Harry Bert Merrihew, graduate of Highland Park College of Pharmacy of Des Moines, Iowa, commissioned this building in 1900 for his Lehi Drug Store.   The upstairs portion of the thirty-by-fifty-foot structure served as a lodge room for the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of the World fraternal orders.  The Lehi Drug Store had the finest soda fountain in the city’s history.  The intricately carved walnut cabinet where soda glasses were stored is presently displayed in the Hutchings Museum.  This ornate item features a large arched mirror backdrop and a marble  counter top.

In 1917 Merrihew sold the Lehi Drug Store to John Franklin Bradshaw and his brother-in-law, Gerald R. Taylor.  In 1919 the Lehi Drug Company traded the Merrihew Building to the Bank of Lehi in exchange for the Lehi Opera House and the Garff Building immediately west.  The State Bank if Lehi then moved two doors west into the former Lehi Drug Store.  To accommodate the bank’s continuous growth, a new addition was built onto the north of the building in August 1930.  When the new bank building was completed in 1953, the Merrihew Building became home to Julian’s Drug Store.  The upstairs portion of the building became an apartment for the Paul Julian family.  A decade later, the building was purchased by Lenard and Twila Rockwell, who also located their family on the premises.  The commercial portion of the building downstairs became the home of the Lehi Post Office, then later Jo’s Fashions, a beauty shop owned by JoAnn Zimmerman.

In 1973 Wes and Geraldine Dalley purchased 98 West Main from the Rockwells.  Over the years they maintained a jewelry store and gift shop, Dalley’s Tropicals, and a Grandfather Clock emporium.  In 1982 the Dalleys obtained a listing for their building on the National Register of Historic Places and commenced a nearly two-decade long project of restoring the stately structure.  Geraldine’s Gifts of Love has been maintained in the elegantly refurbished store since then.

Related:

• Odd Fellows Buildings

96 West Main Street in Lehi, Utah

(The owner of this building also owns the Thomas Austin Home)