Jenks' Photo of Afton from Star Hill

Another Jenks' photo - this one taken from Star Hill with Gardner's Mill at the bottom of the photo. This is the road up Swift Creek. Certainly changes from then till now. I see a big difference in the trees for one thing. They don't seem so thick along the creek. Obviously the town has filled in over the past 120 years. Dirt roads must have been a mess in the spring. (I drive one to work each day and during wet weather I come home looking like I've been mud bogging). The Kennington place is just off the picture to the left. If you follow the creek to the west you can see where the red brick Kennington home would be built on the north side of the creek and the west side of the main street.

We'd love to read comments from anyone with more information or thoughts. I wonder if there isn't a box full of Jenks' glass negatives in an attic or the back of an Idaho museum somewhere. I'd love to see his work made into a book. Anyone know the Jenks family?

The Jenks Photograph of the Kennington Place

Jenks was a photographer from Montpelier, Idaho. He apparently traveled around the region marketing photos of the ranches and farms. Here is his aerial view of early Afton.

This one is taken from the slope above Graveyard Canyon before the ground was broken for the Stake Tabernacle. The Kennington place is on the lower right. You can see the two homes on either end of the block. The sheds are about half way between the houses. Looks like lumber for the barn is being stockpiled across the road to the south. If you look close, you can see the original little cabin. There's more about these photos in our book, A History of Star Valley, 1800-1900. We put a drawing in there labeling the streets and buildings as far as we knew them.

This picture came courtesy of the Star Valley Historical Society, which is a great resource for old photographs. We would never wish a hospital visit on anyone, but a trip to the halls of the Star Valley Hospital is a real treat because of all the S.V.H.S. photos on display. They are building a fine collection.