Craigmont, Idaho — Two Rival Towns Finally Gave Up and Merged

Craigmont began as two towns.

Ilo and Vollmer sat close enough together on the Camas Prairie to duplicate businesses, residents and civic loyalties.

Railroad development helped create the rivalry.

Neither community wanted to concede.

In 1920, they solved the problem by merging and choosing a new name that allowed both sides to avoid admitting defeat.

Craigmont inherited the two centers and gradually stitched them into one municipality.

The surrounding economy remained agricultural, with grain moving from prairie farms toward larger markets.

Broad fields still reach toward canyon breaks leading into the Clearwater and Salmon river systems.

The landscape is dramatic.

The municipal solution was wonderfully practical.

If two towns insist on being rivals long enough, eventually they can share a city hall.