Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Mackay, ID

Mackay is a town in Custer County, Idaho, pronounced 'Mackie' with the accent on the first syllable.

The 2020 census counted 439 people in Mackay, and the 2010 census recorded 247 households there.

Mackay was founded in 1901 to serve the copper mining operations of the White Knob Mining Company, and it was named for John William Mackay, who owned the local copper mines.

The town sits at 5,906 feet on U.S. Route 93 between Challis and Arco, with Mount McCaleb, at 11,427 feet, overlooking it and Borah Peak, Idaho's highest mountain at 12,662 feet, about 20 miles to the north.

Mackay's population peaked at 869 in the 1920 census and has declined in nearly every census since, falling from 517 in 2010 to 439 in 2020.

The Borah Peak earthquake of October 28, 1983, a magnitude 6.9 quake, hit Mackay hardest, badly damaging 11 commercial buildings and 39 homes and forcing eight Main Street buildings to be condemned and closed.

Mackay was designated a Preserve America Community in June 2007.

Chase A. Clark, Idaho's 18th governor from 1941 to 1943 and later a federal judge, was a notable resident of Mackay.

Mackay has a dry high-desert climate, with winter lows reaching minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and summer highs reaching 100 degrees.

Mackay's ZIP code is 83251.