Cedar Sheep Association

Cedar Sheep Association. . , The first ten head of sheep came to Cedar City in 1862 and soon nearly every family in the community acquired a few to produce wool needed to spin clothing for the family. Soon, the local neighborhoods were overwhelmed with the space needed to care for the sheep and a community herd was formed. Located on Cedar Mountain, the herd was brought to town once a year for shearing. By 1869 there were more than 2,000 sheep in the herd and a local co-op, the Cedar Sheep Association, formed to manage the herd and in 1881, they built this building., The annual shearing of the co-op herd was a big event and after wool needs of the community were met, the remainder was sorted and packed for transport up to Northern Utah. There, the surplus wool was traded for hardware, food items, and other consumer goods and brought back to Cedar City, for sale at the Cedar Sheep Association. Instead of receiving cash based on their share of the herd, stockholders could withdraw their dividend in merchandise., Additionally, the sheep association drove 25-30 old ewes to town each week where they would be processed by the local butcher in the basement of the association store and distributed to co-op members. In 1917, the community herd was disbanded, but the store remained and in fact an extension was built to the south with a large arch connecting the buildings., The upstairs of the new building served as the offices of many medical professionals and in 1934, the Thornton Drug Store opened. In 1955 it became known as Bulloch Drug. The 1960's saw the addition of a café and soda fountain, making Bulloch's one of the most popular stops on Main Street. In 1999 Evan and Chris Vickers purchased this building and restored the historic structure.