Curated by: The Brigham City Heritage Tours Team
The three story mercantile store built on the corner of Main and Forest streets in 1890 was the last building constructed for the Brigham City Co-op. The federal government had levied a tax on Co-op scrip and then reversed its decision and returned some of the money. The rebate was used to build the new merchantile store.
The building was finished by January 20, 1891, and merchandise was moved from the old store. The store was opened for business on May 24, 1891. A fire broke out in the store on December 19, 1894, and the business never fully recovered from the finanical losses from the fire. The mercantile store went bankrupt, and the cooperative organization went into receivership the following year.
Since the Co-op closed, the building has housed numerous business and professional offices. The building and grounds were taken over by Deseret Savings Bank of Salt Lake City and deeded to the First National Bank Company in 1901. All or part of the first floor has housed a banking business from that time to the present.
Stohl Furniture moved into the north end of the building in 1904. They sold coffins as well as furniture and later expanded the business to include embalming. The mortuary moved to a west annex of the building. In 1909, a room on the main floor was used as a U.S. Post Office.
Some of the occupants of the second-floor offices since 1904 have been real estate and insurance companies, abstractors, attorneys, and dentists. The third-floor, built to accommodate social dancing and theatrical productions, became quarters for the Commercial Club (later the Chamber of Commerce) in the 1920s and was a theater for a high school drama group from 1972 to 1995.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 as part of a multiple listing of existing Co-op buildings.
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