Holladay's First General Store

Holladay's First General Store. . , Near this site in 1869 opened Holladay's first general store, called the Big Cottonwood Cooperative, built by an association headed by LDS Church bishop David Brinton, the blacksmith at this intersection's southeast corner. Elsewhere and here, local LDS-related retail cooperatives were owned by stockholders but regulated by Church policy for the communities' good, here reducing the need to travel to Salt Lake City or Murray for supplies. In 1871, with the appointment of Brinton's son, David Branson Brinton, as a county postmaster,the store also served as community post office. In 1880 a larger store was built immediately south., In the early 1850s, main roads were made throughout the valley. One of them called County Road (today's Highland Dr.) was located here because nearby sprawling Big Cottonwood Creek beds made stream crossing much easier for horse and wagon. An east-west route came from Murray (today's Murray-Holladay Rd.), making this intersection a natural business center. Similar crossroads occurred at Holladay's eastern end. The Murray-Holladay Rd. bent northeasterly to follow the 1847-48 settlers' survey road. Within a few years another north-south route, called Upper County Rd. (today's Holladay Blvd.), crossed Murray-Holladay Rd. a mile east of here. These two intersections created Holladay's business centers.