A Brief History of Parshall
Parshall occupies part of a ranch homesteaded by Fred Dean in the 1880s and later owned by the Byers family. In 1902, Frank Byers sold the 480-acre property to Cordelia and Simon Parshall. Their son Clyde inherited the ranch and sold 60.6 acres to civil engineer Alonzo F. Polhamus in 1907. Polhamus recorded the town plat on July 26 that year, naming it for Clyde and the family homestead. Walter Dow’s early store helped draw visitors. Parshall developed as a small rural settlement and never incorporated as a municipality.