Douglass General Mercantile Store

Utah Historic Site

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2024

1. Douglass General Mercantile Store Marker

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Valley.

West

Plateau.

America,

Mountains,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Spain

California.

From the National Register Nomination prepared by John McCormick and Diana Johnson, 1980:
Built in 1883, the Douglas General Mercantile Store is locally significant as the oldest remaining commercial building in the town of Smithfield, Cache County, Utah. The town was founded in October 1859 as part of Cache Valley, which was itself settled in 1856 during the first stage of the Mormon colonization of Utah. William Douglas, who operated

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2024

2. Douglass General Mercantile Store Marker

The marker is mounted on the left side of the front entrance.

the store, began business in Smithfield in 1865, obtaining goods from the East and wholesaling them throughout the area. In 1883, when the building was constructed, it was one of only three such establishments in the town, and remains as the only physical structure tied to Smithfield's early commercial history. The building has been associated with the commercial activity in the town through the firms of Douglas Mercantile, James Cantwell & Son, and the Union Merc Company since 1883. Also, the building gains added importance in the history of Smithfield because of its unique construction, the only one of its type in the town. Stone was used for the rear and two side walls in a rubble construction technique, while brick was utilized on the upper half of the facade and coursed sandstone for the lower half. Thus, the building represents the use of four different building materials as wood was also utilized.

Excerpt:  The Douglas General Mercantile, at 100 Main St. in Smithfield, Utah, was built in 1883 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In 1980 it was owned by the American Legion Dept. of Utah, and had signage for being the Earl S. Harper Post 58 of the American Legion.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2024

3. William Mochrie Douglass plaque

(mounted directly below the Utah Historic Site marker)
Pioneer • Immigrant • Businessman
Built in 1883
Donated by: Glenn & Louise Douglass Family

(by Amanda Goddard, Jul 11, 2024) Excerpt:  According to the book, “Smithfield... as a city on a hill,” the original building was 50 feet by 75 feet. The history describes the store as “a source of wonderment for children,” and “a one-stop, one-room department store.” The store’s upper floor was used mainly for dancing and recreation. Later, after the building was purchased by the Cantwell family in 1897, the upper floor was also used to show “silent pictures.” It closed as a store in 1957, and the owner rented it to the Earl S. Harper American Legion Post 58, which later bought the building.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2024

4. Douglass General Mercantile Store
(northwest elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:  This two-story rectangular building is 35 feet wide, 65 feet long, and 27 feet high. It was built of four different types of materials: stone, brick, coursed sandstone and wood. Stone from the foothills east of Smithfield was used for the rear and two side walls, which are three feet thick, in a rubble construction technique. Brick was used for the upper half of the facade and coursed sandstone for the lower half. Sandstone was also used on the corners of the second story of the facade as quoins. The gable roof, hinted at by the gable projection of the false front, was originally constructed of hand-split native cedar from Smithfield Canyon. It was covered with metal in 1964.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2024

5. Douglass General Mercantile Store (west/front elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:  The arrangement of the openings on the facade is symmetrical. A recessed door centered between two windows on the first floor is topped by three windows of equal size on the second story. In 1964 the windows were changed from the double-hung sash type to a single, non-opening type. Each of the windows and the door has a brick segmented relieving arch with a keystone. The windows on the first floor, which are wider than those on the second story, have stone lugsills. The lugsills of the second story windows are wood.