Spokane7
37°
Athol has always had a bit of an identity crisis, at least name-wise.
The town started as Colton, 
which was changed to Athol after a settler
from the Massachusetts town with the same name decided it was somehow
better. In 1966, after the Girl and Boy scouts both held events nearby
at the old Naval base, the name Roundup City was suggested and
rejected. Later that year, when Farragut State Park opened its gates a
few miles away, a town debate arose among its 300 residents whether
they should change the town’s name to Farragut to sort of “cash in” on
all the tourists that would be blazing through. Some residents thought
it would be a good way to avoid confusion, others were vehemently
opposed. In a Spokane Chronicle news article at the time, local
grocery owner Mrs. A. A. Olston complained “It’s always been Athol and
I want my children when they grow up to say they were born here”/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.
Question: Should Athol change its name?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Bent on September 13 at 11:53 p.m.
Awesome column OTV… and Cindy, nice ;-) !!!!
poolman on September 14 at 8:39 a.m.
Yes -
Quite confusing young children, loose the lisp, and call it Ashole. (Ash-O-LAY)
Very European…
philipgregory on September 14 at 11:43 a.m.
There’s just no good spin on the name.
I think they might consider a name change, but probably Ashole (Ash-O-LAY) is not the best…;)
Ian on September 14 at 11:47 a.m.
I propose they change the name to Anith.