Mind you, it's not a large mall and doesn't have a lot of businesses inside, but it does house the 108 Mile Ranch Post Office. On the mall side of the post office wall is a bank of easily accessible post office boxes, 240 in all. With about 1,150 homes in 108 Mile, either most people get delivery or General Delivery at the post office.
Elsewhere in the mall are a realtor, the town's major food store (the 108 Supermarket), a restaurant (Mary's Country Kitchen), and a clip joint (Elaine's Hair Care). I believe there is also a craft shop and one or two vacant spots.
108 Ranch History
Two friends, British noblemen, Lord Edgerton of Tatton and the Marquis of Exeter (Martin Cecil’s father), bought land here in 1912. Lord Edgerton bought land from the 105, 108, and 111 Mile ranches. The Marquis purchased Bridge Creek House and 12,000 acres of ranch land surrounding it. Lord Edgerton accumulated 35000 acres in what was known then as the Highland Ranch and Exeter managed it for him. In 1948, Edgerton sold his holdings to a Californian, Fred Davis. Davis operated the ranch until 1962, when he decided to return south as he had his eye on a ranch in California. Conveniently, the owner of that ranch was looking to move to Oregon where R. M. Monical and his three sons, Wendell, Robert, and Len owned a ranch. A three-way switch was worked out in 1962 and the Monicals moved to the 108 and purchased what was then known as the 105 Mile Ranch. It was cattle and logging country, still very rural in 1963.
Len Monical, along with Dick Smith, had some ideas about developing part of the ranch for recreational purposes, including a golf course. His ideas were passed onto Block Bros. in 1968. The 105 Mile Ranch was sold to Block Bros. in 1969 for approximately $1 million and became The 108 Recreational Ranch. They had big plans for the area.
The developer, Block Brothers Realty, had a vision to create an ‘outdoor playground’, a five stage 26,800 acre seasonal recreational resort. The Agricultural Land Reserve prevented the last four stages from proceeding, but luckily much of the recreational infrastructure had been put in place first. We are now 1,140 permanent homes at the 108, with a population of approx 2,900. The treasure of it is that we have recreational facilities for a development of about 7,000 homes. The developers are gone and we now control our own destiny through our 108 Mile Ranch Community Association.
In 1979 the Block Brothers sold the seven acre site to the 100 Mile & District Historical Society for $1, it took over the 108 Mile House Heritage Site and continues to operate it today.
From the 108 Ranch