Nampa dates to 1886, and 19 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #25 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Most of Nampa was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 19 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 154 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nampa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nampa is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #25 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nampa’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Nampa ranks #238 on History.
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 Nampa’s 15.5 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 171 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1886.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Nampa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Nampa, building by building, 1892–1921
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.
Nampa had its beginnings in the early 1880s when the Oregon Short Line Railroad built a line from Granger, Wyoming, to Huntington, Oregon, that passed through Nampa. In Nampa there is a history museum that marks the railroad's significance. More railroad lines sprang up through Nampa, making it an important railroad town. Alexander and Hannah Duffes established one of the town's first homesteads, eventually forming the Nampa Land and Improvement Company with the help of their friend and co-founder, James McGee. Despite the name, many early settlers called the town "New Jerusalem" because of its citizens' strong religious focus. After only a year the town grew from 15 homes to 50. As amenities were added, Nampa continued to grow, and it was incorporated in 1891.
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.
Carnegie Public LibrarybuildingChapman HallbuildingKingdom Hall of Jehovahs WitnesseschurchMercy HeliportairportMercy HospitalhospitalSamaritan General HospitalhospitalTrinity Lutheran ChurchchurchWesleyan Holiness Churchchurch
1cemetery inside Nampa
Mount Calvary
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Nampa’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1886, according to Wikidata. Nampa’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 347 people here.
How does Nampa rank for history?
Nampa is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #25 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 Nampa?
19 listings: 17 buildings, among them the Nampa Depot (listed 1972, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Nampa Historic District and the Nampa Neighborhood Historic District, Old, with 154 contributing buildings. 171 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Nampa?
7% of Nampa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (19), 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.
1898
1907
1919
1919
