The Athol Connection

Athol, Idaho

Connections. They are the unexpected things which spice up road trips in New England and beyond.

On a recent drive to Dover, Vermont, we enjoyed a scenic interlude on the Mohawk Trail (portions of Massachusetts Routes 2 and 2A). Free of the hectic traffic of the Mass Pike, we were able to enjoy the hills and ridges and rivers that flowed around us.

First Athol, a town in northern Mass nestled between Templeton and Orange, and the butt of many idiotic jokes. Your erstwhile columnist learned, many years ago in a humor writing class, that such jokes concerning Athol were common, cheap, insulting to the residents, and given no credit by our course instructor. Thus chastised, we were doomed to search, mostly unsuccessfully, for humor elsewhere.

Athol was first settled in 1735 and incorporated in 1762. The town was named by one of its founders for his ancestral home of Atholl, Scotland, a name meaning “new Ireland.” Powered by abundant flowing water, the town became an industrial hub known for precision toolmaking which led to its nickname, “Tool Town.”

After continuing to Erving and a satisfying lunch at the Freight House, we drove on west and then north into Vermont. Climbing and swerving for what seemed hours into the Green Mountains, we arrived in Dover which is nearly 2,000 feet higher than Attleboro. The main attraction here is snow and snow sports, and what you would think is the eponymously named Mount Snow (3,600 feet).

But you would be wrong. While as the mountain has benefited from copious snow, over five feet in the previous few weeks, it was named after farmer Reuben Snow who sold his land in 1953 to the ski resort’s founder.

Finally headed back south, we descended through Wilmington, Vermont, to scenic, rural route 100 then to route 112, passing sugar shacks and small settlements, reentering Massachusetts in historical Colrain. Gentle mountain foothills, winding rivers, and abundant apple orchards dot this bucolic area. Peaceful, beautiful, it is with regret that we leave Colrain to join the hordes on I-91 and the Mass Pike to return home.

And now the connections we promised. Only a month ago, on a trip with friends to Idaho, we ventured through the town of Athol, Idaho. The name of the town was not the only surprise, but also the coincidence that both Athols (MA and ID) were positioned just a few miles north of Interstate 90. According to a history of the area, initially named Colton, “the town was renamed Athol by a settler who came from Athol, Massachusetts.”

Less than an hour to the north of Athol is the fabulous, family-friendly Schweitzer ski resort at Sandpoint in the Selkirk mountains. Much as Athol, Mass, is a bit over an hour from Mount Snow, Vermont.

To compound the connection, we learned that Athol is situated close to Lake Pend Oreille, one of the deepest lakes in the nation at 1,150 feet. You might be surprised to learn that the United States Navy has a permanent submarine research center located there. Apparently, the extreme depth and stillness of the water makes it ideal to test submarine acoustics.

Friends of ours assure us that Navy and Electric Boat personnel from Rhode Island and Connecticut have made regular visits to northern Idaho.  Who knew?

While Athol to Athol is a five-day drive across the country, they are connected by their proximity to Interstate 90. They are connected by their proximity to family friendly ski-mountains, Mount Snow and Schweitzer. They are connected by their striking rural scenery, peaceful environs, and friendly people.

It’s enough to make some future 2,700 mile road trip seem worthwhile.