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Clark HouseClark House · Photo: Nancy Reilly Young · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Hayden Lake

Hayden Lake’s post office opened in 1907, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Hayden Lake was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Finch, John A., Caretaker's House.

1907first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hayden Lake began

When was Hayden Lake founded?

1907

The Hayden Lake post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 649119 years
Founding year: the first Hayden Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hayden Lake’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 Hayden Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hayden Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hayden Lake’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

How Hayden Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hayden Lake.

Read it all →

The Coeur D’Alene tribe territory centered around what is now Hayden Lake and nearby Lake Coeur d'Alene, gathering plants, including abundant huckleberries, fish and wildlife. The first white man to visit the area was Father DeSmet while serving as a missionary to the Coeur d’Alene Indians. While visiting, he named it Lake DeNuf and recorded several stories told by the local tribe about the lake and the surrounding area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hayden Lake, 1903 to 1986

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903BuiltFinch, John A., Caretaker's House is built
  3. 1907Post officeThe Hayden Lake post office opens
  4. 1986Post officeThe Hayden Lake post office closes
By decade

Hayden Lake, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Aerial - Hayden Lake, ID 01 - white balanced2013Aerial - Hayden Lake, ID 01 - white balancedAerial - Hayden Lake, ID 012013Aerial - Hayden Lake, ID 01Tomthespud 58352011Tomthespud 5835Wedding Banquet setting2006Wedding Banquet settingIDMap-doton-HaydenLake2004IDMap-doton-HaydenLake
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hayden Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Finch, John A., Caretaker's House
Finch, John A., Caretaker's House, built 1903
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Chalet1
Finch, John A., Caretaker's HouseChalet · Built 1903

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hayden Lake

Nobody well known was born in Hayden Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Sage KotsenburgAmerican snowboarder · b. 1993
Luke RidnourAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Pappy BoyingtonUnited States Marine Corps aviator and Medal of… · b. 1912
Adrienne DoreAmerican model, beauty pageant winner · b. 1910
Anton WatsonAmerican basketball player · b. 2000
I
Ian WaltzAmerican discus thrower · b. 1977
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Hayden Lake had its own post office from 1907 to 1986.

Hayden Lake
1907–1986
19001960today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

HaydenIts storyD−

Questions about Hayden Lake’s history

What year was Hayden Lake founded?

The Hayden Lake post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hayden Lake?

One place: the Finch, John A., Caretaker's House (listed 1987).

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.