Hailey, Idaho

Hailey is probably most famous these days for the fact that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have homes in town. But Ezra Pound was born here in 1885 (and his work may well prove to be more lasting). Friedman Memorial Airport, the airport you'll fly into if you're flying to Sun Valley, is in Hailey. The city is named for 2-time Congressional delegate from the Idaho Territory, John Hailey.

Hailey was founded during the 1880 mining rush into this part of Idaho, and for many years, the gold, silver and lead removed from the ground around here made Hailey a very prosperous town. While the mining boom was still going on, the feeding and shipping of sheep began to take off and by 1900, more than 2 million sheep had been either born here or trailed through here from other areas. The years between 1910 and 1920 saw upwards of a million sheep a year passing through. With the advent of the Great Depression, the sheep business began to fall off and is now but a shadow of its former self.

These days, Hailey is the site of one of America's biggest and most famous skateboard parks. In 2005, the Dalai Lama came to Wood River High School Stadium and spoke to more than 20,000 people on the first stop of a tour across the United States. The theme of his speech that day in Hailey: commemoration of the 9/11 attacks. Hailey is growing so fast these days that there has been a major shift in shopping centers and fine restaurants to the Hailey area from Ketchum-Sun Valley. This growth has led to the addition of 3 new traffic lights, to make a total of 4 in Hailey. Hailey is still filled with historic buildings from the old days, and the local Historic Association is very active in preserving that heritage.