page_title: Newdale, Idaho
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Newdale, Idaho / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A token for billiards in Newdale ID.
context_page_description: Newdale is a city in Fremont County, Idaho, United States. The population was 323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Rexburg, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.
context_section_description: In the early 1900s, there were only a few homes and farms scattered across the vast terrain east of Teton City. Early settlers in this area include family names such as Siddoway, Briggs, and Schwendiman. The Schwendiman family, consisting of 6 brothers and their mother, a widow, relocated from Paris Idaho to Teton Idaho in 1894. As the Schwendiman brothers grew older and married, they began to homestead and dry farm in the area east of Newdale, and obtained land in 160 acre parcels via the Homestead Acts. Part of this land includes where the City of Newdale now sits. Many families in this area would live on their farms, working from spring to fall, but would move to Teton or other nearby towns during the winter months.
  In 1912, a one-room rock school house was built in Bowerman, an area 2 miles east of present-day Newdale, to accommodate approximately 15 school children living in the surrounding area. The school house was also used for LDS Church meetings. Bowerman may have developed into a village, if had not been for the railroad being built in the Newdale area, which encouraged growth.
  The Oregon Short Line Railroad wanted to expand into this part of the country and on June 27, 1914, purchased a right of way from brothers Sam and Fred Schwendiman to lay tracks for a new branch line. The new railroad attracted people to Newdale and in 1914 the Edwin Moroni Stocks family built a house and the Leo Schofield family built a cabin. Mrs. Hansine C. Hansen, a widow, was also one of the first people to move in, and had her sons move her house from Teton, perhaps early in 1915. Burt Garner was also one of the first to build a home and move in, and he also started a grocery store.
  Sam and Fred Schwendiman incorporated the Newdale Investment Company for commercial purposes, which erected a rock building that housed, on the ground floor, a hardware supply and drug store. The other part of the building was leased to the First National Bank of Newdale, an independent bank managed by G.C. Alden. Upstairs, a fine recreation hall was completed for dancing, with a stage where operettas and drama productions could be given. The facility formally opened in June 1915 and attracted considerable attention at the time. A train depot was also built in 1915, and catered to both freight and passenger service. Later that summer, in August, a group of men representing the Chamber of Commerce came to Newdale by train and were entertained at this community center before making the loop back to Idaho Falls.
  The US Post Office established a Newdale Post Office and on February 15, 1916, appointed Sam Schwendiman as the first post master.
  On March 17, 1916, the water system was completed, including a wooden elevated water storage tank and underground wooded water mains. The project cost $15,000 (some records say $18,000).
  The Newdale Investment Company made land available for the townsite of Newdale, which was surveyed and plotted by engineers Cotton and Wilson in April 1916. In May, several hundred shade trees, apple trees, and other fruit trees were planted throughout the town. The LDS Newdale Ward was organized on December 17, 1916, with Lester Hanson as the first bishop. School and church meetings were held in a vacant building on Main Street. In 1916, a contract was negotiated with the Utah Power and Light Company, to bring electricity to Newdale. Telephone service came shortly after. The Idaho Falls Daily Post published a notice with headlines that read: "Newdale bright lights beckon to the world. All over the Upper Snake Valley the question has been asked, 'What are these many electric lights we see twinkling up on the bench every night?'"
  The Village of Newdale was incorporated in January 1917. The first town board was: Joseph Fleischman as chairman, Frank Williams as clerk, Burt L. Garner as treasurer, and Edwin Stocks, George Bean, Henry Campeau as board members. In the fall of 1915 an incorporated Company, known as the Farmer's Warehouse Company, built a large warehouse in Newdale, which became the shipping point for crops raised in the surro
caption: A token from a billiards pool hall that existed in Newdale ID in 1916.
exif: {}