The Salmon post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Salmon City (1869), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 186 in 18702020 census: 3,119131 years
How historic is Salmon?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Salmon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salmon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salmon is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #13 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salmon’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 Salmon’s 25.0 sits above most of its state (77% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 (±6.0 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 Salmon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass, 30 miles (48 km) to the southeast of Salmon. They followed the Salmon River through the present site of the city, then ascended the north fork of the river, at the present-day town named after the confluence, to cross into present-day Montana near Lost Trail Pass. The sole female in the party, Sacagawea, was born in the Lemhi Valley near Salmon. The Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Educational Center was opened in Salmon in August 2003.
From 1910 to 1939, Salmon was the western terminus of the now-defunct Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad.
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.
Between 186 and 3,308 people in every census since 1870.
15 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Salmon’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Salmon’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Salmon City, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Salmon City
1869–1895
Salmon
1895–today
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Salmon’s history
What year was Salmon founded?
The Salmon post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Salmon rank for history?
Salmon is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Salmon?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Socrates A. Myers House (listed 1977, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Salmon?
16% of Salmon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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