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History · Downey

Downey’s post office opened in 1894, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1920.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Downey began

When was Downey founded?

1894

The Downey post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 522 in 19202020 census: 571132 years
Founding year: the first Downey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Downey’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Downey are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Downey’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Downey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Downey’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Downey, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Downey yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Downey is a city in the Marsh Valley in southern Bannock County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Pocatello Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 571 at the 2020 census. The community was reportedly named after one Mr. Downey, a director of the Union Pacific Railroad. However, researchers have been unable to verify the existence of said Mr. Downey. Notwithstanding, some have asserted he was a track worker, not a director.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 625 to 571 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Downey, 1894 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Downey post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Born hereRosel H. Hyde is born here
  5. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Downey, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Downey Fire Department truck, Jun 172017Downey Fire Department truck, Jun 17Downey Fire Department engine, Jun 172017Downey Fire Department engine, Jun 17IDMap-doton-Downey2004IDMap-doton-Downey
On the map

Downey on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Downey.

Downey on the 1984 USGS map1984Malad City sheet · 1:100,000

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

Every building

Downey, building by building, 1915–1929

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.

Downey fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Downey, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 748

Between 522 and 748 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Downey’s post office has been open since 1894.

Gone or out of use
Downey Junior High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Downey
Downey City

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Downey’s history

What year was Downey founded?

The Downey post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.