Reverend Edward Paddock, Jane Slocum and Thomas Maryatt founded the Intermountain Institute in 1899. By 1923 it had the largest payroll in Washington County. Reverend Paddock offered young people a chance for an education if they were willing to work for five hours a day for the privilege of studying. Donors to the Institute included Teddy Roosevelt, George Eastman and Kimball Piano Company. Hooker Hall, a five story poured and scored concrete building, with a four-sided clock tower, is the home of the Snake River Heritage Center and Intermountain Institute Museum. The school was devastated by the Depression, the assets sold to benefit the College of Idaho and Whitman College and the school used by Weiser School District until 1967. The site is in the National Register of Historic Places.