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C−History
History · Star

Star’s post office opened in 1880, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #48 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it

Most of Star was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Its Register listing is the Star Camp. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 2000.

1880first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Star began, and where its name came from

When was Star founded?

1880

The Star post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,795 in 20002020 census: 11,117146 years

How did Star get its name?

Star was named in the 19th century by travelers on their way to Middleton and Boise who used the star on the school house to find east and west.

More on the name

The name stuck and it became Star, Idaho.

How historic is Star?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Star post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
History grade

What drives Star’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Star is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #48 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Star’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.6% of homes (±1.1) · typical ID town 8.5% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical ID town 8.4 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Idaho towns of 2,500+ (59)Ahead of 19%

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 Star’s 0.7 sits below most of its state (29% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Star’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 Star are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Star’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Star’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

Star, in brief

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

Star is a city in northwestern Ada County, Idaho, with parts stretching into neighboring Canyon County. The population was 11,117 at the 2020 census, up from 5,793 in 2010. It was named in the 19th century by travelers on their way to Middleton and Boise who used the star on the school house to find east and west. The name stuck and it became Star, Idaho. Today, it is a rapidly growing suburb of Boise and its schools are shared with Middleton School District and West Ada School District. Star is part of the Boise metropolitan area.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,793 to 11,117 (+92%).

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

Timeline

Star, 1880 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Star post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Born hereJames A. Brown is born here
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Star, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Star Merc2019Star Merc
On the map

Star on the map, 1953 to 1971

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

Star on the 1953 USGS mapStar on the 1971 USGS map1953Star 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 Star.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Star

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
2005
Star Camp
Star Camp
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Monitor-Style Barn1
Star CampMonitor-Style Barn

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

People over time

Star, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0002000202011,117

Grew from 1,795 people in 2000 to 11,117 in 2020, 6 times over.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Eagle8 historic placesC−

Questions about Star’s history

What year was Star founded?

The Star post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Star rank for history?

Star is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #48 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 Star?

One place: the Star Camp (listed 2005).

How old are the homes in Star?

2% of Star’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 2011.

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