Idaho, Pennsylvania

Idaho, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated community
Idaho
Coordinates: 40°39′13″N 79°20′49″W
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Armstrong
Township	South Bend
Elevation	994 ft (303 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
GNIS feature ID	1177681[1]

Idaho is an unincorporated community in South Bend Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States.[1]

History

Early settlers of the community later called Idaho include Absalom Woodward, who built a grist mill and a saw mill on the south side of Plum Creek, near its junction with Crooked Creek, by 1811 when he was first assessed with them. Reuben Allshouse, who owned these mills in 1876, gave the surrounding community the name "Idaho" in recognition of that western state as the source of his fortune.[2]

Absalom Woodward also kept the only post office between Kittanning and Indiana in those days at that place. It remained in operation until 1824, when the post office at Elderton opened.[2][3]

For many years after the settlement of this region, the only church edifice was the log one built in 1818 by Absalom Woodward and generously donated to the public at large. In this and in private houses and barns, itinerant missionaries conducted services for many years.[2]

Idaho appears in the 1876 Atlas of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.[4]

References

1. "Idaho". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. "Armstrong County, PA: Her People, Past and Present, Chapter 22, page 190". Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1914. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
3. "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
4. "Atlas of Armstrong County Pennsylvania, page 66". Pomeroy, Whitman & Co. 1876. Retrieved November 9, 2018.