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B+History
History · St. Maries

St. Maries’ post office opened in 1889, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1910.

1889first post office
4on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. Maries’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How St. Maries began

When was St. Maries founded?

1889

The St. Maries post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 869 in 19102020 census: 2,357137 years

How historic is St. Maries?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first St. Maries post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. Maries’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Maries is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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. Maries’ overall grade.
Founding era1889, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194032.3% of homes (±7.2) · typical ID town 8.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register4 listings, 13.7 per 10,000 residents · typical ID town 8.4 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

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. Maries’ 13.7 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 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. Maries’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of St. Maries’ homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Maries’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSt. Maries, Idaho (1911): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 historic places in St. Maries

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Kootenai Inn
Kootenai InnSt. Maries 1910 Fire MemorialBenewah County CourthouseSt. Maries Masonic Temple No. 63
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival2
Tudor Style1
Kootenai InnTudor Style
St. Maries 1910 Fire MemorialSite
Benewah County CourthouseClassical Revival
St. Maries Masonic Temple No. 63Classical Revival

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

The story

How St. Maries came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Maries.

Read it all →

The townsite was selected by Joseph Fisher, just southwest of the confluence of St. Maries River and St. Joe River, to provide a location for a sawmill, first built in 1889. The rivers and lake systems provided rapid transportation systems for floating logs to the mills and utilizing steamboats to transport finished products to market. From the city, the St. Joe River flows west, through several lakes and into the south end of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

The Pacific Extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) arrived in 1908. The city was established in 1913 when Benewah County was formed from southern Kootenai County. In 1915 St. Maries was named its county seat.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

St. Maries, 1889 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Saint Maries post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911In the archiveSt. Maries, Idaho (1911)
  5. 1912Born hereGeorgia Coleman is born here
  6. 1917Born hereLloyd G. McCarter is born here
  7. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1961Born hereTom Mueller is born here
  9. 1971Born hereMatthew Brannon is born here
By decade

St. Maries, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
St. Maries, Idaho (1911)1911St. Maries, Idaho (1911)IDAHO-L-0146- St. Joe River Flood - Merton Creek1913IDAHO-L-0146- St. Joe River Flood - Merton Creek
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
At Mouth of Falls Creek on St. Joe River2024At Mouth of Falls Creek on St. Joe RiverSteamer Colfax at Highest Draw Bridge in U.S., circa 19102022Steamer Colfax at Highest Draw Bridge in U.S., circa …Souvenir of St. Maries, Idaho (1911), Page 242018Souvenir of St. Maries, Idaho (1911), Page 24Souvenir of St. Maries, Idaho (1911), Page 222018Souvenir of St. Maries, Idaho (1911), Page 22St Maries Masonic Temple - St Maries Idaho2015St Maries Masonic Temple - St Maries IdahoSt. Maries Memorial Rededication2010St. Maries Memorial RededicationMemorial amazing22010Memorial amazing2Old A&W, Saint Maries, 20052003Old A&W, Saint Maries, 2005
On the map

St. Maries on the map, 1957 to 1995

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

St. Maries on the 1957 USGS mapSt. Maries on the 1981 USGS mapSt. Maries on the 1995 USGS map1957St Maries 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 St. Maries.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

St. Maries, Idaho (1911)
Retake this viewSt. Maries, Idaho (1911), 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on St. Maries’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

St. Maries, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,794

Between 869 and 2,794 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

7 famous people were born in St. Maries

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Georgia ColemanDiver · b. 1912
T
Tom MuellerAmerican aerospace engineer and rocket engine d… · b. 1961
M
Matthew BrannonArtist · b. 1971
Lloyd G. McCarterUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1917
R
Randy MuellerAmerican football executive · b. 1961
S
Sally TooneAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Maries
1cemetery inside St. Maries
Woodlawn

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

Questions about St. Maries’ history

What year was St. Maries founded?

The St. Maries post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does St. Maries rank for history?

St. Maries is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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. Maries?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Kootenai Inn (listed 1979, the first), and 1 site.

How old are the homes in St. Maries?

32% of St. Maries’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 1963.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.