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History · Smelterville

Smelterville’s post office opened in 1929, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1950.

1929first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Smelterville began

When was Smelterville founded?

1929

The Smelterville post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 76 in 19502020 census: 67097 years
Founding year: the first Smelterville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Smelterville’s 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 Smelterville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,127 in 1960; 670 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Smelterville’s homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smelterville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Smelterville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001960198020002020Peak: 1,127

Peaked at 1,127 in 1960; 670 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

The story so far

Smelterville, in brief

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

Smelterville is a city in Shoshone County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2020 census, Smelterville had a population of 670. The town was named in 1929 by a voice vote of its residents; the other choices were Van Rena and Silver City (already used in southwestern Idaho). The presence of the Bunker Hill smelter, which started operating in 1917, caused the name to be selected.

Its first post office opened in 1929. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 627 to 670 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Smelterville, 1929 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1929Post officeThe Smelterville post office opens
  3. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,127
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Smelterville on the map, 1957 to 1996

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

Smelterville on the 1957 USGS mapSmelterville on the 1985 USGS mapSmelterville on the 1996 USGS map1957Kellogg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Smelterville.

Famous people

Famous people close to Smelterville

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

See all →
Lana TurnerAmerican actress · b. 1921
Sage KotsenburgAmerican snowboarder · b. 1993
Luke RidnourAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Georgia ColemanDiver · b. 1912
Pappy BoyingtonUnited States Marine Corps aviator and Medal of… · b. 1912
T
Tom MuellerAmerican aerospace engineer and rocket engine d… · b. 1961
Places that used to be

Old corners

Smelterville’s post office has been open since 1929.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sweeney

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Kellogg3 historic placesB+

Questions about Smelterville’s history

What year was Smelterville founded?

The Smelterville post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.