St. Anthony’s post office opened in 1888, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #18 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Fremont County Courthouse, the US Post Office-St. Anthony Main and the St. Anthony Pegram Truss Railroad Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first St. Anthony post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives St. Anthony’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Anthony is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #18 of 59 in Idaho. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Anthony’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 St. Anthony’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±6.2 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 St. Anthony’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Previous to the foundation of St. Anthony, Major Andrew Henry established a short-lived fort a few miles west of where the city stands today. This post was last used in the Fall of 1811, but left a lasting mark on the area as Henry is the namesake for the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, which St. Anthony sits along.
The early history of the city is disputed, with some sources pointing toward St. Anthony being founded in 1888 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while others point to it being established in 1890. About this same time, a bridge was built over the Henrys Fork where St. Anthony stands today. The city was named after Saint Anthony Falls in Minnesota.
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.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Anthony
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about St. Anthony’s history
What year was St. Anthony founded?
The St. Anthony post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Anthony rank for history?
St. Anthony is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #18 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 St. Anthony?
Three places: the Fremont County Courthouse (listed 1979), the US Post Office-St. Anthony Main (1989) and the St. Anthony Pegram Truss Railroad Bridge (1997).
How old are the homes in St. Anthony?
20% of St. Anthony’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1970.
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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
2014
2004
