St.
Anthony was settled by Carlos H. Moon in 1890, on land that was situated
on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, often called the North Fork, in south Fremont County, Idaho. He
named the town St. Anthony because the area reminded him of an area he
had seen in Minnesota, named St. Anthony Falls. In
1895 Carlos Moon deeded his land to Frank W. Ross, who filed the townsite
plat. Although
there is some evidence that the area was settled prior to 1890.*
Governor
William J. McConnell approved an act in 1893 that created Fremont County,
which at that time comprised what are today Fremont, Clark, Teton, Madison
and Jefferson Counties. St.
Anthony was selected as the County Seat. In
1899 St. Anthony was incorporated into a village and then a City in 1925. Other areas settled adjacent to St. Anthony are: Chester, Parker, Wilford, Teton, Newdale, Egin, Twin Groves and Salem.
The
town grew on both sides of the Snake River. A
substantial bridge was built by the county and connected the two areas. The
big impetus for growth occurred when a branch line of the Oregon Short
Line Railroad was completed from Idaho Falls to St. Anthony in the spring
of 1900.+
* Printed money from a local bank was issued in 1882.
+ Paragraph from the book, "Tales of Eastern Idaho by David L. Crowder"
pp. 79, as is most of the basic information on this page.