Idlewild, Kentucky

Idlewild, Kentucky
Unincorporated community
Idlewild, Kentucky
Coordinates: 39°04′39″N 84°47′42″W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Boone
Elevation	663 ft (202 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code	859
GNIS feature ID	508308[1]

Idlewild is an unincorporated community in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. Idlewild is located at the junction of Kentucky Routes 20 and 338, 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Burlington.[2] The name "Idlewild" was adopted in 1900, and the community was formerly named Gainesville and Utzinger, respectively.[2] The Gainesville name was based upon the Gaines family, who owned a great deal of land in Boone County.[2] The name Utzinger was placed later, upon establishment of the community's post office in 1886.[2]

History

In the late 19th century, Idlewild had several businesses, a general store and three blacksmith shops.[2] A carriage shop also existed, which was operated by a charter member of the Wells Fargo stage delivery route, Fred Pfalzgraf.[2]

In the early 20th century, there were two nearby schools, one for white pupils and one for black pupils.[2]

In the 1940s, there were only two businesses in the community's business district, the Scothorn general store and Scothorn Motors auto dealership.[2] In 2015, the former general store building was vacant, and the Scothorn Motors building was an auto body shop.[2]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Idlewild, Kentucky
2. Tenkotte, P.A.; Claypool, J.C. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky. EBSCO ebook academic collection. University Press of Kentucky. p. 473. ISBN 978-0-8131-5996-6. Retrieved September 25, 2018.