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–Not graded
History · Ash Fork

Ash Fork’s post office opened in 1883, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ash Fork’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ash Fork began

When was Ash Fork founded?

1883

The Ash Fork post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 517 in 19102020 census: 361143 years
Founding year: the first Ash Fork post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ash Fork’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 894 in 1930; 361 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1871–1943.Old housesHalf of Ash Fork’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · People over time

Ash Fork, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 894

Peaked at 894 in 1930; 361 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ash Fork’s Wikipedia page.

By decade

Ash Fork, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1900s6 items
(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe RR, east of *Ash Fork Coconino County, Arizona. Who is the clean shaven gentlema…1871(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe RR, east of *A…Lobby, The Escalante1907Lobby, The EscalanteDining room, The Escalante1907Dining room, The EscalanteA Corner of the Lobby, The Escalante1907A Corner of the Lobby, The EscalanteIndian Building, The Escalante1908Indian Building, The EscalanteThe Escalante1909The Escalante
1910s–1930snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1940s7 items
Ash Fork, Arizona. Pulling into the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard1943Ash Fork, Arizona. Pulling into the Atchison, Topeka …Ash Fork, Arizona. Tank cars in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard1943Ash Fork, Arizona. Tank cars in the Atchison, Topeka …Ash Fork (vicinity), Arizona. Passing an eastbound freight train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between …1943Ash Fork (vicinity), Arizona. Passing an eastbound fr…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork (vicinity), Arizona. Passing an eastbound freight train on the Atchison, …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork (vicini…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork (vicinity), Arizona. Passing an eastbound freight train on the Atchison, …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork (vicini…Ash Fork, Arizona. A diesel freight train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Winslow and Seligman, A…1943Ash Fork, Arizona. A diesel freight train on the Atch…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork, Arizona. Tank cars in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ash Fork, Arizon…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Ash Fork-Ash Fork Centennial Marker2019Ash Fork-Ash Fork Centennial Marker2012, View W, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ20122012, View W, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ2012, View W, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ - panoramio (1)20122012, View W, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ - panor…2012, View N, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ20122012, View N, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ2012, View E, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ20122012, View E, Old Route 66, Crookton Road, AZ
The story

How Ash Fork came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ash Fork.

Read it all →

Ash Fork has proclaimed itself "The Flagstone Capital of the World", due to the large number of stone quarries and stone yards in and around the town. The title of "Flagstone Capital of the World" was originally bestowed upon Ash Fork by the Ash Fork Development Association and Ash Fork Historical Society. The title was officially bestowed upon the town in 2014 by the Arizona House of Representatives with the passage of H.R. 2001.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ash Fork, 1871 to 1947

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871In the archive(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe RR, east of *Ash Fork Coconino County, Arizona. Wh…
  3. 1883Post officeThe Ash Fork post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907In the archiveLobby, The Escalante
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 894
  7. 1943In the archiveAsh Fork, Arizona. Pulling into the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad yard
  8. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Ash Fork on the map, 1947 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ash Fork. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ash Fork on the 1947 USGS mapAsh Fork on the 1979 USGS map1947Ash Fork sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ash Fork.

Every building

Ash Fork, building by building, 1927

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Ash Fork fire insurance map, 1927, sheet 11927Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe RR, east of *Ash Fork Coconino County, Arizona. Who is the clean shaven gentlema…
Retake this view(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe RR, east of *Ash Fork Coconino County, Arizona. Who is the clean shaven gentlema…, 1871

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ash Fork’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Ash Fork

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1
Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1
Buildings
Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1Building

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ash Fork

Nobody well known was born in Ash Fork itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Diana GabaldonAmerican author · b. 1952
Ross HagenAmerican actor and screenwriter · b. 1938
C
Carl Leavitt HubbsAmerican zoologist · b. 1894
Billy HatcherBaseball player and coach from the United States · b. 1960
Angel DelgadilloPromoter of U.S. Route 66 · b. 1927
T
Tom RayAmerican animator · b. 1919
Help out

Finish Ash Fork’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view(Old No. 134) Johnson Canyon, Santa Fe …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ash Fork’s history

What year was Ash Fork founded?

The Ash Fork post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Ash Fork?

One place: the Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1 (listed 2000).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.