Best Web Design in Pocatello, ID (2026)

Web Design for Pocatello, Idaho

Pocatello is southeastern Idaho's largest city, cradled in the Portneuf Valley and named for the 19th-century Northern Shoshone chief Pocatello. Born as a railroad junction on the Oregon Trail corridor, it earned the nickname 'Gate City' as a gateway to Idaho and the Pacific Northwest, and it remains a college town anchored by Idaho State University. It is also, per a quirky and never-repealed 1948 ordinance, the self-styled 'U.S. Smile Capital.'

AppWT works with Pocatello, ID businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Pocatello

Also known as. The Gate City. U.S. Smile Capital. 'Poky' (local shorthand). Historically called 'The Friendly City'.

History. The Shoshone and Bannock peoples inhabited the region for centuries; Fort Hall was established nearby by Nathaniel Wyeth in 1834 as a fur-trade and Oregon Trail post. The 1860 discovery of gold drew settlers, and the Portneuf Valley became a key stage, freight, and later railroad corridor. The city was founded in 1889 on land tied to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and named after Chief Pocatello. It grew into a major Union Pacific Railroad junction, cementing its 'Gate City' role. A 1962 consolidation with the adjacent city of Alameda briefly made Pocatello Idaho's largest city.

Local economy. Idaho State University is the dominant employer (in the 2,500-5,000 range) and defines the city as a college town. Portneuf Medical Center is a major regional healthcare employer, alongside the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25. ON Semiconductor operates a plant in Pocatello, and Amy's Kitchen runs food manufacturing there. Railroading (Union Pacific) and agriculture, especially Snake River-irrigated potatoes and grain, are historic economic pillars.

Culture and community. Holt Arena on the ISU campus, an early domed college stadium (opened 1970), hosts the Simplot Games, billed as the nation's largest indoor high school track-and-field meet. The Pocatello Marathon draws runners seeking Boston and New York qualifying times. Cultural institutions include the Idaho Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Clean, and the Fort Hall Replica and Museum. Notable people tied to Pocatello include NFL player Taysom Hill, NASA astronaut Kayla Barron, and former Idaho governor C. Ben Ross.

What makes Pocatello distinct. In 1948 Mayor George Phillips passed a tongue-in-cheek 'Smile Ordinance' making it illegal not to smile in Pocatello; it was enforced for only about a week, never formally repealed, and led to the city being dubbed the 'U.S. Smile Capital' after its 1980s rediscovery. Pocatello's 2001-2017 city flag was ranked by the North American Vexillological Association as the worst city flag in North America, prompting a 2017 redesign ('Mountains Left') chosen from 709 submissions after a viral Roman Mars TED talk. The city is named for a Shoshone chief, one of relatively few U.S. cities named directly after a Native American leader.

Pocatello Landmarks and Local Life

• Idaho State University and its L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center
• Fort Hall Replica in Ross Park
• Museum of Clean and the Idaho Museum of Natural History
• Historic Downtown (Old Town) Pocatello
• Portneuf Gap - the Oregon Trail passage south of town