Model T's Odd Fellows and the News
Early sheriff and mayor
Fred Cruikshank owned the first
Model T Ford Agency in 1909
Bear Lake Motors
Early sheriff and mayor Fred Locke Cruikshank was
the owner of the first Model T Ford Agency n 1909 and
closed it down in 1917 due to the availablity of new
vehicles for sale during World War I. N.T. Sneddon
started Bear Lake Motor Company which bought the
business from Cruikshank in 1936, Sneddon moved the
business to its present location shown in the pictures.
Bear Lake Motors has run continuously as a Sneddon
family business since 1918 with
Nemmett R.T. amd Murray Sneddon
operating the business over the
years. The showroom was built on
the east side of the building in 1981
after purchasing th adjacent
property from Josie Driver
"Odd Fellows" Hall
The members of the Enterprise
Lodge, L.O.O.F, began builiding
this building in the spring of 1897.
The ground floor was opened as the "H.B. Whitman" store. The building was far
enough along so that Whitmans started moving their stock of goods into the building
in November of 1899. The store sold everything from dry goods, to hardware, to
trucks, to furnishings. They also sold
fresh groveries and glassware.'
The Odd Fellows Lodge opened the
upstairs in the summer of
1899. The upper floor was used as a lodge room,
banquet hall and offices for the L.O.O.F. The
estimated cost of the new
building in 1897 was $8,00.
As the new building opened, the
Montpelier Examiner in its March
31, 1897 edition stated that "this
will be the largest and handsomest
building in the city."
News Examiner
The building presently occupied by the News Examiner was build earlt in the 1900's by
the Whitman family. It was used as a dry goods store until it was sold to the Robinsons in
1942 for use as a newspaper building. Among the features of the building include a doorway
that led into the adjacent Odd Fellow building, a large open second story that now
contains newspaper files and printing forms. and plaque outside the front door that
quotes the Constitutuional Amendment outlining freedom of the press.
Many of the older residnets of our community remember when a linotype was operated
near the front window of the building. Ruth Taylor, one of the owners of the newspaper,
gathered crowds of onlookers as she typed copy there. The linotype is still stored in one
of the back rooms of the building along with other old printing equipment
Sponsors: Greater Bear Lake Valley Chamber of Commerce, Montpelier Gem Community Team, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, The Bear Lake County Historical Society, USDA Rural Development Agency & Utah Power. History reseach by Ann Fernsworth and Steve Allred.
[Picture Captions]
From the early press in the present day, Bear Lake Motors continues to sell Ford products.
The "Odd Fellows hall (left) sits next door to The News-Examiner building.
Bears continue to prowl around the park benches of historic downtown Montpelier.
