the dairy industry.

In March, thanks to the effort of the volunteer board of the Meridian Historic Preservation Commission, it was listed in the National Register.

The register is run by the National Park Service and aims to support efforts to protect the country’s historic and archaeological resources.

The Meridian Speedway made it into the list because of its local notoriety and its association with agriculture and recreational history in Meridian and Ada County, the city said in a news release.

Cars known as super late models pace in front of the North End grandstands. Super late models have more than 550 horsepower and rank “among the fastest race cars to ever hit the short track,” says iRacing.com.
Cars known as super late models pace in front of the North End grandstands. Super late models have more than 550 horsepower and rank “among the fastest race cars to ever hit the short track,” says iRacing.com.

In 1949, the 10.7-acre parcel was designed to be a hybrid agricultural exhibition grounds and automotive racetrack, the city said. Nelson said the area was meant to serve 4-H and Future Farmers of America students with volunteers helping them.

Later, Nelson said, the Meridian Dairy and Stock Shows, a nonprofit that puts on events, used the property for Meridian Dairy Days, which was founded as a way to showcase Meridian’s livestock and dairy products. When the dairy events were not going on, Nelson said racing offered a way to use the property year-round.

It may be hard to picture in 2024, with its large subdivisions and chain stores and restaurants, but Meridian was a dairy center in 1897, the city said in the release.

“Following the 1897 (debut) of a creamery and the establishment of other dairy-related businesses … Meridian emerged as a dairy center for the state,” the city said.

Meridian still puts on dairy days events every year, with the 95th planned in June.

Meridian Speedway is one of only four paved quarter-mile race tracks in Idaho and is the only continuously operated circuit racetrack in the state, according to the city.

“There are four or five generations of racers that race here,” Nelson told the Idaho Statesman by phone.

Nelson said the National Register of Historic Places designation will encourage people to educate themselves about the speedway, but he also said it will quell rumors that have been going for years about possible development of the site.

The Meridian Dairy and Stock Shows board manages the use of the property. Nelson said he was never worried about the board selling it to a developer, even as the city developed and enveloped it into the middle of downtown.

“That doesn’t mean there haven’t always been rumors,” Nelson said. “(The historic designation) certainly does not hurt. But the way I understand it, it doesn’t restrict the dairy board from doing what they want to with the place.”

NASCAR-modified cars race at the Meridian Speedway. The speedway was just added to the National Register of Historic Places.
NASCAR-modified cars race at the Meridian Speedway. The speedway was just added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Nelson said board has been “proud” of the place.

“I think the biggest thing that people are going to be able to recognize is that the Meridian Dairy and Stock Show nonprofit group that has owned the speedway property for so long has been doing tons of stuff for the community almost in an unrecognized way,” Nelson said.

Meridian has seven other building listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They are:

  • R.H. and Jessie Bell House, 137 E. Pine St.

  • Clara Hill House, 1123 N. Main St.

  • E.F. Hunt House, 49 E. State St.

  • Meridian Exchange Bank, 109 E. 2nd St.

  • Mittleider Farmstead Historic District, 575 Rumple Lane

  • Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company Building, 815 N. Main St.

  • Halbert and Grace Neal House, 101 W. Pine St.

  • Tolleth House, 134 E. State Ave.

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