The Emmett post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Martinsville (1867) and Emmettsville (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,351 in 19102020 census: 7,647141 years
How historic is Emmett?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Emmett post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Emmett’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Emmett is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #20 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 Emmett’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 Emmett’s 12.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 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 →
What stands out about Emmett’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Emmett’s post office has been open since 1885. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Martinsville
1867–1870
Emmettsville
1868–1885
Emmett
1885–today
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Emmett, building by building, 1909–1917
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.
Emmett is a town on the southern bank of the Payette River that grew up around a ferry crossing of the Payette River. Emmett was originally called Martinsville, named after Nathaniel Martin who, along with Jonathan Smith, built the ferry crossing. Next, the name was changed to "Emmettville," because it was primarily a post office named after Emmett Cahalan, the son of Tom Cahalan, an early settler of the area. The post office was later moved but the town retained the name. A few years later the "ville" was dropped and the post office and town became simply Emmett. In 1883 James Wardwell had the town platted, and in 1900 the town was incorporated as Emmett. Later, in March 1902, the Idaho Northern Railroad came to the valley.
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.
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 Emmett post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Emmett rank for history?
Emmett is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #20 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 Emmett?
8 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart (listed 1980, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Emmett?
15% of Emmett’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 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 (1), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
1939
1939
1939
