The Evans Co-op Block

The story of the Evans Co-op actually began in 1865 in a one-room log house on Deep Creek, near where the Masonic Lodge now stands on Bannock Street. Malad’s Mormon pioneers had earlier built a bishop’s tithing storehouse, paying their tithes in produce, in return receiving the supplies they needed. In 1877 when Brigham Young told his followers it was time to start organizing business corporations, the storehouse closed. He believed that this would help many Mormon settlements become more independent. The age of the Z.C.M.I. of Malad had begun.

The Malad Co-op was moved from the original one-room cabin to a new facility at the intersection of Main and Bannock Streets in about 1880. D. L. Evans took a position there as a clerk. The Co-op had been converted into a stockholder-owned business, but was forced into bankruptcy in 1882 because of financial trouble caused by the overextension of credit, bad farming years – a recurring reality in a predominantly agricultural community – and “competition from non-Mormon business firms.”

D. L. Evans was appointed the Co-op’s receiver by the court, and he and his brother, Lorenzo L., bought its stock. In 1884, D. L. became manager of the Malad Co-op, keeping its name until 1917, when it was changed to Evans Co-op Department Store. The “experience gained at the Co-op led (D. L. Evans) into many other pursuits—banking, a power plant, livestock, and real estate. This expansion of his interests enabled him to become a millionaire, but much of the fortune was lost during the ‘farmers Depression’ that occurred during the mid-1920’s…” The Evans Co-op never did close, though Evans was forced to sell many other properties to pay his debts. The Evans family’s service to the Malad community and the state of Idaho would continue for four generations. The first phase of the current Co-op Block was built in 1893 and was L-shaped. The second phase, which included the flat-iron section at the southeast point of the property, was completed in 1908. In later years, the building was painted a light color.

In 1908, William G. Jenkins, of Ireland Bank, was authorized to enter into a contract with the Malad Co-op Company leasing the new “flat iron” corner of Main and Bannock Streets, becoming the first home of Ireland Bank, which remained at this location until its new banking facilities were completed in 1965.

Malad Co-op (later Evans Co-op Department Store) filled the remainder of the Co-op Block’s main floor throughout most of the 20th Century, as the Evans family ran a True Value Hardware Store until 2015. The top floor of the building has a series of offices on the south side, a large open area in the middle and an area for storage that contains a “lift” on the north. The central area was used as a banquet hall in the 1920s. Its upstairs area also housed Malad’s first library. Its basement has been home to a barber shop and a democratic newspaper, as well as being used for storage.
The Co-op Block building was recently acquired by the City of Malad and is currently undergoing renovations to become a civic center and meeting area. Fund-raising is on-going and donations accepted.

Source: 1 Adapted from A History of the Ireland Bank: Integrity Banking Since 1892 2 Idaho Enterprise 1990, C8 3 Idaho Enterprise 1959. 4 History of Ireland Bank 5 According to Luke Waldron, Malad historian