Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rigby’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rigby is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #30 of 59 in Idaho. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rigby’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 Rigby’s 1.9 sits near the middle of its state (38% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). Two sources give 1883.
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 Rigby’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Native Americans from the Shoshone, Bannock Blackfeet, and Nez Perce tribes were the first inhabitants of the region.
Rigby was founded by George Albert Cordon, Omer Samuel Call, Josiah Call, and Cyril Josiah Call members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1884 and incorporated in 1903. The community was named after William F. Rigby, a prominent early settler and member of the church.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rigby. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Rigby sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rigby.
Every building
Rigby, building by building, 1915–1921
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.
In 1883, according to Wikidata. Rigby’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1910 counted 666 people here.
How does Rigby rank for history?
Rigby is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #30 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 Rigby?
One place: the Jefferson County Courthouse (listed 1987).
How old are the homes in Rigby?
12% of Rigby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), 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.
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