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History · Roberts

Roberts was first counted by the census in 1910, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Hotel Patrie. Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1910.

1910first census
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Roberts began

When was Roberts founded?

1910

Roberts first appears in the census in 1910. Another post office, Market Lake (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 192 in 19102020 census: 500116 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Roberts’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Roberts are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roberts’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roberts’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Roberts, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Roberts yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Roberts is a city in Jefferson County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Roberts had a population of 500.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 580 to 500 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Roberts, 1868 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Market Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Post officeThe Market Lake post office closes
  5. 1910Post officeThe Roberts post office opens
  6. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Roberts, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Saint Anthony Catholic Church in2022Saint Anthony Catholic Church inRoberts, Idaho2018Roberts, IdahoBayou Country2012Bayou CountryIDMap-doton-Roberts2004IDMap-doton-Roberts
On the map

Roberts on the map, 1949 to 1979

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

Roberts on the 1949 USGS mapRoberts on the 1950 USGS mapRoberts on the 1979 USGS map1949Roberts 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 Roberts.

Every building

Roberts, building by building, 1921–1929

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.

Roberts fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Roberts

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
1978
Hotel Patrie
Hotel Patrie
Buildings
Hotel PatrieBuilding

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

People over time

Roberts, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 647

Between 192 and 647 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Roberts

Nobody well known was born in Roberts itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
B
Brad HarrisAmerican actor · b. 1933
Mary KornmanAmerican film actress · b. 1915
H
Heather MoodyAmerican water polo player and coach · b. 1973
Laurel Thatcher UlrichAmerican historian · b. 1938
D. Worth ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1902
Chris AppelhansAmerican filmmaker and illustrator · b. 1980
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Roberts’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Market Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Market Lake
1868–1910
Roberts
1910–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Roberts’ history

What year was Roberts founded?

The Roberts post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Roberts?

One place: the Hotel Patrie (listed 1978).

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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.