Editing Athol, Idaho (section)

==History==
{{Expand section|date=May 2022}}
A post office called the Athol Post Office has been in operation since 1895.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=ID&county=Kootenai |title=Kootenai County |publisher=Jim Forte Postal History |access-date=30 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531054220/http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=ID&county=Kootenai |archive-date=31 May 2015 }}</ref> The city may be named after the [[Duke of Atholl]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J7cSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pPkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3055%2C1251084 | title=What's in a name? | work=Spokane Chronicle | date=Sep 6, 1985 | access-date=30 May 2015 | author=Taggart, Cynthia | pages=3}}</ref>

The [http://www.cityofathol.us/history/ City of Athol website] details a brief history as follows:

Until the early 1800s when explorers/trappers began coming into the area, [[Native American tribes]], primarily of the [[Coeur d'Alene people|Coeur d’Alene]] and [[Spokane Tribe]]s, had exclusive use of the land as they migrated through the region en route to their encampments near the area's many lakes and streams.

All this changed when the Northern Pacific Railroad station was built in Athol in 1882, and settlers hoped for a vast agricultural paradise. The depot was established in Athol on its line between Hauser Junction and [[Sandpoint]]. In 1895, town residents consisting of mostly railroad employees and homesteaders successfully petitioned postal authorities for a post office.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

The white pine forest first attracted early settlers to Athol, and logging, milling, and agriculture created prosperity.  However, the location of the new community was on state lands. In 1903, lots in Athol were auctioned by the state. State surveyors platted the new township but, apparently, did not record the change in ownership. For many years, the town's residents did not have title to their land. Eventually the state corrected the problem.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Athol was first known as Colton, the town was renamed Athol by a settler who came from Athol, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Athol was named after a town in Scotland named for the Duke of Atholl. No one knows for sure if Athol, Idaho was named by a descendent of the same family or if the name was just brought west during the 19th century.

In 1900, the Methodist congregation built a church that also served as a school until 1902, when school patrons built their first school building.  In December 1902 Hackett & Wilson opened a sawmill near the city.  The mill became the city's largest employer and had the capacity of producing 25,000 board feet of lumber per day.  By 1903, there were many businesses opened, including the Pacific Hotel, a drugstore, a smithy, a jewelry store, restaurants, a mercantile company, and a saloon.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Athol's first water well was dug by hand by Joe Pricsha and his crew.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} It was over 350 feet deep. They dug into a large boulder, so they had to dig around it, which made a curve in the shaft. A 5&nbsp;hp pump motor was installed, which supplied the town with water. Later, another shaft with a larger pump was installed in the same hand-dug hole.