Coolin, Idaho is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Bonner County Bonner County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,110. The county seat and largest city is Sandpoint. Partitioned from Kootenai County and established in 1907, it was named ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The nearest school district is the West Bonner School District.West Bonner Schools
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Geography

Coolin is situated at the southeast end of

Priest Lake Priest Lake is a lake in Idaho, United States, in the northernmost portion of the Idaho Panhandle, 80 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. The northern end of the lake extending to within 15 miles (24 km) of the Canada–US border. The ...

, at an elevation is 2,490 feet above sea level.

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Coolin has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

History

Andy Coolin opened a post office at the southern end of Priest Lake in 1893, thereby giving his name to the nascent community. Hopes were high for a mining bonanza in the area and for a future link to the railroad, 28 miles away. To accommodate travelers and prospectors, Walt Williams, an employee of the Great Northern Railroad, built a two-story log hotel, the Northern Inn, in 1900. In 1903 Andy Coolin received a patent on a homestead, planning to leverage his land into a financial empire. Coolin formed the Priest Lake Town Site and Improvement Company with his brother and other local investors in 1907. By that time Spokane businessman Joseph Slee already operated a steamboat out of Coolin connecting the lake with supplies, mail, and transportation. In 1906, Leonard Paul opened a general merchandise store in the tiny village; Ida Handy opened the Idaho Inn in 1908. When mining riches failed to pan out and Andy Coolin's efforts to lure the railway to Priest Lake came to naught, the village of Coolin became a center for summer vacationers and services, including a sawmill, store, hotel, ranger station, docks, and steamboat service. Today the Old Northern Inn, the Leonard Paul Store, and the one room schoolhouse, built in 1916 and now the Coolin Civic Association, remain as landmarks from those early days. Coolin's population was estimated at 100 in 1960.

Politics

References

Unincorporated communities in Bonner County, Idaho Unincorporated communities in Idaho {{BonnerCountyID-geo-stub