Register of the Rich County (Utah) Business and Postal Records,

In A History of Rich County, Robert E. Parson writes that Laketown was the first white settlement in Rich County, with a fort built in 1867. Nehemiah Weston helped to establish the community - he started a sawmill and a gristmill. The 1900 Utah State Gazetteer gives a brief description of Laketown in 1900:

A flourishing village of 300 population, is located at the southern end of Bear Lake in Rich County. 15 miles northwest of Randolph, the county seat, 49 from Evanston, its shipping point, and 40 from Logan, its banking point. Has a good flour mill, one L.D.S. church. Daily mail. J.W. Satterthwaite, postmaster. (124)

The 1912 state gazetteer lists Joseph Irwin as postmaster; Mary A. Watson served as postmaster in 1920; and Heber J. Irwin is listed as postmaster for the later years of the 1920s. G.H. Robinson's General Merchandise Store, is consistently listed. Robinson, however, did more in his community of Laketown than work as proprietor of the general store. In appendix A of A History of Rich County, Parson lists G. H. Robinson as Laketown's ward bishop from 1905 to 1934, the county superintendent from 1903 to 1905, and a member of the school board from 1917 to 1935. Parson also writes that the Swan Creek Electric Company was created in 1912 and soon provided electricity to Laketown, Randolph, and other communities.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Laketown's population would not grow very much beyond three hundred persons reported in 1900. By 1950, the population of Laketown was down to 217; by 1990, it rose a little to reach 261.

NOTE: Much of the above information was taken from Robert E. Parson's A History of Rich County (Rich County Commission, 1996). Researchers are advised to consult that text for more information about Laketown and other communities in Rich County. The remainder of the material for the background sketch was gleaned from various copies of the Utah State Gazetteer.

The first section of this collection is comprised of cashbooks from the Domestic Money Order Office in Laketown. The cashbooks are organized chronologically; the entries in the books date from 1899 to 1926. Materials from George H. Robinson's General Merchandise Store follow, including daybooks (arranged chronologically, with entries dating from 1898 to 1917), registration stubs for U.S. savings bonds purchased at the store in 1944 and 1945, and a financial ledger and other financial papers dating from 1902 to 1914. The next group of materials contains records from various businesses, including the Laketown Creamery and the Laketown Irrigation Company, followed by daybooks and other record books (dating from 1917 to 1923) from the Laketown Roller Milling Company. The next section consists of account and record books, cashbooks, and other materials from the Laketown Post Office. The account and record books date from 1902 to 1930. While most of the entries in the account and record books are for the Laketown Post Office, some are for post offices in Bradford, Meadowville, and Round Valley. The cashbooks for the Laketown Post Office date from 1922 to 1930. The last group of materials contains daybooks and two maps from the Swan Creek Electric Company. The daybooks record meter settings for the company's customers; the entries date from 1931 to 1945.

Restrictions on Access:

Restrictions on Use

Arrangement:

Creator:

Laketown (Utah).

Language:

English.

Sponsor:

Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008

Quantity:

9 boxes (4 linear ft.)

Language of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid written in Englishin Latin script

EAD Creation Date:

1999.