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-----_......._400 W. & Main - -BLUE ROCK STORE (derrolished) LEHI. UTAH COUNTY UTAH STATE HISTORY 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 3 9222 00575 9910 • - OCT 0 t - 1~ 1 l'TAH PRESS ASSOCIA TlO" ClippiflJ,J _ ' aria Phon..:: (80 11328-8678 ! - -, LUll i r i } 1 The 1882-built Trane, Evans & Co_ building, best known locally as the "Blue Rock Store," was briefly a speakeasy in 1913_ , ~ Blue Rock store earned ,I private club ,notoriety , "" l. /f~ By RICHARD VAN WAGONER WhentheDenverandRioGrande !I \ i ~ '- L eh·1 '/.esteryears standing today ), A local ad noted that he wa s selling "coal, sulky Railway came through Lehiin 188 1, plows, hand plows, harrow cultiva, several businessmen saw the ad· tors of all kinds ... and machinery vantage of being situated near its ofanykind ,"Buthistra dedwindled depot at Main and Fourth West. ~f and Trane was soon clerking at th e Now 8Omebfyou aregoing to say. People's Co-op. ~e'8 wrong there, the depot was at Meanwhile the Blue Rock Store. First North and Fourth VY·est." Ac· . 8S everyone in town called the old tually it wB.lf1n both places, not at -- The mercantile finn WE.S r enamed .... l'T-ane & Evans place, was sold tc the same time of course. TTane, Evans & Co. William F. Neslen. In 1900 P. J .. The original D&RG depot was a Business in the new mart was Ch r istofft'r son & Sons oper ated a small frame building on the east "brisk," as reports ofthe day liked to general store there for 8 time. Afte rside of Fourth West at Main. In the say. An 1885 accountin the ""Deseret wards it was occasionally used to fall of1895 the company constructed News" r eported t hat Trane and store produce. Butmost townspeople a 60~ by 20~foot station one block Evans "'are both young men, wide r emember the place for its later north. Th is is the one those of you awake and are rapidly building up a notoriety. born before 1935 will remember. It large and satisfactory business. Transients frequently used the stood on the site until 1943. Thf"y ru n a delivery wagon that can vacant building for a flophouse. Today'sfeature is not about rail- be seen at all hours of the day busy Tnere were also rumors tha t the roads, despite my passion for the delivering goods to thei r many cus- place was haunted. Rumors inromance of the rai ls. lomers. Their store is the model of creased when little Willie Gray in· Our story this week is about neatness and by careful and strict expl ic ably fell from a second .;tory ambitious shopkeepers and a scan- attent ion to business they hope in window in 1906, badly hreaking his dalou! speakeasy ~~ "Lehi's institu- timt' to win th€' reward of their arm. tion of higher learning," as the local efforts. " Young children oftt'n av oideri dipsomaniacs called the place. Samuel P. Teasdel of Salt Lak e walking near there for fea r of tht' ThomasF. Trane (a fonner clerk Cityboughtout Evansin 1885. Thret' lmagmary or real-life dangers t hey in the Lehi Union Exchange) and yearslaterhea lsoboughtoutTrane. envisionedlurkingbehindthe th lck sheepman Augustus Powell pooled though he retai ned the Lehi man 85' stone wall s. their money .and talents in 1882 to hi s manager. An 1891 ;<Lehi Ban · Tne Sept. 20, 1913, "Banner~ reo buy a piece of Main Street property ner" arti cl e noted that Tratw was R port€d that Lehi was goinr tf ~ have from Orrin Porter Rockwell,J r. Th e dealer in general merch andise. ago a clu b for "!\10ra 1 u plift." Ar tic ies of site, immedi atel y aeress the tracks r icultural implements, beet tool s, incorporation W£>r(' filed and thefrom the D&RG depot, seemed a dry goods, grOCE'Tlf'S, notions , ladies I3lue Rock Cl u b opened in the old strategic commercj2.: plum. and children 's shoes and shppen:. TraneJEvsns building. TIl(' club's The twomerchants began imme- and Whitp Sewing Mach ines. of1icers inc luded M ilo.lohnson, Seth diate construction of a two-story His claim of ~ nxk bottom price E. Llttlerord and Lawrence John · "blue rock limestone" store with a on everythinb~ wa 5' probab l.... ACCl!' son. t r llstee s . find T hrlInas full basement. Their mercantile rate; Trane was for ced out of bm'l' Woodhoui'e. ~ecretan· . opened in June 1883 . ness in October when owner Sam LocalnewspapereditorWilfRoss The following year Powell pu r - TeasdeJ declared bankru ptcy. immediately saw through the ooys' chased Mul1iner's Flour Mill and By eari)' December Trane had ruse, calling it a "joint to evade the BOld his intere-st in theshoptoPrime established his own fi nn at his resj· ! Prohibiticn J law." Ross embarked . Evans, oon of Bishop David Evans. dence , 378 West S""'nd South (st ill See YESTERYEARS on page 3 j '.---- i _ _- -- - -- - . /. ' a ~l:l4.S ~ W U\JI\ " t' ....... 'Snb \l aW N\ouoq 0 SOUj ':lop\1.l0,u,0j> 1J. <mow ,0H SI n~.( uu' 'l!wpU8'Dii~,';'o"oq S8q oq'" ·",d_u",op. .(ouow .( nOj ldo,"O -op.(ur plo-'uO ~~8 outl!8WI1,U8' I pu~ :lUI"'O"oq auO no.( lnq __:lu!ql.(U8 no -- 18q'" ....ou'\. .(N 0W :lUI"'O"oq III• OS! 011 . :lulnl~o"a MO "'.,. . .(aUolU ':lnq "\ .1 aUldlV. ollOW ~sau wud oM - :lUllU~wa, s.(8"'18 1\.1 lnll .,snq s,d'1l ,aqw u no.( '''lIlU8'' ',noll . aU '1t aW'S 11 puol IL 1 "",o"oq 01 aO'j loaj 11,1 '" ',,,:lns -- 001 .palluql OS w,I ' uado al8 sa'l'Sa a~MO.UOG. .. 01 loAO ~U1. auoqd .(w. als31 .(P80,\8.""q .wo, .(q "31""'';~ 01 :lUIO:I s,lI s,oq 5,aq,aag ·",0 jJUIO:l ';,1'.(8MAU\I _q:llau ....au 0,,8q 01 . ",01 8 58'" 18l\.L ·ssau!poq -\OJ 011,8 q:ln01 a:l,opa"au ILl .'\l,Oj _q:llaUjOl'8 l8qll 18 ':lUIUO'!J0 Inj .,ad pauo,! pU8 au~~~ ll\:ln~,q .(al,!qS q _la'\.s8q-laqsn l! '\. SiP qll.... :lUO\8 ·sloaqs PU8 : s~a::l!; ~Oll!d ' paq,,81S 'pau~! aq 01 I' \ , pU8 sass"p uoq'" aq 01 p.. q .,81\ .(w dn pa,aqls:l ' lahO 5,18ql- l!u!'\~! .sulJ<\l jO las lSllj awl!' Ullsn'i'_. ~a.ll!qS _. __ : , .•.•- .. • FREY. .. (,0 •"nn 1~ 3a3H3q J311 3q \ eJesteryears: Blue Rock Store I l Continued from front page on a penonal crusade against tne club. In an editorial he advised, "Young men, uyou take out a membership in theelubyou will forfeit the deaTest thing on earth - your manhood and self respect. Remember that the youngman who enters the building wnere this illicit traffic is car· ried on win be a marked man. By decent people. he will be regarded and shunned.much as would be the man marked with the fatal spots of leproq .. he emerges from the pest house.Roao hammered away by writing that the club would "be an ideal location fot' ~a pest house where people autrering from dreaded and loathllOme di~ases are kept.But poople who lived aa080 the traco near ,the Blue Rock were offended at Roo's choice of wards. The following week he ilSued an apology. adding that the locality c:ontaiNilOlTle of the "'finest homes ownadby oomeofthe best people in the city.· _ IntheOct. '.1913"Banner"Rooa, who had taken a tour of the Blue Rock, allowed publication of a fea· . tureotoryon the place. Th.promoten. who had been issued a charter by the Secretary of State. contended that there was a demand in Lehi for this type of thing. Beeau ... "fellows were traveling to the Granite Club in American Fork, Lehi might just .. wellhaveoneandkeepthemoney at home." Rou in d"""ribing the clubhouse wrote that a reading room on the ground floor. oeparated from the bar and pool tablHby acurtain, was fitted with plush leather upholltered chairs, IOfas, and table8. DaHy nswapapen and other read_ing materials were available. Situated behind the bar were the members' private lockers where Ii· quor, wine, or beer could be stored. Club members and guests were aIlowed to drink their refreohment& on the premises bllt not ouuide. The building's second story was a gaming area contuining numer· OUI card tables where mem~rs could enjoy a game of cards, check· ers, or cribbage, Potential club members were required to be male (sorry -ladies). 21 or older, nominated by the tru8t· [ .... and had to agree to comply with -- all bylaw., rul... and regulation. of the Blue Rock. Each member was given a private key to the fl'ont door. While allowing the club owners to tell their side of the story, Ross added th at his paper "cannot condone the establishment of these c1ubs in prohibition territory." He added that ci ty and county officials shoulduse'"everymeanstoputthem out ofbusiness.The first raid on the place occuned on Halloween Night, 1913. ThedOO1'keeperheard a gentle knock at the front entrance. Opening the door a crack he saw two women who quickly forced themselves through the doorway. ~ -Instantly there was something doing," Rossl: slyly wrote. The women's husbAnds, along with an· other dozen or so club members were busy ·pursuing their educa· tional studies· in the benevolent institution. But one of the ladies announced that her husband's 1..!JOns were completed and he was going home. TIl( other woman's hU8band was not so eaoily persuaded. He ordered hi. wife to go outside and sit down. ' Big mistake! The enraged woman grabbed up billiard balls from the pool table and began to hurl them at her spouse's head with "JohnsonMatty-Bender world series speed and accuracy· noted Ross. Soon she had the poor devil coweringin thecornerwherehequickly .agreedto theterm8ofherceasefirc. The lady then took her husband by the ann and the couple. now a model ofconnubialbli ... walkedastraight line homeward.' With tongue in cheek, Ross noted that in the future it wao likely that -the doorkeeper win not open to those who knock, but will insist on the members using their keys." The following week club member Leslie Jenkins made themistakeof walkingout the door with six bottles of beer. Bike-riding Marshal John S. Evans had followed Jenkins and another man in their buggy from the Smuin Dancing Academy. "'\Vell,Jgotit,"thecockyJenl<ins said to his friend as he .trutted from the Blue Rock. -Yes and I've got you," replied ~ Marshal Evan. a. he stepped from the shadows. Jenkins spent the night in the city jail while the beer was lockt!d in a safe in City Hall. Utah County officials within a week infonned bUildingownerJ. R. Neslinthat"anuisanceinthename ofaclub was being conducted. in his , building and that hemu.tabatethe same or be liable under the law.Club manager Thomas Woodhouse, from whom Jenkins had :.: purchased the beer, was placed on trial on Nov. 18. In summarizingthe city's position. attorney Abel : John Evans argu~d, "If men can come into a community that has -: expressed emphatically in favor of . prohibition. and under the .ubterfuga or 'moral betterment and adu- ; cational purposes' dispense intoxi· . . .; cants as is being done by this Blue ~. Rock Club . . . then may the Lord help the people of Lehi." The Blue Rock. never again a.., '1>astion of higher education: or , ~ anything else for that matter. quickly Bkidded into disrepair. Fotever relegated to h istory in t..,:. 1920•• the building was demolillh.ad:- I and 3 residence built on the sit#. ~ j /' ;p 1---