Chesterfield & the Gem Valley
 CHESTERFIELD is an early
Mormon settlement 11 miles north of Bancroft. Founded in 1881, it
is now unoccupied, but history buffs won't let it go away. They
formed a foundation to refurbish and maintain 27 original
structures now on the National Historic Register. It is astride
the Oregon Trail and the architecture and scenery are worth the visit.
 Your first look
will tell you why this panorama is called the Gem Valley and why it is
an important part of the
Pioneer Historic Byway. This is the rout the
Oregon Trail took during the western push. This is where some of the
pioneers split off to take the Hudspeth Cutoff southwest to California
while the Oregon Trail went northwest to Fort Hall. Later when the huge
wagon train westward migration expired due to building of railroads,
Mormon Pioneers pushed north from Salt Lake. They were looking for
fertile farm ground with water. Their settlement was Chesterfield in
1879. Farming was good, families grew and prospered. Several homes a
school, a church, and a general store were constructed.
  Then the
Portland to St. Louis railroad came through the valley, but it's line
wasn't close to the settlement. Some upstarts with commerce on their
mind founded Bancroft next to the tracks n 1898. Chesterfield became a
ghost town. Chester was, then wasn't, and now is again. Chesterfield
didn't fare well in the farm economy that developed after the turn of
the century and one by one everybody left, everybody.
Holbrook Home
Henry's Store
Visit the Chesterfield Foundation website
for more information.
Outdoorplaces.com Chesterfield Story
Ghosttowns.com about Chesterfield
Northwest Backroads - Feeling that pioneer spirit in Chesterfield |
