Ash Valley is one of those hidden gems tucked away between the communities of Adin and Madeline. When it was settled in the early 1870s the majority of its population consisted of old bachelors. Changes were on the horizon, new settlers with families began to arrive. In 1876, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved the Ash Valley School District, there being some fifteen plus school age children there. Shortly thereafter the residents built a school house.
World War I had a major impact on the rural areas of Lassen County and this was readily apparent in Ash Valley, as the school closed its doors in 1919 for a luck of students. It would go through several openings and closures over the next twenty years. In 1938, John Bath and Martha Bath were the last students to graduate. In 1941, the school closed for good.