'Gateway to the Cougar Gulch'
Photo courtesy Kootenai County Board of Commissioners The J.P Johnson family received the Idaho Century Farm Award for their property in Cougar Gulch on Saturday.
Photo courtesy Kootenai County Board of Commissioners Don Pischner, Idaho Historical Society trustee, presents the J.P Johnson family with the Idaho Century Farm Award on Saturday. Standing from left, Pischer, Virginia Johnson, Brett Donald Gilbert, and Maurice Johnson. Seated is Graydon Johnson.
The J.P Johnson family received the Idaho Century Farm Award at the family’s annual reunion on Saturday.
The award was presented by Don Pischner, Idaho Historical Society trustee, to Maurice Johnson, Graydon and Virginia Johnson, and Brett Donald Gilbert, the current owners of the family farm.
The Cougar Gulch farm is one of the oldest in Kootenai County and has been with the same family for over 120 years.
“The J.P. Johnson Homestead is the gateway to the Cougar Gulch community," said Courtney Beebe, chairperson with the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission. "Every Cougar Gulch resident is greeted by the farm house painted yellow and blue for the Johnsons' Swedish heritage, and the red barn overlooking the meadow. It is a unique place that now fosters wildlife and the current owners are deeply connected to the history of Coeur d’Alene."
In 2021, the KCHPC, with a grant from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office, undertook a survey of the historic properties of Cougar Gulch and confirmed that for over 125 years J.P. and Sallye Johnson’s descendants have continuously owned and operated the family farm.
Beebe assisted the family with completing the Century Farm application.
John Peter (J.P.) and Sallye Benson Johnson immigrated from Sweden and homesteaded 160 acres in Cougar Gulch in 1897. Over the next century, their descendants operated a dairy and replacement cattle business, eventually transitioning to creating a tree farm and conservation area, according to a press release.
The owners are deeply connected to the community.
Graydon Johnson worked as a design engineer on the floating green at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, and Dr. Virginia T. Johnson was one of the longest serving professors at North Idaho College.
Maurice Johnson taught a number of local students and administered the University of Idaho Extension program, which focuses on agricultural education and development.
The J.P. Johnson Farm is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the KCHPC will continue working with the J.P. Johnson family to submit an NRHP application in the coming months.
Matheson Heritage Farm in Hauser received the Century Farm Award in 2021, which honors and recognizes families that have continuously owned and actively farmed the same land their ancestors did 100 years ago or more.
