Wardboro (formerly Preston) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Bear Lake County, Idaho 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. The county is named after Bear Lake, a large al ...

. Wardboro was originally called Preston, after early founder Thomas Preston, and under the latter name was founded in 1865 although that name was probably not applied until 1968. This name could not be kept when the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

rejected is as there was already a Preston in Franklin County. The present name is after

Wardsboro, Vermont Wardsboro is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 869 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Wardsboro, Wardsboro Center, West Wardsboro and South Wardsboro. History The town was settled circa 1 ...

, the native home of a share of the early settlers. Other names proposed included Heepsville (after the daughter of William and Sophia Heap who had died in a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

), Prestonville, Greensborough, Troy and Dalrymple Dell. Oscar Dalrymple's of naming the town after his hometown of Wardboro won the day. A rumor subsequently arose that the town was named after its first postmaster, Milton Ward.

References

Unincorporated communities in Idaho Unincorporated communities in Bear Lake County, Idaho {{BearLakeCountyID-geo-stub