Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #24 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.
The Buhl post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buhl is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #24 of 59 in Idaho. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Idaho towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Idaho town has 8.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Buhl’s 15.0 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buhl’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1909Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Buhl.
Buhl was founded on April 17, 1906. It is named for Frank H. Buhl of Sharon, Pennsylvania, a major investor in a Carey Act project known as the Twin Falls South Side Project, which introduced large-scale irrigation to the Magic Valley in the early 20th century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Idaho - Twin Falls County - Buhl - ED 42-3, ED 42…BuiltBuhl IOOF Building is built
Born hereMarjorie Reynolds is born hereBuiltRamona Theater is built
Born hereGene Scott is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereApril McClain-Delaney is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buhl. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buhl.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Buhl’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 639 people in 1910 to 4,558 in 2020, 7 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buhl’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Buhl’s post office has been open since 1906.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Buhl post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Buhl is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #24 of 59 in Idaho. 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.
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Ramona Theater (listed 1976, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
24% of Buhl’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1965.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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