The origins of the name for Black Cat Road go back to the 1950s and Drew Eggers’ grandparents Black Cat Farm. Over a century later, the sign remains at the intersection of Black Cat and Franklin roads. By the 1950s, the road became synonymous with the sign, so Ada County changed Post Road to Black Cat Road.

Myrtle had a sign of a black cat made and hung it close to the nearby intersection. The couple needed a name for their new farm, and upon seeing a picture of a black cat in the evening newspaper, Chester decided to name the farm “Black Cat Farm.” Although that reasoning was later disproved, the name of Atlanta stuck regardless.īlack Cat Road: Black cats are typically associated with witches and bad luck, but this black cat was simply associated with a dairy farm in Meridian.Īccording to previous Statesman reporting, Chester and Myrtle Eggers moved to a farm on Post Road in 1921. The small town in Elmore County sits in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountain Range and, according to the town’s Facebook page, was named by Southerners after a supposed Confederate victory in 1864 over Union general William Sherman in Atlanta, Georgia. Langley, writing for the Pacific Coast Business Directory in 1876, described Atlanta on page 816 as 115 miles from Boise City with a mine that had “veins both gold and silver bearing” but acknowledged the transportation of mining materials over treacherous terrain was a “serious obstacle” to the development of the town. But the name was once also known as the Idaho home of one of the most prosperous mines on this side of the Rocky Mountains.

Darin Oswald/Idaho StatesmanĪtlanta: When people hear the name Atlanta, their minds will likely wander to the sprawling metropolis of nearly half a million people in Georgia. Oddly Idaho explores curious quirks and nostalgic moments in the Gem State.

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