98-year-old building in Ashton listed on National Register of Historic Places
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ASHTON – A building in Ashton dating back nearly a century was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Rankin Auto Court at 120 U.S. Highway 20 was one of the early motels in the area that catered to tourists traveling in an automobile to Yellowstone National Park. It was 1924 and automobiles were the new mode of transportation.
Jason Tippeconnic Fox, the national register coordinator at the State Historic Preservation office in Boise, is excited to see the building become an official historical site. He explains why it was selected in a news release.
“It is a significant local example of the early architectural development of the motel building type, exemplifying the cabin camp, cottage court, and motor court phases of roadside hostelry architecture,” Fox told the Idaho State Historical Society.
Kenny and Eva Rankin opened the auto court in 1924. They developed a portion of their farm along Yellowstone Highway to capitalize on the burgeoning automobile tourism industry.
Over several years, the ISHS reports the Rankin’s laid out a U-shaped driveway and built several cabins to accommodate passing travelers.
Additional accommodations and amenities were added later.
“Kenny and Eva Rankin operated the auto court for the next four decades,” according to the news release.
Their daughter, Betty, and her husband, Bryon Grover, purchased the auto court in 1967. Betty and Bryan’s daughters, Jennifer Groom and Kim Grover-Haskin, own and operate the property today.
Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places comes two years shy of its 100th anniversary.