Thornton, Idaho, originally called

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Siding, is a

townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan (Ca ...

founded in 1917. It exists today as a township of Madison 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 ...

. Thornton was named in honor of William Ezra Thornton, who had been prominent in the establishment of the townsite, and who also was for a time Thornton's

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

History

Though Thornton once thrived as "an enterprising center of commerce," Thornton is now primarily a

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

community. It is home to a

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

warehouse and the original Thornton Merc

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

. At one time, Thornton "boasted of two fine general mercantile stores". Thornton's store was owned in the early 1900s by George Marler. A competing store in Thornton was owned by C. L. Galbraith. In 1971 Thornton Merc, which replaced the two prior mercantile stores, was opened at the old Marler's location by Mrs. Geraldine Evans. As of 2010 it is still in operation, and "Marler" can still be seen faintly painted on the north side. Descendants of the Marler family still own property in Thornton. Thornton was once a place for recreation and amusement, featuring a movie picture house operated by Mr. Fritz Hansen, a saloon, and a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

. In the mid-1940s, 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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

purchased a

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

in Thornton from M.G. Koon and Sons. This elevator served to store

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

grain for church stakes until 1959, and can still be seen from U.S. Highway 20 for many miles north and south of Thornton. When Thornton had a

train depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

, the

Yellowstone Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone ...

Special passenger train would stop in Thornton on its way to Mack's Inn and

. Visitors to

Heise Heise may refer to: People with the surname * Bob Heise (born 1947), American Major League Baseball player * David R. Heise (born 1937), American sociologist * Geoff Heise, American actor * Georg Arnold Heise (1778–1851), an influential Germa ...

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

would arrive by

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at Thornton and travel by

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

to the nearby

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...

s. Thornton once had a community church directed by Reverend Baird. He presided over the church until religious services were discontinued due to insufficient numbers of attendees. The LDS Church also supported a primary and Sunday school service in Thornton for a few years. This was also discontinued as the population of Thornton diminished. The LDS Church continues to thrive in the nearby area, as expansion of

Rexburg, Idaho Rexburg is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 39,409 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Madison County and its largest city. Rexburg is the principal city of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statist ...

has caused commuters including employees and students of

Brigham Young University Idaho Brigham may refer to: Places * Brigham, Cumbria, England * Brigham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England * Brigham City, Utah, USA * Brigham, Wisconsin, USA * Brigham, Quebec, Canada People * Brigham (surname), including a list of people with th ...

to seek available housing in Thornton and surrounding Archer and Lyman.

Location

Thornton lies approximately seven miles south of Rexburg, Idaho and is bordered on the south by the Lorenzo Bridge, which crosses over the South Fork of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. Visible in the near west horizon are the

Menan Buttes The North and South Menan Buttes in southeastern Idaho are two of the world's largest volcanic tuff cones. The two cones, with four smaller associated cones, align along a north-northwest line and comprise the Menan Complex. The buttes rise abou ...

. Thornton lies on the

Oregon Short Line 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 ...

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and was built around what is now a remnant of

U.S. Highway 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for from the north ...

. This short segment of the original

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

terminates within Thornton, at an old

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

bridge. Since its original establishment, Thornton has been bisected by the construction of

US Highway 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

. The larger portion lies south of the highway- the northern portion has been nearly completely eliminated by the construction of the highway. The Archer-Lyman highway begins to the north and east of Thornton and meanders south and then east towards

Ririe, Idaho Ririe is a city in Bonneville and Jefferson counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is part of the Idaho Falls metropolitan area. The population was 656 at the time of the 2010 census. History The city of Ririe was named ...

. The old brick Thornton Hotel is no longer in operation and has been

abandoned Abandon, abandoned, or abandonment may refer to: Common uses * Abandonment (emotional), a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded * Abandonment (legal), a legal term regarding property ** Chi ...

due to disrepair. The legal description of Thornton is "NE ⁴ NE ⁴ of Sec. 222, and of SW ⁴ SW ⁴ of Sec. 14 and of SE ⁴ SE ⁴ of sec 15 all in TS 5 N R 39 E.B.M."

Attractions, Landmarks

Within Thornton next to the remaining Thornton Merc is an old

trailer park A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and eas ...

which now accommodates both campers and longer-term residents, many of whom are

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...

s who labor in the nearby potato warehouses. Another RV Park lies south across the old concrete bridge nearer to the Snake River South Fork. The Thornton Shell gas station and convenience store lies between Highway 20 and the railroad and used to be known as the Mini Mart. Behind the Shell station is the old

which now advertises the gas station. Also marooned between the two highways is an older home which was once owned by the Keith Wilcox family in the mid 1900s, which has been stranded now due to the removal of a portion of South 3300 West.

External links

Madison County Homepage

Brigham Young University Idaho

Rexburg, Idaho Homepage

Rexburg Chamber of Commerce

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Idaho