Idlewild, Tennessee

Idlewild is an unincorporated community in Gibson County, Tennessee, United States.^[1]

The community began to form in the 1870s. Initially it used the names Thedford and Sprawling, for early settlers with the surnames Thetford and Sprawling. The origin of the Idlewild name is not known.^[2] In 1887 Goodspeed's History of Tennessee described Idlewild as a "station on the Illinois Central Railroad south of Bradford," further saying "it was established in 1873, but it has never attained much importance."^[3]

Idlewild is the site of a post office, assigned zip code 38346.^[4] In 2011 the U.S. Postal Service listed it as one of almost 32,000 post offices being studied as candidates for being replaced by an arrangement to provide retail postal services through another local retail business.^[5]

References

1. "Idlewild, Tennessee". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. Larry L. Miller (2001), Tennessee place-names, Indiana University Press. Page 106.
3. Introduction to Gibson County Tennessee Goodspeed, History of Tennessee, 1887
4. Idlewild Post Office Location Archived 2010-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, USPS.com, accessed October 12, 2011
5. U.S. Postal Service, Postal Service Takes Next Step in Optimizing Retail Network (press release), July 26, 2011, and Expanded Access Study List, Tennessee Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 13, 2011

36.028°N 88.810°W / 36.028; -88.810