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The Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company of Linwood, Daggett County, Utah was established on 16 November 1903 in a building owned by George Rasmussen. The Linwood Post Office shared the building. Within a few months, Smith bought out Larsen's share, and in 1906, relocated the business in an old bunkhouse in the area; the name Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company was maintained. Shortly thereafter, Smith's son Keith took over the business and kept the books for three years. In 1909, George Rasmussen assumed the management of the business.
M. N. Larsen, Smith's former partner started a second store in 1906 in the original location of Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company. The new concern was known as The Linwood Mercantile Company. Sheep ranchers in the area patronized both stores equally and each made over forty thousand dollars a year.
The construction of Flaming Gorge Dam brought an end to Linwood and the sixty year businesses of Smith and Larsen and The Linwood Mercantile Companies.
The Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company Collection consists of business records of the company from 1903 to 1953, and one account book of The Linwood Mercantile Company. In addition to the one Linwood account book, included in these records are seven account books, one minute book, and a stock ledger of the Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company.
Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company Records, 1903-1953, Utah State Historical Society.
Gift of William Purdy.
The Smith and Larsen Mercantile Company Records are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.
A source at the Utah State Historical Society related to this collection is: "Recollections of Keith Smith of Linwood, Utah as told to his daughter Susan" Mss A 1790
Records of the Peoples Canal Company, Mss A 2539, and the South
Valley Canal Company,