Ashton, Fremont County, Idaho Genealogy

United States Idaho  Fremont County  Ashton

Geographic location
Ashton is located 18 miles from the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park, 24 miles from Grand Teton National Park , and 39 miles from the Grand Teton with a beautiful and clear view looking toward the Southeast. Ashton is surrounded by farmland and is less than five miles from the Targhee National Forest. There are four rivers within 10 miles of Ashton. They are the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, Fall River, the Teton River, and Warm River and all are outstanding trout streams. The three notable waterfalls nearby are: Upper Mesa Falls and Lower Mesa Falls both on the Henry's Fork and Cave Falls on Fall River.

City Hall

 * City of Ashton 714 Main St Ashton, Idaho 83420 0000 Telephone: 208-652-3987 Alt Address: PO Box 689

Cemeteries

 * LDS Cemetery Records
 * Findagrave.com

Pineview Cemetery (Ashton-Marysville Cemetery) PO Box 206 Ashton, ID 83420 208-652-3600

In Ashton go east on the main street (St Hy 47) through town, one mile. The cemetery is located on the north side of the road.

This cemetery was established sometime in the 1860s for the town of Marysville. In 1906, the railroad wanting a route from Idaho Falls to Yellowstone National Park, wanted to go through the town of Marysville, but the townspeople did not want the railroad to come through their town. So the railroad made a stop one mile west of Marysville, and created the town of Ashton. The cemetery was located between Marysville and the new town of Ashton. As the town of Ashton grew, it soon surrounded the cemetery. Eventually the cemetery became known as the Pineview Cemetery or some refer to it as the Ashton City Cemetery or the Ashton / Marysville Cemetery.

The cemetery is a beautiful cemetery, with green lawns surrounded with evergreen trees and is well taken care of. Lots are available for purchase, contact the sexton, Leon Martindale, at PO Box 206, Ashton, Idaho 83420, 208-652-3600 for more information.

For Find a Grave Index click here. For Pineview Cemetery Records Index on Interment.net click here.

 Farnum Cemetery Ashton, ID 83420

This is a very old cemetery (first known grave in 1902) that was built top of a hill, overlooking the valley and the North Fork of the Teton river. It is located between the two small communities of Drummond and Farnum. Farnum was named after 1896 pioneer Rosamond Farnum Sprague Green, whose family homesteaded the area. Today, this cemetery is harder to get to, it is surrounded by large wheat fields and a fence. The cemetery is in bad shape and neglect. It is disintegrating back into the earth. It hasn't been used since 1964.

Directions - Ashton to Farnum Cemetery (9.1 mi - about 12 minutes) 1. Head east on ID-32 N/ID-47 N/Main st toward 6th St and continue to Follow ID-32 N/ID-47 N (0.6 mi) 2. Turn right at ID-32 N/N 3600 E and continue to follow ID-32 N (7.7 mi) 3. Turn right at N 3900 E (0.5 mi) 4. Turn left (0.3 mi)

For the Farnum Cemetery Records Index on Interment.net click here.

Chester Cemetery Ashton, ID 83420

This is a pretty little cemetery dotted with trees and bushes surrounded by a white fence. The property used for the cemetery was owned by Annie Blanchard when the town of Chester was established around 1885. The Wilford Cemetery District purchased the property from the Blanchard family on Aug 07, 1933, and still cares and maintains the cemetery to this day. Plots are still available for purchase in this small cemetery. The old part of this cemetery is on the south side of fenced in area and only had about 5 obvious burials.

Directions - Ashton to Chester Cemetery (9 mi - about 15 minutes) 1. Head west on Main St toward 5th St (0.4 mi) 2. Turn left at US -20W (7.2 mi) 3. Turn left at 3000 E (0.3 mi) 4. Take the 1st left onto E 800 N (0.8 mi) 5. Turn right - cemetery will be on the left (0.3 mi)

For the Chester Cemetery Records Index on Interment.net click here.

Squirrel Cemetery Ashton, ID 83420

The town of Squirrel was founded by a group of immigrant farmers from Germany in the late 1800s. Most of the people living in Squirrel were of the Lutheran faith. When they needed a cemetery in their community, a man by the name of Carl Lenz donated a piece of property to the Church to make the new Lutheran Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1906. In the 1980s the county took over the management of the cemetery and renamed it Squirrel Cemetery.

The cemetery is very small. It is well taken care of, has a few evergreen trees and lilic bushes planted in and around the cemetery.

Directions - Ashton to Squirrel Cemetery (8.4 mi - ab out 18 minutes) 1. Head east on ID-47 N/Main St toward 6th St (4.7 mi) 2. Shart right at N 4000 E (1.2 mi) 3. Turn left at E 1200 N/Ashton-Flagg Ranch Rd/Reclamation Rd (3.0 mi) 4. Cemetery will be on the right

For the Squirrel Cemetery Records Index on Interment.net click here.

Church History and Records
LDS Church Family History Library Catalog Records:


 * Ashton, Femont, Idaho - LDS Church Records of Members 1903-1942 click here
 * Ashton, Fremont, Idaho - City Directory, 1960 click here
 * Ashton, Fremont, Idaho - Genealogy - Idaho's people 1906-2006 click here
 * Ashton, Fremont, Idaho - Vital records - Marriage register for Ashton, Idaho 1943 click here
 * Click here for the following additional Idaho, Fremont Records - Found in the LDS Church Family History Library Catalog Biography Cemeteries Church Records Court Records Directories History Land and Property Naturalization and Citizenship Probate Records Vital Records
 * Local Family History Center in Ashton, Fremont, Idaho click here 526 N 200 E Ashton, Fremont, Idaho Phone: 208-652-7548 Hours: T 5-9pm; W 9am-1pm; Th 9am-1pm Closed Major Holidays

Ashton Christian Fellowship
784 Baker Lane Ashton, ID 83420 208-652-7681

Berean Baptist Church
629 Main Street Ashton, ID 83420 208-652-3404

Community United Methodist Church
178 5th Street Ashton, ID 83420 208-652-7356

Zion Lutheran Church
9 Main Street Ashton, ID 83420 208-652-7438

Directories
The Idaho State Archives in Boise has a collection of city, county, state and regional directories.

Funeral Homes
Baxter Funeral Home 717 Main St Ashton, ID 83420 0000 Telephone: 208-652-3226

History
As early as 1902 Later-day Saints had settled in that part of the Snake River Valley. Ashton was a railroad station on the Yellowstone branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, situated in the open country about two miles south of Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. In 1906 the Yellowstone branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad was extended to the west entrance of the Yellowstone Park and Ashton as a town dates its existence from the event. Since that time the town has been the center of considerable business, it being situated in the mist of a somewhat extensive farming district. The total population of the Ashton Precinct was 1,348 in 1930.

Additional history of Ashton, Idaho and the early Mormon settlers there can be found in: Andrew Jenson. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941, p. 33.

Idaho, Fremont - Biography click here

Newspapers

 * Ashton Herald - 1919-1986
 * The Fall River Review - 1989 - current
 * The Island Park News click here Copies of issues of Ashton newspapers are in the collections of the Idaho State Archives in Boise.