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About Hammett
Where U.S. Highway 30 descended from the deserts of the Snake River Plain to the irrigated farmland along the riverbottoms, the village of Hammett provided a place to stop for gas, a stretch, and even a night's stay. Now that most people whiz by on the freeway, Hammett is a lot quieter than it used to be, but you can still stop and stretch and visit some quaint old shops on the old highway.
Hammett today is spread-out community, apart from its modest historical center on the highway. Ranches, often with large, modern homes, are scattered along all the rural roads in the valley. No population figure is available for Hammett, but it must number in the hundreds. And new roads and houses were being built.
The valley is enclosed on both sides of the river by steep hills that climb to plateaus a few hundred feet higher. When viewed from below, the top of the hills are rimmed by a line of lava rock protruding above the light-colored dirt lower down. This layer of lava used to cover the whole area originally, but the river has eroded part of it away. To the east and west these hills close in and the Snake River passes through a narrow gorge. The surrounding area is an arid desert, but farming is made possible with irrigation water from the river.
Old Highway 30 and the freeway head east to Glenns Ferry and northwest to Mountain Home. In addition, Idaho Highway 78 begins at Hammett and heads west along the Snake River towards Bruneau. The elevation is 2,525 feet.
For More Information:
See the brief Wikipedia article on Hammett.