Avon, Idaho — Where Palouse Farms Start Sharing Space With Timber

Avon sits in eastern Latah County near the transition between cultivated Palouse uplands and the forested country leading toward the Clearwater basin.

The contrast is visible in the land. Grain, hay and livestock use the more open ground, while timber becomes increasingly important on nearby hills and draws.

That mixed economy shaped the community more than any single industry. Rural households could be tied to farming, forestry or both, with Deary, Troy and Moscow providing larger service centers.

Modern roads reduced the need for a commercial center at Avon without emptying the district.

Avon makes sense as a transition community: not quite the broad wheat country farther west, not yet the deeply forested Clearwater landscape farther east.