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Show OMS No. 1024-0018. NPS Fo"" 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 (LOS 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. Wales, Utah began in 1854 after the discovery of coal. Welsh converts to the LOS church settled here in 1857 at the request of Brigham Young. They mined coal , lived in dugouts and called the town "Coalbed." In 1866, like many other Sanpete County communities, the people of Wales moved themselves and their cabins to Moroni due to Indian raids. They returned in 1868 and created a branch of the LOS church. In 1869, when a post office was established, the town was renamed Wales. The town was platted with the traditional Mormon town plan in 1873. Due to the coal mining operation, the first railroad into the county arrived in Wales in 1875. By the 1880s the community subsisted on farming as better quality coal was found elsewhere. Wales did not incorporate until 1908, more than 50 years after its initial settlement. In 1898 the population was about 5003 , compared to 187 in 1999. Located 10 miles south of Fountain Green and 8 miles west of Highway 89, Wales is out-of-the-way and has never been a commercial center. Its primary commercial establishment has been the Wales Co-operative Mercantile that was established in 1870. 4 Before the co-op was started, John Price was the local merchant. He kept goods in boxes under his bed, and people traded him produce for the "necessities and notions.,,5 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."s 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. S Utah Gazetteer and Directory of Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo & Logan Cities, 1888, part 2. 3 4 |
