[5] Following an uncontrollable fire in 1885, the entire town of Ash Fork burned in 1893, and was rebuilt on the opposite side of the railroad tracks from its original location, where it remains today.

Ash Fork's convenient location along the railway and later famous U.S. Route 66 made it recognizable to many cross-country travelers, as evidenced by its fleeting mention in several films from the era of classical Hollywood cinema such as 1947's Dark Passage, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

[3] When the Santa Fe Railroad moved its main line north and away from the town in 1960, Ash Fork lost nearly half its population, as most families employed by the railway were forced to leave the area.

When I-40 bypassed the town soon after, drastically reducing traffic on Route 66, the local economy never fully recovered.

The community's last major fire occurred on October 7, 1987, destroying nearly all the remaining buildings along the two-block business district located on the south side of Route 66.

[6] Certain areas of the town were selected to be used as sets in the filming of 1992's Universal Soldier, supposedly due to the extremely low purchase price and poor condition of several buildings, including an old motel, which were blown up for cinematic effect.

[3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.3 sq mi (6.0 km2), all land.

Service roads allow swifter access to back areas of Grand Canyon National Park, but may not be open to public thoroughfare.

Approximately 15 miles (24 km) to the north of Ash Fork is Beale Road, which has the distinction of being the first federally funded highway.

[8] Ash Fork (or Ashfork) first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village with 517 residents, the fourth-largest community in Yavapai County (behind Prescott, Jerome, and Humboldt).

The numerous flagstone quarries and companies are often cited as the largest employers in the area, as is the local school district, to which most teachers commute from nearby cities.