Lehi Hotel

The Lehi Hotel is the oldest standing adobe hotel between Salt Lake City and Denver. As early as 1853, Joseph Johnson Smith operated a blacksmith and wagon shop on this site, which was inside the western wall of Lehi Fort. John Woodhouse expanded the shop into a general store in 1865 and operated it until 1886. Some of the building materials were surplus from Camp Floyd and are evident in the hotel today. In 1887, Joseph Johnson Smith built a hotel for Sarah Ann Lilliard Smith, his plural wife. Convenient to the railroad, it was referred to as the finest sample hotel in the territory, and the two front rooms were used by drummers to display and sell their wares. Business was sometimes conducted through a low window on the east side of the building. Many businesses later occupied part of the building, including a saloon, a cigar and candy shop, a cafe, and a dentist office. In 1929, Mary (Mame) Alice Smuin Thomas purchased the building for a family dwelling, and after her children were grown, she periodically rented rooms. It was no longer used as a home after the 1960’s. Carl and Dimple Mellor purchased the property from the Lyall and Audrey Thomas Wilson family in 1997, researched its history, and restored the original portion as authentically as possible. Through glass windows in the floor, the foundation of the old blacksmith shop and remains of an old pioneer well still exist, and the outside of the original building remains the same.

Lehi, Utah · United States