Freedom, Idaho and Wyoming | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 42°58′58″N111°02′38″W / 42.98278°N 111.04389°W | |
Country | United States |
States | Idaho and Wyoming |
Counties | Caribou (Idaho) and Lincoln (Wyoming) |
Area | |
• Total | 4.0 sq mi (10 km2) |
• Land | 4.0 sq mi (10 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 5,777 ft (1,761 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 247 |
• Density | 62/sq mi (24/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
ZIP code | 83120 |
FIPS code | 56-30115 [1] |
GNIS feature ID | 397726 [2] |
Freedom is an unincorporated community in both northeastern Caribou County, Idaho, and northwestern Lincoln County, Wyoming, in the United States; the Wyoming portion of the community is also a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 247 at the 2020 census. [3]
Located on U.S. Route 89 and Idaho State Highway 34, Freedom sits on the Idaho/Wyoming state line. It lies northeast of the city of Soda Springs, the county seat of Caribou County, and north of Kemmerer, the county seat of Lincoln County; the nearest significant community is Afton, Wyoming, approximately 20 mi (32 km) to the south, along U.S. Route 89. [4] Its elevation is 5,777 feet (1,761 m), and it is located at 42°58′N111°2′W / 42.967°N 111.033°W (42.983, -111.0438). [5] Although Freedom is unincorporated, its Wyoming side has a post office, with the ZIP code of 83120. [6]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.0 sq mi (10 km2), all land. [7]
Freedom was established in 1879, and today it remains the oldest settlement in the Star Valley. Similar to Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, the community was settled as a border town by Mormon polygamists in order to escape arrest for polygamy: they could be free from Idaho police simply by walking into Wyoming. The community was named for the freedom it gave these early settlers. [8]
At one time, Freedom was the largest settlement in Star Valley. There was a general store, a gas station, billiard hall, and other establishments. Today some of the old buildings still stand, but very few are still in use. The Post Office and Baseball Park are still used, along with the LDS Church, which was built in 1889. The headquarters of Freedom Arms, a gun factory and maker of a .454 Casull handgun, is located in the Wyoming portion of the community. [9]
The population of the ZCTA for ZIP Code 83120 was 471 at the 2000 census, with a racial makeup of 98.5% White, and 1.5% some other race. [10]
Randall Luthi, the former Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives resides in Freedom.
Rulon Gardner, born and raised in Star Valley. Rulon is a gold medal-winning Greco-Roman wrestler (2000—Sydney Olympics) and bronze medal winner in the (2004—Athens Olympic games.) He is the great-great-grandson of Archibald Gardner; (September 2, 1814 – February 8, 1902.) Archibald was a 19th-century pioneer and businessman who helped establish communities in Alvinston, Ontario, Canada; West Jordan, Utah; and Star Valley, Wyoming, based on flour mills and lumber mills. After 1858, he was a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a position that was held for 32 years.
As a businessman, millwright and practical engineer, Archibald Gardner built 36 gristmills and lumber mills: 23 in Utah, six in Canada, five in Wyoming and two in Idaho. He also built hundreds of miles of canals, and many bridges in Utah.
Archibald Gardner's life is memorialized by a plaque in Alvinston, Archibald's Restaurant, a restored gristmill in West Jordan at Gardner Village, a plaque on 400 S 200 E, Spanish Fork, Utah for the first grist mill in town in 1858, and a monument in Afton ... The site where Archibald built his original flour mill in West Jordan, Utah is now known as Gardner Village and features a collection of other early pioneer homes that now house shops and a restaurant dedicated to him called Archibald's Restaurant.
Rich County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,510, making it the third-least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Randolph, and the largest town is Garden City. The county was created in 1864. It was named for an early LDS apostle, Charles C. Rich.
Lincoln County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 19,581. Its county seat is Kemmerer. Its western border abuts the eastern borders of the states of Idaho and Utah.
Oneida County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census the county had a population of 4,564. The county seat and largest city is Malad City. Most of the county's population lives in Malad City and the surrounding Malad Valley.
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census the county had a population of 14,194. The county seat and largest city is Preston. The county was established in 1913 and named after Franklin D. Richards, an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the only Franklin County in the United States that is not named after Benjamin Franklin. Franklin County is part of the Logan, UT-ID Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Caribou County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census the county had a population of 7,027. The county seat and largest city is Soda Springs.
Bonneville County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 123,964, making it the fourth-most populous county in Idaho and the most populous in eastern Idaho. Its county seat and largest city is Idaho Falls. Bonneville County was established in 1911 and named after Benjamin Bonneville (1796–1878), a French-born officer in the U.S. Army, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West. Benjamin was the son of Nicholas Bonneville of France, an Illuminati member who had written the "Illuminati Manifesto for World Revolution" in 1792, which played a significant role in the French revolution. Bonneville County is part of the Idaho Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bear Lake County is a county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States Census the county had a population of 6,372. The county seat is Paris, and Montpelier is the largest city.
St. Charles is a city in southern Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States, that is located near the northwestern shore of Bear Lake. Its population was 131 at the 2010 census, down from 156 in 2000.
Bancroft is a city in the Gem Valley in Caribou County, Idaho, United States. The population was 377 at the 2010 census.
Malad City is the only city in Oneida County, Idaho, United States. In 2024 the population was around 2,239 people., up from 2,158 in 2000.
Willard is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,772 at the 2010 census.
West Jordan is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 116,961, placing it as the third most populous in the state. The city occupies the southwest end of the Salt Lake Valley at an elevation of 4,330 feet (1,320 m). Named after the nearby Jordan River, the limits of the city begin on the river's western bank and end in the eastern foothills of the Oquirrh Mountains, where Kennecott Copper Mine, the world's largest man-made excavation, is located.
Afton is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,172 at the 2020 census. Afton is home to the world's largest arch made of elk antlers. Spanning 75 feet (23 m) across the four lanes of U.S. Highway 89, the arch consists of 3,011 elk antlers and weighs 15 tons.
Rulon Ellis Gardner is an American retired Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games, defeating Russia's three-time reigning Olympic gold medalist Aleksandr Karelin in the final; Karelin was previously unbeaten for 13 years in international competition. Gardner won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games. In 2010, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.
Star Valley is located in the United States between the Salt River Range in western Wyoming and the Webster Range of eastern Idaho. The altitude of the valley ranges from 5,600 feet (1,700 m) to 7,000 feet (2,100 m). Three major Wyoming rivers, the Salt River, the Greys River and the Snake River meet near Alpine Junction at Palisades Reservoir. Numerous towns are located in the valley, including Afton, Thayne, Bedford, Etna, Smoot, Fairview, Osmond, Freedom, Grover, Auburn, Alpine, Nordic, Turnerville and Star Valley Ranch. Star Valley was settled in the late 1870s by Mormon pioneers. Primary sources indicate Star Valley was proclaimed the "Star of All Valleys" for its natural beauty by a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The name was later shortened to Star Valley. Another less supported theory about the origin of the name comes from Starvation (Starve) Valley, a name the area gained during bitter winters in the late 1880s.
Archibald Gardner was a 19th-century pioneer and businessman who, with his knowledge of lumber- and grist mills, helped establish communities in Alvinston, Ontario; West Jordan, Utah; and Star Valley, Wyoming. In his lifetime Archibald built 36 gristmills and lumber mills — 23 in Utah, 6 in Canada, 5 in Wyoming, and 2 in Idaho — greatly benefiting the lives of those in the surrounding areas. Archibald also built hundreds of miles of canals to introduce the flow of water to the mills' apparatus.
Geneva is an unincorporated community in on the eastern edge of Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States, near the Wyoming border.
Intermittent Spring, also called Periodic Spring, is located in Swift Creek canyon in Star Valley, near Afton, Wyoming. It is the largest rhythmic spring in the world.
Osmond is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 397 at the 2010 census.
The Gardner Mill, at 1100 West 7800 South in West Jordan, Utah, United States was built in 1877 and is the focal point of today's Gardner Village.