Alexander and Hannah Duffes established one of the town's first homesteads, eventually forming the Nampa Land and Improvement Company with the help of their friend and co-founder, James McGee.

Despite the name, many early settlers called the town "New Jerusalem" because of its citizens' strong religious focus.

Nampa's historic roads run perpendicular to the railroad tracks that travel northwest to southeast.

Alexander Duffes laid out Nampa's streets this way to prevent an accident like one that occurred earlier in a town he had platted near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In that town, a woman and her two children were killed by a train when they started across the railroad tracks in a buggy and the wheel got stuck.

Lakeview School was on a hill on 6th Street and 12th Avenue North, with a view of Lake Ethel.

Lake Ethel, an irrigation reservoir, had long been the site of community picnics, and many citizens fished, swam, boated, and even hunted on it and its surrounding property.

But the hunting didn't last long, as O. F. Persons, owner of the adjoining homestead, took offense when local hunters started shooting his pet ducks.

Not long after, the city council became interested in buying back the Fritz Miller property as well as the Dewey home.

On August 7, 1924, the city council passed an ordinance to purchase the Miller property and name it Lakeview Park.

[citation needed] The hotel survived the great fire of 1909, which burned several blocks of downtown Nampa, but was razed in 1963 after redevelopment plans failed.

[citation needed] After demolition the location on First Street between 11th and 12th Ave. South was sold to private enterprise, including a bank and tire store, replacing this building with modern structures.

A public-use postage stamp sized park was later placed across the street from the old palace property as a collaboration between the Downtown Alliance of Nampa (the local business council) and an Eagle Scout Project for the Boy Scouts of America.

The park includes a large mural/wall sculpture of running horses commissioned for the project.

Nampa Public Library was then on the corner of 1st Street and 11th Avenue South in the old bank building.

Known locally as Lake Lowell, it is surrounded by the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Lake Lowell is filled by the concrete New York Canal; the water is diverted from the Boise River a few miles below Lucky Peak Dam.

The institution is modernized and remains in operation, though a few of the oldest buildings now house juvenile offenders.

[citation needed] Nampa held an annual harvest festival and farmers' market from about 1908, a time of celebration and community fun.

[citation needed] The Idaho Press-Tribune is the local newspaper for the Canyon County area.

Since early 2009, the facility has been the contract printer for The Idaho Statesman, whose antiquated press equipment was retired and not replaced.

The percentage of people who graduated high school (diploma or equivalent) by racial makeup: 91% White, 94.9% Black, 75.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 75.6% Asian, 88.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 91.3% Two or more races, and 66.7% Hispanic or Latino Origin.

Venues include a 10,500-capacity amphitheater built in 1998 that features a 60-by-40-foot stage; a 12,279-seat arena featuring 31,200 square feet (2,900 m2) of arena floor space; the Idaho Horse Park, used for horse shows; and the Sports Center, used for indoor horse shows in the summer, and track and field events, including the home meets of the Boise State University Broncos track teams, in the winter.

Northwest Nazarene University's Brandt Center has a 1,500-seat auditorium, two art galleries, multiple meeting spaces, and a 9,000 square-foot lobby.

The Nampa Civic Center hosts theater, music, films, and other events.

[21] This festival is held in Lakeview Park every year and includes art, music, dance, and food.

[23] Lakeview Park is the largest (44 acres) and includes a public swimming pool, 1,000-seat amphitheater, baseball/softball fields, BMX track, rose garden, basketball courts, playground, duck pond, sand volleyball court, horseshoe pits, and water wise garden.

Historic displays at the park include a Northrop F-89B Scorpion fighter jet, M-60 Tank, and a Union Pacific Engine No.

The Nampa Recreation Center, a 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) facility with a six-pool aquatic center, three gymnasiums, racquetball courts, indoor walking/running track, a weight room and exercise equipment, a climbing wall, and other activity areas, opened in 1994.

[30] Following a legislative change in 2020, any city with a population of 100,000 or more must elect council members by district.