File:My Greeting, 1910 - Southwick, Idaho (23714689208).jpg

MY GREETING May your days be ever happy. With lots of good luck too. And never trouble trouble. Till trouble troubles you.

Date: 1910 Source Type: Postcard Printer, Publisher, Photographer: The Rose Company Postmark: March 12, 1910, Southwick, Idaho Collection: Steven R. Shook Remark: The recipient of this postcard was Henry Ward Thornton of Leland, Nez Perce County, Idaho, a very small community located 16 miles southwest of Linden. Henry was born February 21, 1891, at Moscow, Latah County, Idaho, the son of Joseph Robert Thornton and Cora Della (Ellis) Thornton. Henry died on April 25, 1975, at Madras, Jefferson County, Oregon; he is buried at Mount Jefferson Memorial Park in Madras.

The Southwick, Idaho, region of the Palouse was settled in the early 1880s, and was named after settler Stephen Southwick, who arrived in the area in 1882. Southwick is located on Potlatch Ridge, which is one of the many ridges in this particular region of Idaho.

The village of Southwick was originally located one-half mile southwest from its present location. It included a log cabin post office and the scattered homes of a few settlers. Meanwhile, a village called Grafton was platted and settled where Southwick is now located. In 1896, the post office in the original Southwick was moved to Grafton. Despite the physical move to Grafton, the U.S. Postmaster General informed the settlers that the post office would retain the name Southwick in honor of the first local postmaster, Stephen Southwick. As a result, the village name of Grafton would "fade away" and the name of Southwick took permanent hold. Evidence exists showing that Southwick was still being referred to as Grafton by some individuals as late as 1913.