Fish Haven

Fish Haven was founded in 1864 and was named Rush Creek by early trappers and traders. One day Joseph Rich and John Bagley gathered a wagon load of fish taken from the mouth of the creek in a very short time. When they returned to Paris, they told people they had discovered a real "fish haven." The name stuck, and the town was officially given the name of Fish Haven.

The first settlers were Phineas Cook and Thomas Preston, who came in the spring of 1864. Soon, Josiah Meservy, Jacob Staheli, and Charles Keppner and their families came from Franklin. The winter was so severe that some of the first families left. They were replaced by the Stock, Shirley, and Howell families. They were the first permanent settlers. The John Stock, William H. Shirley, and Thomas Shirley families came from South Africa together. The Howell family came from England.

Until a chapel was built, they held church in their homes. The first church, built in 1868 from logs, was 18' X 24'. The floor was made of wood, the roof had hand-split shingles, and the building had windows. This building was used for 20 years. The Fish Haven Ward was organized in 1877. Joseph W. Moore was called as the first presiding elder. Robert Pope was called as the first bishop. The log church was replaced in 1885. A recreational hall was added to it in 1938. This building no longer exists. On August 24, 1975, the Fish Haven and Garden City Wards were combined as the Bear Lake Ward. ln October 1996, Fish Haven became a part of the St. Charles Ward.

The first school began in 1867 in the church building. A frame building was used until 1929 when a brick building was built. Joseph Meservy was the first schoolteacher. He had no training or previous experience, so George Osmond from Paris mentored him.

Thomas Shirley was the first blacksmith, and his wife, Martha, was the first midwife. She delivered 169 babies over the years. William H. Shirley was the first Sunday School Superintendent and also the church organist. He owned the only organ in town, so they carried it from his home to the church each Sunday. Phineas Cook takes credit for plowing the first field in Fish Haven and constructing the first irrigation ditch.

John Stock's home was used for tithing settlement, the first freight center, and a small store. He donated land for the cemetery and developed a sawmill and an irrigation system. He was referred to as the father of the town. His first home was a double-log built in 1867. It was replaced by a larger home. It has been renovated and still stands next to the old resort. His son Joseph Pierce Stock placed many sculptured wild animals in the yard. Perhaps his South Africa roots influenced the style of the home and type of animals sculpted.

John Nelson first owned the site of the Fish Haven Resort. Joseph W. Moore built the resort. Later it was sold to the Stock brothers who expanded it. The resort was designed so that people could go onto the grounds and have a picnic, walk out on a long pier, swim in the lake, rent a rowboat or speed boat, buy food, rent a cabin for the night, roller skate or hold family reunions. Fifty cabins were rented every night. Dances were held four times a week to live music. First the older people dominated the dances, but by the 1950s the valley teenagers took over. It was very crowded every Saturday night.

Resources:

J. Patrick Wilde, Treasured Tidbits of Time, vol. 1 page 20
Unpublished History of Fish Haven, Idaho by Erma Stock