IDAHO FALLS

city, seat (1911) of Bonneville county, southeastern Idaho, U.S., on the upper Snake River. It originated as the Eagle Rock settlement at Taylor's Ferry (1863), later Taylor's Bridge. Renamed in 1890 for the low but wide (1,500 feet ) cataract in the river (now a source of hydropower), it developed first as a railroad division point and later as a centre of irrigated farming. The city has diversified industry, but its main sources of income are potatoes, livestock, the nearby Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (nuclear-power testing), and tourism. The Idaho Falls Mormon Temple (1944) is a riverbank landmark. Inc. town, 1890; city, 1900. Pop. (1990) 43,929.