4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Priest River post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Priest River’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Priest River is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Priest River’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 Priest River’s 78.7 sits above most of its state (92% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±5.9 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 Priest River’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Priest River. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Sandpoint sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Priest River.
Every building
Priest River, building by building, 1903–1912
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Priest River, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Priest River yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Priest River is a city in Bonner County, Idaho. The population was 1,696 at the 2020 census, and 1,751 at the 2010 census. Located in the Idaho Panhandle region of the state, the city is at the mouth of the Priest River on the Pend Oreille River.
Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,751 to 1,696 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Priest River, 1891 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Priest River, census by census
Between 248 and 1,754 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Priest River’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Priest River’s post office has been open since 1891.
Gone or out of use
Priest River High Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Priest River’s history
What year was Priest River founded?
The Priest River post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Priest River rank for history?
Priest River is more historic than 69% 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 Priest River?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Hotel Charbonneau (listed 1991, the first), and 1 historic district, the Priest River Commercial Core Historic District, with 9 contributing buildings. 14 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Priest River?
16% of Priest River’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1939
Date?
2004
