Ash Fork

Ash Fork sits on the 35th parallel, the survey line that drew every road and rail through this country, and it made its living off both. The Santa Fe arrived in 1882 and turned the town into a division point and junction, where passengers changed trains for Phoenix and the south. When the railroad later pulled its operations out, Ash Fork found a second trade underfoot: the red sandstone of the surrounding mesas, split into flagstone and shipped across the country. The town still calls itself the Flagstone Capital of the world.

What the plaque says

Ash Fork. Founded 1882. , Ash Fork is located near the 35th Parallel where, in the 1850's the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers began surveying a future railroad route. Camels were imported and used as beasts of burden, adding to the colorful history of the region. A wagon road was established that eventually became the legendary "Mother Road" Route 66., In the early 1880's freighters hauling supplies and ore between Williams and Jerome traveled along Ash Creek. In 1882 when the Atlantic and Pacific (Santa Fe) Railroad reached present-day Ash fork freighting companies pressured the railroad into building a depot at the more convenient location.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Williams — 17 mi
  The last town on Route 66 to lose its traffic to the interstate — a rail gateway to the Grand Canyon since 1901, bypassed only in 1984 after a court fight, and revived twice over.
• Seligman — 22 mi
  The town that refused to die when the interstate went around it — a barber's crusade made this the Birthplace of Historic Route 66, and the reason the Mother Road still runs.

More markers nearby

• The Escalante Hotel — steps away
• William Sherley Williams — 16 mi
• The "World Famous" Sultana — 17 mi
• Santa Fe Railway Freight Depot — 17 mi