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History · Tensed

Tensed’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Tensed. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
4recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

The city was originally called Desmet, after the Belgian Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet, who was active with the Coeur d'Alene nation, but the post office requested a change as that name was taken by nearby De Smet. The name was reversed to Temsed and then misspelled by the post office.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Start Tensed’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from TensedWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Tensed.Meet them →
By decade

Tensed, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Today4 photos
Street Scene, circa 1920CommonsStreet Scene, circa 19202014Street Scene, circa 1920CommonsStreet Scene, circa 19202014Lonesome Without You, 1912CommonsLonesome Without You, 19122014IDMap-doton-TensedCommonsIDMap-doton-Tensed2004
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Tensed is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Tensed has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Coeur d'Alene Mission of the Sacred Heart in De Smet, 1 miles away.

Tensed and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Tensed. Tap a dot.
Coeur d'Alene Mission of the Sacred HeartMasonic HallEdward and Ida Soncarty BarnMountain Home Grange HallTekoa Grain Company Elevator & FlathouseHam-McEachern House

Closest to Tensed

Coeur d'Alene Mission of the Sacred HeartDe Smet · Building1miMasonic HallFarmington · Building7.5miEdward and Ida Soncarty BarnOnaway · Building9.2miMountain Home Grange HallOnaway · Building10.6miTekoa Grain Company Elevator & FlathouseTekoa · District11.4mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Coeur d'Alene Mission of the Sacred Heart’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Tensed?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Tensed’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Farmington📜 Tekoa📜 Plummer📜 Latah

From Wikimedia Commons (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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