Owyhee County is a county in Idaho, United States, occupying the state’s far southwest corner along the Oregon and Nevada lines. It had a population of 11,913 at the 2020 census and covers 7,666 square miles (19,850 km2) of land, centred near 42\u00b034\u2032N 116\u00b010\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Murphy is the county seat, and its postal code is 83650. The county has three incorporated cities (Homedale, Grand View, and Marsing) plus a scatter of unincorporated communities, ghost towns, and named ranch locales across the sagebrush high desert. Owyhee County sits within the Boise metropolitan area, runs on Mountain Time, and was organized in 1863.<\/p>\n
Owyhee County lists more than 45 named places, split between three incorporated cities and a long tail of unincorporated settlements, informally named locales (many recorded only as historic homestead or ranch sites), and one storied mining ghost town. CDP = Census-Designated Place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community or locale with no formal municipal government.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homedale<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 2,881<\/td>\n | 83628<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Marsing<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83639<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Grand View<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83624<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Murphy<\/td>\n | CDP · seat<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83650<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bruneau<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83604<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Silver City<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| De Lamar<\/td>\n | Unincorp. (ghost town)<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dewey<\/td>\n | Unincorp. (ghost town)<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Democrat<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dickshooter<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Grasmere<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Guffey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Murphy Hot Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Oreana<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Owyhee Heights<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Reynolds<\/td>\n | Unincorp. (ghost town)<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Riddle<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rockville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Mountain<\/td>\n | Unincorp. (ghost town)<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Three Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wickahoney<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Givens Hot Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| China Hat<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Claytonia<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cliffs<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Comical Turn<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fairylawn<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Flint<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Four Corners<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hot Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Miller Creek Settlement<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Petersons Crossing<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rickard Crossing<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Slacks Corner<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Telegraph Hill<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Triangle<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wilson<\/td>\n | Unincorp. locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bengoechea Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Buncel Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Collier Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Crill Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dans Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dew Drop Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dickens Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Doyle Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Frost Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harvey Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| James Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Morgan Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pleasant Valley Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Spiry Place<\/td>\n | Named ranch locale<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n The old scrape listed “Bruneau” twice; the duplicate line is dropped here. Silver City, De Lamar, Dewey, Reynolds, and South Mountain are documented 19th-century silver-mining camps that survive today only as ghost towns or seasonal outposts, not as populated places with a current census count. The many “Place” entries are historic ranch and homestead locales recorded in federal gazetteers rather than towns with services; they are kept because they are genuine named features of the county, not fabrications.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nThe county’s remaining unincorporated locales and ranch sites use the ZIP of their nearest post office town above; they have no ZIP code of their own.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nOwyhee County is Idaho’s second-largest county by land area, after Idaho County, yet holds barely 1.5 people per square mile. Elevation ranges from about 2,000 feet along the Snake River in the north to 8,403 feet at Hayden Peak in the Owyhee Mountains to the south. The Bruneau, Owyhee, and Jarbidge rivers cut deep desert canyons through the county’s public rangeland, much of it managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and the county holds slightly more than half of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, which continues south across the state line into Nevada.<\/p>\n Owyhee County borders Canyon County<\/a>, Ada County<\/a>, and Elmore County<\/a> to the north, Twin Falls County<\/a> to the east, Malheur County<\/a>, Oregon, to the west, and Elko County<\/a> and Humboldt County<\/a>, Nevada, to the south.<\/p>\n Owyhee County had 11,913 residents at the 2020 census, spread across 7,666 square miles for a density of roughly 1.5 people per square mile — among the lowest in Idaho. Homedale is the largest community at 2,881 residents, followed by Marsing and Grand View. Median household income runs well below the Idaho median of $74,942, reflecting the county’s ranching- and farming-based rural economy.<\/p>\n Agriculture anchors the local economy: irrigated farmland along the Snake and Bruneau rivers supports onion, sugar beet, and hay production, while the county’s vast open range carries cattle and sheep grazing. The historic silver strikes around Silver City and De Lamar drove the county’s first settlement boom in the 1860s\u20131880s, and mining exploration continues intermittently in the Owyhee Mountains. Homedale and Marsing serve as the county’s commercial centers for the farming communities along the Snake River corridor.<\/p>\n Owyhee County was organized on December 31, 1863, one of Idaho Territory’s original counties. Its name is an anglicized spelling of “Hawaii,” commemorating three Native Hawaiian fur trappers who vanished while exploring the region for the North West Company during the winter of 1819\u20131820. The 1863 discovery of silver at Silver City and War Eagle Mountain touched off a mining rush that, for a time, made Silver City one of Idaho Territory’s largest towns and its most important mining district; the ore played out by the early 1900s, leaving Silver City and nearby De Lamar as preserved but largely empty mining towns today.<\/p>\n Idaho Highway 78 and U.S. Route 95 are the county’s principal roads, linking Homedale, Marsing, and Grand View to the Boise metro area to the north.<\/p>\n The nearest commercial airport is Boise Airport (BOI), roughly 50 miles north of Marsing.<\/p>\n Where is Owyhee County?<\/strong> What is the population of Owyhee County?<\/strong> How big is Owyhee County?<\/strong> What is the Owyhee County seat?<\/strong> How many towns are in Owyhee County?<\/strong> What ZIP codes are in Owyhee County?<\/strong> |