Founding year: the first Cascade post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cascade’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cascade is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cascade’s overall grade.
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 Cascade’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (14% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
The Cascade Dam across the Payette River was completed in 1948, and is located in the north end of the city. The dam created Cascade Reservoir along the west side of the city. With the introduction of nearby Tamarack Resort in 2004, the name was officially changed to Lake Cascade for marketing reasons.
Cascade was the home of a sizable Boise Cascade sawmill, which closed in May 2001.
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.
The Cascade post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cascade rank for history?
Cascade is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Cascade?
20% of Cascade’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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