Wards and Branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Shelley Stake, Idaho

This page includes the boundaries of wards and branches around 1930's, a timeline history, and how to obtain the records.

Source for this page: p. 791-792.

Shelley Stake
Stake boundaries as of about 1930 — see Encyclopedic History..., p.791-792.


 * Area of the County: Located in the north central part of Bingham County, and a small part of Bonneville County, Idaho.
 * Headquarters in (town):In Shelley.
 * Boundaries of stake:The stake extends northward to the Idaho Falls Stake, east to the mountains, south to the Blackfoot Stake, and west to the desert.

History Timeline up to about 1930


 * 1914 - At a stake conference of the Blackfoot Stake held Aug. 16, 1914, attended by Apostles Francis M. Lyman and George F. Richards, the Blackfoot Stake was divided and the north part of the same organized into a new stake called the Shelley Stake. The following wards which had belonged to the Blackfoot Stake were taken from said stake and organized into the Shelley Stake: Basalt, Goshen, Jameston, Kimball, Shelley 1st, Shelley 2nd, Taylor and Woodville.
 * 1920 - The stake secured the creamery property for a site on which to build a stake tabernacle Jan. 14.
 * 1927 - Work of construction was commenced June 29, 1927, and pushed forward with vigor and determination.

Obtain the Records

 * List of {{FHL|Saints. Shelley Stake[Family History Library|FamilySearch Library]].
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Wards and Branches
Basalt, Firth, Goshen, Jameston, Kimball, Shelley 1st, Shelley 2nd, Taylor and Woodville.

Basalt Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.43.

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of Snake River Valley which lies between Blackfoot on the south, Goshen, on the east and Shelley on the north. The ward extends north and south about eighteen miles, and east and west about ten miles, taking in a scope of country lying on the east side of Snake River.

History timeline


 * 1885 - The locality originally called Cedar Point settlement was organized Oct. 18, as a branch of the Lewisville Ward,
 * 1886-1887 - When the Eagle Rock Ward was organized in November, 1886, the branch was attached to that ward, where it remained until Aug. 19, 1888, when the Cedar Point Branch was organized as a bishop’s ward, called Basalt, (as a part of the Bannock Stake). On the same date two other new wards were organized in the Bannock Stake, namely, the Taylor Ward and the Willow Creek Ward. At the time of its organization the Basalt Ward contained all that strip of country lying south of Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls) and extending southward as far as there were any Latter-day Saints in the Snake River Valley. Thus Basalt Ward became the parent ward of a number of other ward organizations.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Firth Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 251.

Boundaries:


 * Located in between Basalt and Kimball wards. It extends to the Snake River on the west and to Goshen Ward on the east. The center of the ward is the railroad town of Firth, six miles southwest of Shelley and 15 miles northeast of Blackfoot, Idaho.

History timeline:


 * 1924 - Firth Ward is an outgrowth of the Basalt Ward and was organized June 15, when the Basalt Ward was divided, and it's south part organized as the Firth Ward.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Goshen Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.291.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the great Snake River Valley which lies immediately east of Sand Creek. The Goshen meeting house, centrally located in the village of Goshen, is five miles east of the Basalt center, 17 miles northeast of Blackfoot, 15 miles southwest of Idaho Falls, and seven miles southeast of Shelley.

History timeline:


 * 1898 - An L. D. S. Sunday school was organized April 3, 1898, and in that year a L. D. S. meeting house was built.
 * 1910–1915 - A fine white sandstone chapel was built in Goshen at a cost of about $16,000.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Jameston Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.373.

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of Snake River Valley which lies between Shelley on the west and Taylor on the east. North and east the ward extends to the county line between Bingham and Bonneville counties and south to the Goshen Ward.

History timeline:


 * 1907 - Jameston Ward, president of the Blackfoot Stake of Zion, is an outgrowth of the Taylor Ward, and was organized Oct. 13, when the Taylor Ward was divided, and the west part of the same organized as the Jameston Ward.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Kimball Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 400.

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of Snake River Valley which lies south of Basalt Ward. Snake River forms its western boundary, and the ward extends north and south about four miles, and west about five miles, Sand Creek being its eastern boundary.

History timeline:


 * 1892 - Families of saints arrived who at first belonged to the Basalt Ward.
 * 1902 - When the railroad was built through the country, a small station on the line was named Howard and the saints in the neighborhood were organized in 1902 as the Howard Branch, which consisted of saints who in part had belonged to the Blackfoot Ward and partly to the Basalt Ward of the Bingham Stake.
 * 1905 - The Howard Branch was organized as a ward Jan. 19, named Kimball.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Shelley Wards
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 791.


 * Shelley 1st Ward

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of the town of Shelley which lies on the west side of the Oregon Short Line Railroad track extending to Snake River.

History timeline:


 * 1909 - The Shelley 1st Ward came into existence Aug. 1, when the Shelley Ward was divided into two wards, namely, the Shelley 1st and the Shelley 2nd Ward.
 * 1914 - The Shelley 1st Ward, is a fine L. D. S. chapel, a brick building erected in 1914, at a cost of $10,000.


 * Shelley 2nd Ward

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of Shelley which lies east of the Oregon Short Line Railroad track, and extends into the country districts.

History timeline:


 * 1909 - Until 1909 all the Latter-day Saints residing in the town of Shelley constituted one ward, but on Aug. 1, the original Shelley Ward was divided into two wards, namely, the Shelley 1st and the Shelley 2nd wards.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Taylor Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.862.

Boundaries:


 * Located in that part of Snake River Valley known locally as the Sand Creek district. The center of the ward is about eight miles south of Idaho Falls, five miles east of Shelley, and 25 miles northeast of Blackfoot.

History timeline:


 * 1886 - May 23, the saints who had located on lower Sand Creek were organized into a branch of the Church, and the branch was named Taylor Branch.
 * 1887 - On May 28, the Taylor Branch was attached to the Eagle Rock Ward, and on Aug. 14.
 * 1888 - The branch, was organized as a bishop’s ward, Aug. 12.
 * 1918–1919 - Taylor Ward has a fine brick meeting house with class rooms in the basement, erected about 1918–1919, at a cost of about $12,000.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Woodville Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.964.

Boundaries:


 * Located on the west side of Snake River, opposite Shelley. It embraces an area of country extending about six miles from north to south and four miles from east to west.

History timeline:


 * 1894 - Early Latter-day Saints attended meetings at Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls), but were organized as a branch of the Church May 4.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.