An Idaho Town That Survived Because It Had a School

By Tara Roberts

My knowledge of Princeton begins with a monkey. My paternal grandfather, Robert Karr, was born and raised on Hatter Creek, which flows into the Palouse River on the south edge of Princeton. The four-mile walk into town took him about an hour, and on occasion he’d pick up bottles along the road to sell at the Princeton Tavern. A woman named Juanita ran the tavern, and Grandpa remembers her as trim and tidy, with a flowered dress and curled hair. Juanita had a monkey.