"Blackfoot" is a name applied to several places in the area, including a mountain range and a small river. The name for the area can be traced back to the summer of 1818 when a group of trappers and traders from the Hudson's Bay Company passed through. Earlier, in 1812, there had been some wildfires, and people who walked through the burned areas got their moccasins all black. While there were no actual Blackfoot people in the area, the traders referred to the people they met in the area as the Indians with the black feet, or the "Blackfoot Crowd", because of the blackened footwear. They went on to call the nearby stream the Blackfoot River.
The first general store was built in 1874 by Fredrick S. Stevens and Major Danilson after learning that a railroad was to be built in the area. They were hoping that a station would be built there because it was just outside the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, which speculation paid off four years later. October 10, 1878 a post office was established with Theo T. Danilson as Postmaster. November 10, 1878 track was laid through town, with the track running right up behind the Stevens Store to take advantage of the store's loading platform (which was originally used to unload freight wagons). The name of the town was changed to Blackfoot March 20, 1879.
On January 13, 1885 Bingham County was established with Blackfoot as its county seat. Originally the county seat was to be Eagle Rock (now called Idaho Falls). However, the night before its final passage men from Blackfoot bribed a clerk to erase Eagle Rock and write in Blackfoot. The measure went through without opposition and was signed by the governor.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.7 square miles (14.7 km²), of which, 5.4 square miles (14.0 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²) of it (4.59%) is water.
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 10,419 people, 3,685 households, and 2,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,926.4 people per square mile (743.6/km²). There were 3,929 housing units at an average density of 726.4/sq mi (280.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.76% White, 0.21% African American, 2.51% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 6.33% from other races, and 3.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.17% of the population.
There were 3,685 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.2% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,004 and the median income for a family was $36,553. Males had a median income of $31,489 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,529. About 11.5% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.4% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
