Chesterfield is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in Caribou County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located in

Gem Valley Gem Valley is a rural valley in Caribou County, Bannock, and Franklin counties in Idaho, United States, so named for its local gemstones which can be found throughout the valley. It is approximately wide at its widest point east to west, and ...

at an elevation of . The community includes a cemetery and former buildings of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) such as a former

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

, amusement hall and

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

house. Located along a route of the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

, Chesterfield was founded by

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

settlers in 1881. After a railroad line was built through Bancroft to the south, the community lost some of its momentum, and agricultural difficulties led to its desertion by the end of the 1930s. Today, the community is operated as a tourist attraction, with guided tours and a museum. In 1980, the community was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

and is also on the

Mormon Historic Sites Foundation The Ensign Peak Foundation (formerly the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation) is an independent organization that seeks to contribute to the memorialization of sites important to the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The o ...

's Mormon Historic Sites Registry. The historic district includes 41 buildings and eight sites, spread out over an area of . Some buildings in the district are examples of the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

and Queen Anne architectural styles.

History

In 1879, Chester Call and his niece's husband, Christian Nelson, established a horse ranch in the area. Thinking this might be a good area in which to live, Chester Call told his family and friends about the area and they decided to come and settle in 1881 and 1882. Chesterfield's first settlers built their homes in the river bottom of the Portneuf River, west of present-day Chesterfield. Unlike typical Mormon settlements, which were founded by settlers sent by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (hereafter referred to as LDS) authorities, the community was founded spontaneously by its first settlers and not set up in the typical compact, grid patterned townsite. Also in 1881, the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

started to construct the

Oregon Short Line Railroad The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...

to the south of Chesterfield, running through present-day Bancroft. The new settlers sold logs and railroad ties to the railroad, raising much needed cash. In 1883, LDS Church authorities visited the area to establish a

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

. While there, the visiting leaders asked their members to organize into a central village, away from the Portneuf River flood plain. The current Chesterfield townsite was chosen up along the foothills. As in traditional Mormon towns, Chesterfield was laid out in a grid pattern, consisting of thirty-five ten-acre blocks. By 1890, the LDS meetinghouse and a store were the only buildings on the townsite as a mistake in the government survey kept the land off the market for a time. The LDS Chesterfield

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

was established in 1884 consisting of 136 people in 24 families. By 1900, the population had steadily grown to 73 families containing 418 people in the Chesterfield Ward and 150 people in the recently split off Hatch Ward. Between the years of 1898 and 1900, the area suffered through very cold winters and a drought. This caused a considerable exodus to occur in 1901. The 1907 Panic, and another bad winter, caused another exodus. By 1908, fewer than 400 people were left in the area and only 208 people in the Chesterfield Ward. The population then steadily grew with a peak of just under 700 people in the Chesterfield area by 1920. The series of recessions in the 1920s and nationwide agricultural problems started the death knell for Chesterfield. Just over 425 people were left in the area by 1928, and the buildings of the Chesterfield town site were mostly deserted before 1941 when the school closed. The general store closed in 1958. By 1970, less than 200 people lived in the area and only 20 people lived in historic Chesterfield.

Historical buildings

The LDS Meetinghouse is the most prominent and best preserved building in Chesterfield. It was built between 1887 and 1892. Chesterfield Idaho Denmark Jensen House

The original Amusement Hall was erected in 1895, next door to the LDS Meetinghouse. The building was the center for social activities for Chesterfield. It consisted of a large room with a hardwood dance floor and a stage. Over time, the building was reduced to ruins. The Amusement Hall was restored between 1999 and 2003. LDS members pay

to the Church. Few members could pay cash around 1900, so grains, vegetables, eggs and farm animals were instead paid "in kind". The Tithing Office and the Tithing Granary were constructed in 1900. Grain donations were stored in the Tithing Granary. The Tithing Office was where members came to pay their tithing and the goods were dispensed to those in need; the facility acted as a sort of a warehouse and general store. The Nathan Barlow House, built about 1900, was the home of the postmaster and owner of the general store. After the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...

and the harsh winter of 1907-1908, Nathan Barlow lost all of his money and moved out of the community. The home was restored in 2009, with descendants of Nathan Barlow contributing the furnishings. The Ira Call cabin is a

saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...

style home. It contained two polygamous families for a short time. Aunt Ruth Call David's cabin built of red pine logs with a dirt floor in 1881 and 1882. Aunt Ruth was a Native American who was adopted by Chester Call's parents in the 1860s. As the town's midwife, she delivered most of the babies.

Notable residents

Frank Chester Robertson Frank Chester Robertson (January 12, 1890 – July 29, 1969) was an American author best known for his western novels. He published over 150 hard cover books and countless other short stories, serials and newspaper articles. In later years, he al ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

author

References

External links

Chesterfield Foundation
{{authority control Geography of Caribou County, Idaho Ghost towns in Idaho Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Populated places established in 1881 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Idaho Open-air museums in the United States History museums in Idaho Museums in Caribou County, Idaho National Register of Historic Places in Caribou County, Idaho Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho 1881 establishments in Idaho Territory

History

Historical buildings

Notable residents

References

Further reading

External links