19 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Thompson Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thompson Falls is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thompson Falls’ overall grade.
Montana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Montana town has 12.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Thompson Falls’ 153 sits above most of its state (84% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 23 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 points). Two sources give 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Thompson Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Thompson Falls was named after British explorer, geographer and fur trader David Thompson, who founded a North West Company fur trading post called Saleesh House in 1809. The community is located next to natural waterfalls on the Clark Fork river.
The settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute in 1846, ended joint occupancy with Britain and established the border with British North America and made the region firmly American. The arrival of the railroad in 1881 brought activity to the area. Two years later, when the gold rush hit nearby Cœur d'Alene, the town grew to accommodate the men going over the Murray Trail to the mines. In 1885 John Russell bought 40 acres (160,000 m2) and plotted the town site.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thompson Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Thompson Falls 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 Thompson Falls.
Every building
Thompson Falls, building by building, 1910–1914
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.
1910Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.
Retake this viewConstruction of electric power dam at Thompson Falls, Mont, 1914
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Thompson Falls’ page.
Between 325 and 1,478 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Thompson Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Thompson Falls’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, Thompson, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Thompson
1882–1912
Thompson Falls
1912–today
18801950today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Thompson Falls
Vetrans of Foreign WarsWild RoseWild Rose
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Thompson Falls’ history
What year was Thompson Falls founded?
In 1910, according to Wikidata. Thompson Falls’ post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1910 counted 325 people here.
How does Thompson Falls rank for history?
Thompson Falls is more historic than 52% 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 Thompson Falls?
19 listings: 18 buildings, among them the Ainsworth House (listed 1986, the first), and 1 historic district, the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Dam Historic District, with 4 contributing buildings. 23 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Thompson Falls?
15% of Thompson Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (19), 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.
1915
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