Boise State Professor To Catalog Drowned Towns

BOISE, ID — Robinette, Oregon was just like any small town in the northwest. Surrounded by farms, families came into town to shop, socialize and maybe have a drink or two at the local tavern.

There were dances and meetings and the schoolhouse was the central location for most of the residents.

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In 1957, that all changed. The residents packed up their belongings and moved on to other places due to the construction of Idaho Power's Brownlee Dam. What is left of Robinette, a few foundations, now sits under 100 feet of water in the reservoir.

Now, a Boise State University professor, Bob Reinhardt, is working on a project to document the dozens of towns wiped off most maps after dams started to hold back water for irrigation and power purposes. Reinhardt received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to assist in the project.

Reinhardt's team will collect oral histories from the public – the people who lived in towns like Robinette. The project will include underwater archaeology at former townsites and will incorporate digital imaging from 3-D capture of personal artifacts, to virtual and augmented reality experiences.

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