The University of Idaho’s Moscow campus took a significant step toward national historic recognition after a unanimous vote by the Idaho Historic Sites Review Board to advance the university’s district nomination to the National Park Service for consideration on the National Register of Historic Places.
If approved, the University of Idaho would become the first college or university in the country to have a campus district recognized on the National Register — a distinction that would formally acknowledge more than a century of architecture, landscape design, and educational history on the Palouse.
What the District Would Cover
The proposed University of Idaho Historic District encompasses dozens of historic buildings, structures, and landscape features spread across the Moscow campus. Three buildings on campus already hold individual National Register listings — the Administration Building, Ridenbaugh Hall, and Memorial Gym — but the district nomination would bring a much broader swath of the university’s built environment under the umbrella of federal historic recognition.
University President Scott Green called the nomination a meaningful milestone, saying it “reflects the campus’s role in shaping generations of students and would help preserve its historic character for the future.”
The proposed district draws on a legacy stretching back well over a century, with campus photography from around 1917 offering a window into how early planners envisioned the grounds. Recognizing the district would help ensure that legacy is maintained as the university continues to grow and evolve.
For Latah County, which has long been defined by its relationship with the University of Idaho and the broader intellectual and agricultural heritage of the Palouse, the designation would represent a point of civic pride and a formal acknowledgment of the institution’s enduring place in Idaho history.
What Comes Next
The nomination now moves to the National Park Service, which will conduct its own review before a final determination is made on whether the University of Idaho Historic District will be added to the National Register of Historic Places. No timeline for that decision has been announced.