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C−History
History · Homer

Homer’s post office opened in 1896, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #16 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it

Most of Homer was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Thorn-Stingley House. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1940.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
0.6%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Homer’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Homer began

When was Homer founded?

1896

The Homer post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1964.

First census: 325 in 19402020 census: 5,522130 years

How historic is Homer?

C−

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Homer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1964.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Homer’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Homer is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #16 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Homer’s overall grade.
Founding era1896, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.6% of homes (±0.4) · typical AK town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 1.7 per 10,000 residents · typical AK town 3.3 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 25%
NewerOlder
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 62%

Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Homer’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1964.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Homer’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1899–1987.
★ What stands out · By decade

Homer, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s3 items
Town of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 18991899Town of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 1899Landing Fields - Alaska - Homer through Hot Springs1917Landing Fields - Alaska - Homer through Hot SpringsLanding Fields - Alaska - Homer through Hot Springs1917Landing Fields - Alaska - Homer through Hot Springs
1920s–1950snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1960s–1980s9 items
2/65. Homer - Spit - Shows new boat basin and restored area around it19642/65. Homer - Spit - Shows new boat basin and restore…Homer Alaska1987Homer AlaskaHomer Alaska1987Homer AlaskaHomer Alaska1987Homer AlaskaHomer Alaska1987Homer AlaskaHomer Alaska1987Homer AlaskaHomer, Alaska1987Homer, AlaskaHomer, Alaska1987Homer, AlaskaHomer, Alaska1987Homer, Alaska
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Homer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Homer.

Read it all →

Tiller digs indicate that early Alutiiq people probably camped in the Homer area, including on the Homer Spit, although their villages were on the far side of Kachemak Bay. The area has been inhabited by humans for around 8,000 years.

Coal was discovered in the area in the 1890s. The Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company built a town, dock, coal mine, and railroad at Homer. Coal mining in the area continued and was the main pillar of the economy until World War II. An estimated 400 million tons of coal deposits were still present in the area as of 1959.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Homer, 1896 to 1992

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Homer post office opens
  3. 1899In the archiveTown of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 1899
  4. 20th century
  5. 1917In the archiveLanding Fields - Alaska - Homer through Hot Springs
  6. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1964In the archive2/65. Homer - Spit - Shows new boat basin and restored area around it
  8. 1975Born hereStacey Borgman is born here
  9. 1982Born hereTela O'Donnell is born here
  10. 1985Born hereAmbrose Olsen is born here
  11. 1987In the archiveHomer Alaska
  12. 1992Born hereKristen Faulkner is born here
On the map

Homer on the map, 1946 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Homer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Homer on the 1946 USGS mapHomer on the 1951 USGS mapHomer on the 1961 USGS mapHomer on the 1987 USGS map1946Seldovia C-5 sheet · 1:63,360

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Homer.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Town of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 1899
Retake this viewTown of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 1899, 1899

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Homer’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Homer

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Thorn-Stingley House
Thorn-Stingley House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow1
Thorn-Stingley HouseBungalow

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Homer, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000194019601980200020205,522

Grew from 325 people in 1940 to 5,522 in 2020, more than tenfold.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Homer’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Homer

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Kristen FaulknerAmerican cyclist · b. 1992
A
Ambrose OlsenAmerican model · b. 1985
S
Stacey BorgmanAmerican rower · b. 1975
Tela O'DonnellOlympic wrestler · b. 1982
Help out

Finish Homer’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTown of Homer, Cook Inlet, Alaska, June…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Diamond RidgeIts storyDKachemakIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Homer’s history

What year was Homer founded?

The Homer post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1964.

How does Homer rank for history?

Homer is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #16 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Homer?

One place: the Thorn-Stingley House (listed 2001).

How old are the homes in Homer?

0.6% of Homer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1992.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.