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Chesterfield Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Community of Chesterfield
Area	2,160 acres (870 ha)
NRHP reference No.	80001297
Added to NRHP	December 4, 1980

Chesterfield is a ghost town, situated alont the Oregon Trail. It is located in the northern end of the Portneuf Valley of Idaho, about 28 miles east of Pocatello. It was founded by Mormon settlers in 1881 as a farming community. Chesterfield is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district and is also on the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation's Mormon Historic Sites Registry. The town site is owned by the nonprofit Chesterfield Foundation with the intent to preserve and restore the town’s original buildings.

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. They built their homes in the river bottom of the Portneuf River, west of present-day Chesterfield. Also, in 1881, the Union Pacific Railroad started to construct the Oregon Short Line Railroad to the south of Chesterfield running through present-day Bancroft. The new settlers sold logs and railroad ties to the railroad, providing much needed cash.

In 1883, LDS church authorities visited the area to establish an LDS Branch. While there, the visiting leaders asked their members to organize into a central village, away from the Portneuf River flood plain. The current Chesterfield town site was chosen up along the foothills. In Mormon tradition, the town was laid out in a grid pattern, consisting of thirty-five ten-acre blocks. People started moving to the new town site in 1885.

The LDS Chesterfield Ward 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. 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 in historic Chesterfield.

Today, there are no permanent residents in historic Chesterfield. The Chesterfield Foundation has restored thirteen structures with another five in the process of being restored. In 2009, the Foundation was awarded a Save America's Treasures grant to restore six additional buildings. Tours of the restored buildings are available every summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. A Memorial Day celebration is held every year along with several musical concerts in the summer. LDS Church youth groups use the area for handcart reenactments.

Historical Buildings

• The LDS Meetinghouse is the most prominent and best preserved structure in Chesterfield. It was built between 1887 and 1892. It was actively used as a church until 1955 when a new modern building was built further south in Bancroft. The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers then leased the building and maintained it as a museum. In 2009, the LDS Church sold the building to the Chesterfield Foundation on the condition that the museum be closed and the building restored to its original condition as a chapel.

• The original Amusement Hall 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 hard wood dance floor and a stage. Over time, the building was reduced to ruins. The Amusement Hall was restored between 1999 and 2003. The new building is now used for weddings, dances, family reunions and concerts. The building can also be rented by the general public.

• The Tithing Office and the Tithing Granary which were constructed in 1900. LDS members pay tithing to the Church. Few members could pay cash around 1900, so grains, vegetables, eggs and farm animals were instead paid “in kind." 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, sort of a warehouse and general store. The larger of the two rooms was used to hold LDS High Council meetings. As Chesterfield never incorporated into a town, the LDS High Council served as the town council; thus, town business was often discussed in the Tithing Office.

• The Barlow log store constructed in 1897. It served as the town’s only store until 1903 when a new brick store was constructed. The log store has been completely restored and is used today as a store for the Chesterfield Foundation where souvenirs and food can be purchased.

• The Barlow/Holbrook Brick store built in 1903. It was a general store and post office for the community with a creamery built in back. It also had two gas pumps from different eras. The store closed in 1958 but is presently undergoing restoration and is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

• The Nathan Barlow house built about 1900. Nathan Barlow was the owner of the general store and postmaster for Chesterfield. After the Panic of 1907 and the harsh winter of 1907-1908, Nathan Barlow lost all of his money and moved out of Chesterfield. The home was restored in 2009, with descendants of Nathan Barlow contributing the furnishings.

• 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 1860’s. As the town’s midwife, she delivered most of the babies. The cabin was located a few miles south of Chesterfield. In 2007, Aunt Ruth’s descendants voted to move the cabin onto the Chesterfield town site. The cabin is currently undergoing repairs and will be fully restored in 2011.

• The Adrian Rugar home, a dugout constructed about three feet into the ground with the top half of the home built with timber and the roof with sod. Nothing but a pit and ruble were left before reconstruction was started. Reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

References

Anderson, Lavina Fielding, 2005. Chesterfield: Mormon Outpost in Idaho. The Chesterfield Foundation, Bancroft ID.

Notes

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
2. Chesterfield Ward Reports, LDS Church History Library and Archives
3. ^ Chesterfield Foundation 2009 Fall Newsletter
4. Chesterfield Foundation 2008 Spring Newsletter
5. KIFI News
6. Leonard J. Arrington Great Basin Kingdom: an economic history of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900, Harvard University Press, 1955, page 133
7. The Oregonian
8. Chesterfield Foundation 2009 Spring Newsletter

External Links

Chesterfield Foundation

v t e Municipalities and communities of Caribou County, Idaho, United States
County seat: Soda Springs
Cities	Bancroft Grace Soda Springs
Unincorporated communities	Bench Conda Freedom‡ Hatch Wayan
Indian reservation	Fort Hall Indian Reservation‡‡
Ghost town	Chesterfield
Footnotes	‡ This populated place also extends into Wyoming, ‡‡ This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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• Caribou County, Idaho
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• Historic districts in Idaho
• National Register of Historic Places in Idaho
• Settlements established in 1881