Hailey’s post office opened in 1881, and 12 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #29 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Most of Hailey was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Hailey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Hailey’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hailey is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #29 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hailey’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 Hailey’s 16.6 sits above most of its state (66% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±3.3 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 →
What stands out about Hailey’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hailey. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Hailey sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hailey.
Every building
Hailey, building by building, 1885–1920
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Hailey, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hailey yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 9,161 at the 2020 census, up from 7,960 in 2010. Hailey is the site of Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN), the airport for the resort area of Sun Valley/Ketchum, 12 miles (19 km) north. The town of Bellevue is a few miles south. From 1882 to 1895, Hailey was the county seat of now-defunct Alturas County. The city is named after John Hailey, a two-time Congressional delegate from the Idaho Territory.
Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,960 to 9,161 (+15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Hailey, 1881 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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 Hailey post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hailey rank for history?
Hailey is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #29 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 Hailey?
12 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Emmanuel Episcopal Church (listed 1977, the first). 16 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hailey?
4% of Hailey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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.
1888
1905