Welcome to Crystal ...
So far, we found very little information about Crystal. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Crystal to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Crystal, please Contact Us.
Crystal would have been located within present day Custer County<2>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Crystal, you might consider that their post office opened in 1880.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Crystal is 5,350 feet [1,631 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Crystal is 1 mile [or ~1¾ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where Crystal was located is in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
The Area Codes where Crystal was located: 208 & 986<4>
Communities Also Named Crystal ...
While we believe that this Crystal is located in Custer County, we know of another 2 Idaho communities named Crystal. Those communities are located in the following counties: Power and Washington County.
Beyond Idaho, there are 24 communities that are also named Crystal - they are located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada (2), New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Crystal.
Communities near Crystal ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Crystal.
- Challis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Challis have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challis
- Challis is located in Custer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,066 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Challis <6>
- Clayton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Clayton is located in Custer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clayton <6>
- Bayhorse ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayhorse
- Bayhorse is located in Custer County
- Garden City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Custer County
- Custer ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest) - Bonanza ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
- Bonanza is located in Custer County
- Dickey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast) - Boulder ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder
- Boulder is located in Blaine County
- Boulder has also been known as:
- Boulder Basin
- May
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
- May is located in Lemhi County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <6>
- Stanley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Stanley is located in Custer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanley <6>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We're compiling a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Crystal. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Crystal.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Crystal. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Crystal.
Adding Crystal to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Crystal in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Crystal was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
X2X - From that list, the Crystal post office opened in 1880.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Crystal.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Custer County: www.co.custer.id.us/
The official website for State of Idaho: https://idaho.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Crystal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of Idaho's counties, including Custer, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Crystal - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 208 code has been Overlayed with the 986 area code. New phone numbers in the Crystal area will be assigned with one of these codes: 208 or 986. As a result, placing a call in the Crystal area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |