Bonner Mercantile

99 East Main Street

The old Bonner store at 99 East Main Street was built in 1879 by John Watkins as a one-room gable-roofed structure. It has been added to and remodeled over the years until only a couple of walls of the original building remain. The land went from George Bonner Sr. (1823-1905) to his sons George (1850-1913) and William (1854-1925), who had the store built in 1879. The boys had the store and farm operation together, but George had girls, and William had mostly boys, so they split the operation, and George took over the store. His daughters, Phebie and Margaret, worked as clerks, and in time, Jane became the bookkeeper. For years, there was a wooden building on the east side of the store from which grain and other large items were sold. Following George’s death, Margaret and her husband, Albert Thomas Steward, took over the store. Margaret did the buying, and Albert picked up the goods from the rail head and delivered the orders, with some going to the mines up Snake Creek. In the 1930s, the store had a gasoline pump, and during part of this time, it was a “Red and White” store.

In 1950, the store was sold to a cousin, Glenna Afton Bonner (1905-1964) and her husband, Leland William Ivers (1905-1978). Significant changes occurred during their ownership. The addition on the west side was added in about 1955, and the two shed dormers were added to the second story over the original store as living quarters. In 1972 “Ivers Mercantile” was sold to Richard Nielson and became Nielson’s Midway Merc, affiliated with the IGA food chain. In 1986, the stepped facade was created from the old false front, and other changes were made to the front of the building. In the 1990s, the building changed hands several times and was used as an antique store. In 2017 the building was restored and is now home to the Midway Mercantile Restaurant.