Cleaners, Hospital, Plumbers and a Big Bear
Schmid Building
Carl (Charles) Schmid, a tailor
from Freienstein, Switzerland
opened a tailor shop in Montpelier
in 1892. He named his business
Chas Schmid, The Tailor.
He made men's suits and coats
and did repairs, alterations and
dry cleaning. Charles died in 1909
leaving the business to his wife
Eliza. Their young daughter Freda
and son Charlie, ages 18 and 16
took over the shop and worked very
hard to keep the business going.
Later they moved to a small building
on the corner of 10th Street and
Washington and in the 1940's built the modern white cinder-block building next door.
John Schmid joined the business in the 1920's as a partner to Charlie and they renamed
the business Schmid Bros. John and Charlie brought in state-of-the-art dry cleaning
equipment in 1956. Charlie died in 1966 and John continued running the business. The
family business was in operation continuously for 88 years and closed its doors on Oct.
14, 1980, the day John died. The building was sold to John Crockett in the mid 1980's
and was used as a NAPA Auto Parts Store for several years. John Crockett then sold the
building to M.H. King and the building was torn down at that time preparing for a new
King's facility.
Bear Lake Hospital (1937-1949)
The second hospital in Bear Lake was found above "The
Fair Store" on Washington Stret in downtown Montpelier,
Idaho. The "Bear Lake Hospital" was a 12 bed facility
that opened in February 1937 under the management of Dr.
R.B. Lindsay and Dr Reed J. Rich. It operated concurrently
with the first hospital for 8 years and closed December 31,
1949 when
the new Bear
Lake Memorial
Hospital was
opened in 1950. The Hospital is seen in
the background during a county fair
parade in the 1940's.
Pendrey Building
In the early 1900's a W.S. Pendrey opened Pendrey
Plumbing and Heating and Sheet Metal. The
business telephone number was 95 and Pendrey
lived in the apartment upstairs. Over the years,
the building housed multiple businesses
including satellite sales, ceramics and home
improvement sales.
Old Ephraim—The Legend of teh Grizzley
Back in the early 1900's, one of the last of the great grizzlies was
killed after terrorizing local ranchers and shepherds who raised
livestock in the Bear Lake and Cache valley forests. He was
given the name "Old Ephraim" and he had an awkward gate
from a deformed front left paw and leg reportedly from being
caught in a trap at an early age. When he was killed by Frank
Clark on August 22, 1923, Old Ephraim was called the largest
grizzly ever taken in the lower 48 states. He measured 9 feet 11
inches tall and his skull is housed at the Smithsonian Institute
in Washington, D.C. Star up into
the face of this bruin and
pretent you are in Frank Clark's
shoes facing down the great
"Old Ephraim" on your own!
[Picture Captions}
The Schmid building
was located in the
front part of the
property where Kings
is currently located.
This decorative plate sold at "The Fair Store"
is on display at the Rails and Trails Museum.
The building on the right is the Pendrey building.
Due to Montpelier's historical link to bear,s
the downtown area adopted "Bears Everywhere"
or "Beware of the Bears" in all of its downtown
marketing signage. You can see concrete or
carved wooden bears located throught
downtown Montpelier.
This picture of a plitical rally was taken around the turn of the 20th
century. Later most of the buildings in the photo were destoyed by fire.
Sponsors: Great 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 research by Jo Ann Farnsworth & Steve Allred.
