Benewah County is a county in Idaho, United States, on the state’s western border where the panhandle meets the Palouse prairie. It had a population of 9,530 at the 2020 census and covers 784 square miles (2,030 km2), of which 777 square miles are land and 7.3 square miles are water, centred near 47°13′N 116°40′W.<\/p>\n
St. Maries is the county seat, and its postal code is 83861. The county has three incorporated cities, three census-designated places, and a scatter of unincorporated communities, no civil townships, and sits in the Pacific time zone.<\/p>\n
Benewah County’s population centers split between three incorporated cities along Idaho 5 and the St. Joe and St. Maries rivers, three census-designated places (CDPs, unincorporated but statistically tracked), and a longer list of unincorporated communities, rail sidings, and lake landings on the shores of Chatcolet Lake and the St. Joe River.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Maries<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 2,357<\/td>\n | 83861<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Plummer<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 1,015<\/td>\n | 83851<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tensed<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83870<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| De Smet<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83824<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fernwood<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83830<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Parkline<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Santa<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 83866<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Emida<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| St. Joe<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Alder Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Benewah<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cardwell<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Chatcolet<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Flat Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hawleys Landing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lotus<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mashburn<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Meadowhurst<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Milltown<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mowry<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Omega<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pedee<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Plummer Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ramsdell<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Renfrew<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Riverdale<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rocky Point<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rover<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sanders<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Silvertip Landing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tyson Creek Station<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wayland<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Willard<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Tensed and De Smet sit within a mile of each other on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation and are sometimes confused; Tensed is the incorporated city, De Smet the older mission-era CDP named for Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nMost of the county’s smaller unincorporated communities and lake landings have no post office of their own and use one of the six ZIPs above.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nBenewah County sits in the northern Palouse, a rolling prairie shading into forested foothills of the Bitterroot Range along its eastern edge. Chatcolet Lake and Lake Coeur d’Alene’s southern arm cover much of the county’s northern border, and the St. Joe and St. Maries rivers cut through the middle of the county on their way to Lake Coeur d’Alene. Elevations range from around 2,130 feet at the lake shore to well over 5,000 feet in the St. Joe National Forest.<\/p>\n Benewah County borders Kootenai County<\/a> to the north, Shoshone County<\/a> to the east, Latah County<\/a> to the south, and Whitman County, Washington to the southwest and Spokane County, Washington to the northwest.<\/p>\n Benewah County had 9,530 residents at the 2020 census, entirely classified as rural. St. Maries is the largest community by a wide margin, followed by Plummer; together they hold roughly a third of the county’s population. Median household income in the county runs below the Idaho median of $74,942, consistent with the county’s timber- and agriculture-based economy. Population density is about 12 people per square mile, among the lowest in the Idaho panhandle.<\/p>\n Timber and forest products have anchored Benewah County’s economy since the early 1900s, when St. Maries grew up as a lumber-mill and river-shipping town on the St. Joe River. Agriculture, particularly wheat and cattle on the Palouse benchlands around Plummer and Tensed, is the other major sector. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe, headquartered in Plummer, is a major employer and landowner through its casino, resort, and tribal government operations, and Benewah Community Hospital in St. Maries serves the county’s health care needs. St. Maries hosts the annual Paul Bunyan Days logging festival each September.<\/p>\n Benewah County was organized on January 23, 1915, from land partitioned off Kootenai County. It was named after Chief Benewah, a Coeur d’Alene Tribal leader. The federally recognized Coeur d’Alene Tribe is headquartered within the county on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, which covers most of the county’s southern and central portions, and the tribe’s government and services remain central to the county’s civic life today.<\/p>\n US Route 95 runs along the county’s western edge, and Idaho State Highway 5 links St. Maries to Coeur d’Alene and Interstate 90. Idaho routes 3, 6, 58, and 60 connect the smaller communities.<\/p>\n The nearest commercial airport is Spokane International Airport in Washington.<\/p>\n Where is Benewah County, Idaho?<\/strong> What is the population of Benewah County?<\/strong> How big is Benewah County?<\/strong> What is the Benewah County seat?<\/strong> How many towns and communities are in Benewah County?<\/strong> |