Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Kellogg Main, the Miner's Hat and the Kellogg Boy Scout Cabin. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Kellogg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kellogg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kellogg is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kellogg’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 Kellogg’s 13.0 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±8.6 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 Kellogg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kellogg was incorporated in 1907. The city limits included mine property in 1955, and smelter property in 1956. The population in 1960 was about 6000.
Kellogg is named after a prospector named Noah Kellogg. The city became a center of mining for silver. Nearly a century of mine operations produced an extensive amount of silver. There was also a history of disputes between union miners and mine owners as workers tried to improve their conditions, including wages and safety conditions. With declining yield, the Bunker Hill Mine (& smelter) closed in 1981. Thousands lost their jobs, and the mining operations resulted in regional lead contamination of water and soil. Other mines reduced operations, as well.
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.
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 Kellogg post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kellogg rank for history?
Kellogg is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. 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 Kellogg?
Three places: the US Post Office-Kellogg Main (listed 1990), the Miner's Hat (2021) and the Kellogg Boy Scout Cabin (2021).
How old are the homes in Kellogg?
41% of Kellogg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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