Latah County (Images of America)
by Julie R. Monroe

Its name derived from the Nez Perce language, Latah County is the only county in the United States to have been created by an Act of Congress. The abundance of its natural resources—from blue fields of camas to deep veins of gold, from great stands of white pine trees to vast green grasslands—attracted a diversity of dreamers seeking only the opportunity to build their own futures. Nestled in the heart of the Palouse, an agricultural area of extraordinary production, Latah County is a land of timber and, at Potlatch, was once the site of one of the largest sawmills in the world. At Moscow, it is also the home of the state’s land-grant institution, the University of Idaho. From the forests of Troy and the ridges of Juliaetta and Kendrick, from the homesteads of Genesee to Bovill’s hunting lodge and Deary’s town site, Latah County has had a rich and varied history.

Historian Julie R. Monroe, author of Arcadia Publishing’s Moscow: Living and Learning on the Palouse, is a trustee of the Latah County Historical Society. Drawing from the capacious resources of the historical society’s photographic archives, she has interpreted the fascinating history of Latah County with an engaging collection of images that celebrates the optimism and resourcefulness of its citizens, past and present.