Juliaetta, ID

Juliaetta is a Latah County city in the narrow Potlatch River valley, where Idaho 3 follows the river and the old rail bed. The town started as Schupferville after Rupert Schupfer homesteaded here in 1878, but postmaster Charles Snyder renamed it for his daughters, Julia and Etta. That name stuck as the settlement grew around a store, a post office, and the transportation corridor.

ATTRSteve Shook from Moscow, Idaho, USA / CC BY 2.0

The old railroad line now gives Juliaetta one of its best local routes: the Ed Corkill Memorial Trail runs nearly five and a half miles along the Potlatch River between Juliaetta and Kendrick. The trail starts at Centennial Park, which has ball fields, a playground, pavilion, and a pond; the city also has a library, fire hall, museum known as The Castle, and elementary school. Highway 3 still carries logging and other commercial traffic through the valley. The local scoop is a river-valley town where a former rail line became a walking and biking connection, keeping Juliaetta tied to Kendrick and to its own railroad past.