Coeur d'Alene’s post office opened in 1878, and 16 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #9 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Most of Coeur d'Alene was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. 16 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 574 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1890.
From Coeur d'Alene’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Coeur d'Alene began
When was Coeur d'Alene founded?
1878
The Coeur d'Alene post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gibbs (1910), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 491 in 18902020 census: 54,628148 years
How historic is Coeur d'Alene?
B+
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Coeur d'Alene post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Coeur d'Alene’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coeur d'Alene is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #9 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coeur d'Alene’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 Coeur d'Alene’s 105 sits above most of its state (97% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 590 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 →
What stands out about Coeur d'Alene’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Coeur d'Alene, building by building, 1891–1921
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.
The city was named for the Coeur d'Alene Indians, a Salish people who lived along the rivers and lakes of the region, in a territory of 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km2) extending from eastern Washington to Montana; these tribes primarily located their villages and camps near food gathering or processing sites. The camps featured conical lodges constructed from poles and mats sewn from tule or animal hides. The Coeur d'Alene people were hunter-gatherers who practiced subsistence hunting of wild game and fishing during the salmon runs, and then foraging for berries and other edibles along the shores of the region's numerous lakes and rivers. The introduction of the horse around 1760 made hunting and transportation more efficient.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coeur d'Alene. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Coeur DAlene sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coeur d'Alene.
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.
Retake this viewPlacer mining, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, c. 1865
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coeur d'Alene’s page.
The Coeur d'Alene post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coeur d'Alene rank for history?
Coeur d'Alene is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #9 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.
What is on the National Register in Coeur d'Alene?
16 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Inland Empire Electric Railway Substation (listed 1975, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Fort Sherman Buildings, the Sherman Park Addition and the Coeur d'Alene Garden District Historic District, with 574 contributing buildings. 590 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Coeur d'Alene?
9% of Coeur d'Alene’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.
1887
c. 1908
c. 1908
1909
1909
1909
1909
1909
