Kimberly’s post office opened in 1905, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #50 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Most of Kimberly was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Kimberly High School. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Kimberly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kimberly’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kimberly is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #50 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kimberly’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 Kimberly’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (39% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 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 Kimberly’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kimberly yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kimberly is a city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The population was 4,626 at the 2020 census, up from 3,264 in 2010. It is part of the Twin Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Kimberly was founded in 1905. It is named after Peter L. Kimberly, a major investor in the construction of Milner Dam which made commercial irrigation practical in the area.
Its first post office opened in 1905. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,264 to 4,626 (+42%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Kimberly, 1905 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Kimberly, census by census
Grew from 601 people in 1920 to 4,626 in 2020, 7 times over.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kimberly’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Kimberly’s history
What year was Kimberly founded?
The Kimberly post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kimberly rank for history?
Kimberly is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Kimberly?
One place: the Kimberly High School (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Kimberly?
4% of Kimberly’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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