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–Not graded
History · Wardner

Wardner’s post office opened in 1887, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wardner’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wardner began

When was Wardner founded?

1887

The Wardner post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wordner (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,369 in 19102020 census: 192139 years
Founding year: the first Wardner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wardner’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1996. Watch Wardner change.Old housesHalf of Wardner’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wardner’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWardner&Kellog: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Wardner on the map, 1901 to 1996

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

Wardner on the 1901 USGS mapWardner on the 1957 USGS mapWardner on the 1985 USGS mapWardner on the 1996 USGS map1901Coeur DAlene District 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 Wardner.

The story

How Wardner came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wardner.

Read it all →

The city was named for Joe or Jim Wardner, an early promoter of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine in the 1880s and a seller of corner lots in the city. Born in Wisconsin in 1846, he held various occupations in Arizona, California, Utah, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Washington state. After his time in the Silver Valley of Idaho, he followed the mining booms to South Africa, British Columbia, and the Klondike; he published his autobiography in 1900 and died in El Paso, Texas in 1905.

In 1892, and again in 1899, angry union miners converged on the Bunker Hill mine during confrontations with mine owners.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wardner, 1886 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Wordner post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Wordner post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Wardner post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1904In the archiveWardner&Kellog
  8. 1927In the archiveWardner and Kellogg Peak
  9. 1973Post officeThe Wardner post office closes
By decade

Wardner, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s3 items
Wardner&Kellog1904Wardner&KellogWardner11904Wardner1Wardner and Kellogg Peak1927Wardner and Kellogg Peak
1930s–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
Today5 recent
Drone view from Kellogg, Idaho2024Drone view from Kellogg, IdahoCour-dalene2012Cour-daleneKellogg2007KelloggFrom top of Kellogg Gondola ride2007From top of Kellogg Gondola rideIDMap-doton-Wardner2004IDMap-doton-Wardner
Every building

Wardner, building by building, 1891–1896

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Wardner fire insurance map, 1891, sheet 11891Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Wardner&Kellog
Retake this viewWardner&Kellog, 1904

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Wardner, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,369

Between 188 and 1,369 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Wardner had its own post office from 1887 to 1973. Another post office, Wordner, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wordner
1886–1887
Wardner
1887–1973
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Bunker Hill MinemineLast Chance Minemine

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 Wardner’s history

What year was Wardner founded?

The Wardner post office opened in 1887, 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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.