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Show OMB No 1024-0018. NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. ~ Page 1 Wales Co-operative Mercantile Institution, Wales, Sanpete County, UT Narrative Statement of Significance Constructed in 1894, the Wales Co-operative Mercantile Institution is significant under Criterion A as a representation of the cooperative movement in Sanpete County and Wales. It is the oldest of only two remaining commercial building in Wales, Utah and one of only seven remaining co-ops in the county. Begun on a wide basis throughout Utah in 1868 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon church), the cooperative merchandising system encouraged church members to mutually invest in a mercantile store and was intended to encourage trade among church members and help decrease the flow of financial resources to non-Mormon businesses. Members bought (or often traded for) their necessities from the store. Operating from 1871 until 1968, the Wales Co-op was the only commercial outlet in town , serving as grocer, general store and gas station. in 1857 11866, s to Nhen a lormon in 1875. did not t 5003 , Wales, Utah began in 1854 after the d at the request of Brigham Young. The like many other Sanpete County comr Moroni due to Indian raids. They retul post office was established, the town' town plan in 1873. Due to the coal mi By the 1880s the community subsistef incorporate until 1908, more than 50 ~ compared to 187 in 1999. ! Located 10 miles south of Fountain G never been a commercial center. Its I Id has When the co-op was formed, each man in town contributed five dollars, which Jonathan Midgley took to Salt Lake City for groceries. In addition to managing the co-op , Midgley ran the post office. A John Rees may also have been involved at this time. 6 In 1874, Midgley moved to Nephi, turning over both operations to John Price, one of the original mining settlers. Price managed the store until his death when Henry D. Rees took over. A small adobe store was erected at that time .7 By 1888, Alfred Lamb was the superintendent of the Wales CoOperative Mercantile Institution, which according to the Utah Gazetteer, were "Dealers in General Merchandise and Shippers of Country Produce."e No manager was listed in the 1892-93 Gazetteer. W .H. Lever, History of Sanpete and Emery Counties Utah, (Salt Lake City: Press of the Tribune Printing Co., 1898), 546. Henry C. Lamb, "Correspondence ." The Deseret News , Wednesday, April 13, 1870, Vol 19 p. 113. 5 Daughters of the Utah Pioneers of Sanpete County, Utah, These ...Our Fathers: A Centennial History of Sanpete County 1849-1947, (Springville, UT: Art City Publishing and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers of Sanpete County, Utah, 1947), 215. 6 Henry G. Langley, Pacific Coast Business Directory - Utah Territory, 1871-73 7 Ibid. 8 Utah Gazetteer and Directory of Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo & Logan Cities, 1888, part 2. 3 4 |
