Shoe Shops and Cobblers
Business directories and newspapers list a variety of shoe making and repair shops throughout Cache Valley. Most were located in Logan, which was the largest and most central city in the area.
Shoemaking was an important industry, and ready made shoes were sold through the Logan Branch of Zion's Co-Operative Mercantile Institution beginning in 1873. ZCMI was a church-run department store based in Salt Lake City.
Many shoemakers throughout the valley ran their own repair shops or mercantile stores. These include:
- Fred and Martin Nielson of Logan
- Hubbard and Bolton in Logan
- P.A. Nielsen on 3rd street in Logan
- Jacob Hayball
- H. Hamp and Andreas Peterson
- Charles H. Baker
Some shops were family-run businesses, with wives and children learning the trade and performing work around the shop.
A list of known cobblers or shoemakers living in Cache Valley before the year 1900:
- C. Fonnesbeck
- O.J. Larsen
- N.P. Lendelorf
- C.L. Miller
- Niels. J. Sandberg
- Isaac Clegg
- Hans Iverson of Hyrum City
- Robert Wright Baxter of Wellsville
- Ulrich Trauber of Providence
These tradesmen may have worked from their homes or were employed at others' shops. Not much is yet known about the lives of these men, but their work greatly contributed to the economic success and growth of 19th-century Logan City and nearby settlements.
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How many shoe stores are in your city?
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Have you ever thought about where your shoes are made and who makes them?