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History · Ashton

Ashton’s post office opened in 1906, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1918 on.

1906first post office
2on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashton began

When was Ashton founded?

1906

The Ashton post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 949120 years
Founding year: the first Ashton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Ashton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ashton.

Read it all →

In 1900, the Union Pacific Railroad, under the careful watch of the Oregon Short Line (OSL) and St. Anthony Railroad Company, brought the railroad into the Upper Snake River Valley from Idaho Falls to St. Anthony, Idaho, 14 miles (23 km) southwest of what became Ashton. The venture had considerable local support and official support from the LDS Church. Following successful construction and operation of the St. Anthony Railroad, Union Pacific, under the careful watch of the OSL and the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company, began plans for another railroad from St. Anthony to the Madison River entrance of Yellowstone National Park or to what is now known as West Yellowstone. For years, Union Pacific wanted improved rail access to Yellowstone's geyser basins and to Old Faithful Inn, that opened in 1904. Old Faithful Inn was only 30 miles (48 km) from the Madison River entrance, nearly half t…

ChaptersRailroadDevelopment

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ashton, 1906 to 1976

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Ashton post office opens
  3. 1918In the archiveMain Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918)
  4. 1930Born hereKeith Foote Nyborg is born here
  5. 1933In the archiveDetail of column pier connection and concrete floor; view to southwest. - Warm River Shel…
  6. 1976Born hereRyan Hamilton is born here
By decade

Ashton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s6 items
Main Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918)c. 1918Main Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918)Detail of column pier connection and concrete floor; view to southwest. - Warm River Shelter, Warm River Campground, As…1933Detail of column pier connection and concrete floor; …Detail of interior roof showing truss bracing and roof plank decking; view to east from approximately the center of the…1933Detail of interior roof showing truss bracing and roo…Detail of southeast corner post and beam connection with notched bracing; view to east. - Warm River Shelter, Warm Rive…1933Detail of southeast corner post and beam connection w…Detail view of columns on north side showisng angle bracing; view to southeaast. - Warm River Shelter, Warm River Campg…1933Detail view of columns on north side showisng angle b…General interior view of roof construction; view to west. - Warm River Shelter, Warm River Campground1933General interior view of roof construction; view to w…
1940s–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
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.

Main Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918)
Retake this viewMain Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918), c. 1918

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 15 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall
Rankin Auto Court
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
Independent Order of Odd Fellows HallCommercial Style
All 2 listings
Rankin Auto CourtDistrict · listed 2022

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ashton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
K
Keith Foote NyborgBusinessman; US Ambassador to Finland, 1981-86 · b. 1930
Ryan HamiltonAmerican comedian · b. 1976
Help out

Finish Ashton’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 viewMain Street, Ashton, Idaho (ca 1918): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ashton’s history

What year was Ashton founded?

The Ashton post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Ashton?

Two places: the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall (listed 1997) and the Rankin Auto Court (2022).

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 National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.