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History · Mullan

Mullan’s post office opened in 1886, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mullan’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mullan began

When was Mullan founded?

1886

The Mullan post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,667 in 19102020 census: 646140 years
Founding year: the first Mullan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mullan’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1995. Watch Mullan change.Old housesHalf of Mullan’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,291 in 1940; 646 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1918, drew every building in Mullan.
★ What stands out · On the map

Mullan on the map, 1901 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mullan. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mullan on the 1901 USGS mapMullan on the 1957 USGS mapMullan on the 1988 USGS mapMullan on the 1995 USGS map1901Coeur DAlene District sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mullan.

The story

How Mullan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mullan.

Read it all →

Mullan came into existence 142 years ago in 1884 with the discovery of gold at the Gold Hunter Mine, which turned out to be a lead and silver producer. That same year, George Good made a lead-silver strike with the Morning Mine and Mullan came into existence between the two mines. By 1887, Mullan was also known as "Nigger Prairie." The site was filed in August 1888, after the village had twenty log and fifteen frame houses, a sawmill, and a population of 150. The Northern Pacific Railway arrived in 1889 and the city was incorporated in 1904.

ChaptersPresent day

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Mullan, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,291

Peaked at 2,291 in 1940; 646 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mullan’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Mullan, 1886 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Mullan post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1903In the archiveNPScurve
  6. 1912In the archiveMullan (Idaho) Fire Dept., Decoration Day, 1912
  7. 1917Born hereNels Nelson is born here
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 2,291
By decade

Mullan, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s7 items
NPScurve1903NPScurveBird's-eye view of Mullan, Idaho, between 1899 and 1909c. 1904Bird's-eye view of Mullan, Idaho, between 1899 and 19…Postcard1904MullanIdaho19081904MullanIdaho1907MullanIdaho geologicmap19081907MullanIdaho geologicmapMullan (Idaho) Fire Dept., Decoration Day, 19121912Mullan (Idaho) Fire Dept., Decoration Day, 1912Morning Mine near Mullan, Idaho, circa 1915c. 1915Morning Mine near Mullan, Idaho, circa 1915PostcardNational Mine near Mullan, Idaho, circa 1915c. 1915National Mine near Mullan, Idaho, circa 1915Postcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Mullan, ID2003Mullan, IDMullan, ID2003Mullan, IDMine waste near Mullan, ID. Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes2003Mine waste near Mullan, ID. Trail of the Coeur d' Ale…Mine in Mullan, ID2003Mine in Mullan, IDAbove Mullan, ID. on Saint Paul Trail2003Above Mullan, ID. on Saint Paul Trail
Every building

Mullan, building by building, 1892–1918

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.

Mullan fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

NPScurve
Retake this viewNPScurve, 1903

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mullan’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Mullan

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
1999
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian Gothic1
St. Andrew's Episcopal ChurchLate Victorian Gothic

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Mullan’s post office has been open since 1886.

Gone or out of use
Gold Hunter Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mullan
IOOFMiners UnionMountain View

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

Help out

Finish Mullan’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNPScurve: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Mullan’s history

What year was Mullan founded?

The Mullan post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mullan?

One place: the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (listed 1999).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.