Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Swan Valley

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Swan Valley

Swan Valley’s post office opened in 1917, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

1917first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bobjgalindo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Swan Valley began

When was Swan Valley founded?

1917

The Swan Valley post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 225109 years
Founding year: the first Swan Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Swan Valley’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 Swan Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Swan Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Swan Valley’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

Swan Valley, in brief

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

Swan Valley is a city in Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 225 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1917. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 204 to 225 (+10%).

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

By decade

Swan Valley, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Swan Valley, Idaho2016Swan Valley, IdahoUS Highway 26 - Idaho2014US Highway 26 - IdahoIDMap-doton-SwanValley2004IDMap-doton-SwanValley
Famous people

Famous people close to Swan Valley

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

See all →
Matt MeadAmerican lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor o… · b. 1962
B
Breezy JohnsonAmerican alpine skier · b. 1996
C
Christy WaltonAmerican heiress, billionaire, and philanthropi… · b. 1949
Resi StieglerAmerican alpine skier · b. 1985
George V. HansenAmerican politician · b. 1930
L
Larry WilsonAmerican football player, coach, executive · b. 1938
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

IrwinIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Swan Valley’s history

What year was Swan Valley founded?

The Swan Valley post office opened in 1917, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.