1960: When dial telephone service finally reached Layton

                          A modern land line telephone, itself a rarity today.

 IN an era of smart phones and mobile telephone service extreme, it might be hard to image the past. However, it was in the spring of 1960 that Layton, Kaysville and Farmington were the last communities in Davis County to receive direct dial telephone service.

Before that, telephone users had to have the assistance of an operator.

According to the Weekly Reflex newspaper of April 21, 1960, it cost $900,000 to implement dial service in the three remaining cities of Davis County. And, some 50 telephone operators all lost their jobs at the same time.  

As another result of the change, new telephone directories had to be made available to the greater area, so that telephone numbers could be accessed readily by the public.

-Another "ancient" telephone limitation into the 1960s were the use of "party lines." This is where several houses nearby shared the same telephone line. Thus, at times, a resident might have had to wait to use the telephone if a neighbor was already talking on it.

The original Layton Drug Store on Main Street in about 1910. The upstairs rooms here housed Layton's very first telephone switchboard operators.

1999: When hunting in Layton pretty much stopped

 "Not much of Layton left for hunting" was a February 25, 1999 headline in the Davis County Clipper newspaper.

At that time, the City Council limited hunting to 600 feet or more away from any houses, other structures or streets. As such, that meant that less than 700 acres in Layton's boundaries where hunting could still legally take place.

Even shooting clay pigeons on town is also illegal, unless you have the 600-foot buffer.

(Given a passage now of more than 2 decades since then, the amount of ground left for hunting in Layton is obviously a lot less now ...)

A lack of hunting opportunities can all be blamed on growth in Layton City.

Back before the 1990s, west Layton -- particularly just west of the Union Pacific railroad tracks -- was a popular place for peasant hunting each fall.

And, even in the late 1970s, hunting in Layton had caused some costly problems. For example, according to the Davis News Journal of Oct. 4, 1979, two cows had accidentally been killed by hunters in west Layton.

                 Some of the rare open farm field left in Layton is west of the rail trail.

There could have been a Boy Scout cabin built in Adams Canyon

                                               The upper waterfall in Adams Canyon.

TODAY Adams Canyon is the most popular hiking route in all of Davis County. With plenty if shade and a spectacular waterfall, it appeals to families and many individual hikers.

However, if history had gone slightly different, there would have been a Boy Scout cabin built in upper Adams Canyon, just below the main waterfall.

According to the Lakeside Review newpaper of Jan. 29, 1991, Francis Eli Wiggill, a scoutmaster in Syracuse, had permission to construct a cabin in the cabin on land owned by the Morgan Lane and Livestock Company. (This land ownership preceded the U.S. Forest Service.)

The planning of this cabin took place in the early 1920s.

However, the date of August 13, 1923 changed all that. There were flashfloods in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties that day. In Farmington Canyon, six people were killed by the flood -- including six Boy Scouts who were camping. The water and mud rushing out of Farmington Canyon at the height of the flood exceeded 10 feet in height and was up to 100 feet wide.

After that flood, fearful parents did not allow their boys to camp in Adams Canyon and the plans to build a cabin in the canyon were abandoned.

"You know, all the floods and damage in the canyon never bothered the spot where we were going to build the cabin," Wiggill told the Lakeside Review. "It would have still been there."

A bridge in Adams Canyon. A 1920s cabin would likely have been located about another 100 yards further along the trail, in a fairly flat place where Boy Scouts sometimes set up camp today.

(Note that there is one cabin halfway up the mountain side above Layton and another cabin found above Kaysville on the mountainside.)

-WHEN was the first hike up Adams Canyon mentioned in a newspaper? It was printed in the Weekly Reflex newspaper of May 1, 1930. Twenty boy scouts from Kaysville hiked up Adams Canyon. Mention was made of "magnificent waterfalls" and that five deer and an eagle were spotted.

Stimpsons Market -- A vanished business in Layton

                                Stimpson's Market after it closed for business in 2008.

IF you grew up in Layton in the late 20th Century, you likely recall Stimpson's Market. This convenience store was located at about 1475 North Main Street, where the Villas on Main apartments are today.

Stimpson's thrived in Layton from about 1965 to 2008. After it was sold to a buyer, store prices increased and the building closed shortly thereafter.

A church wanted to buy the building and convert it into space for worship services. It never came up with the money and after sitting empty for years, the building was razed and replaced by apartments.

Stimpson's Market in Layton also had a storm history of fire and robberies. On November 14, 1967, the barely two-year-old building was destroyed by a fire. Damage was estimated at $200,000 and 76 fireman were called to put out the huge blaze. Stimpson's was rebuilt.

                                 The Layton Stimpson's site, about 1475 North Main Street.

In 1970, the store was robbed and the robbers fled to the nearby subdivision and even took hostages there before being apprehended. The store also had many other robberies over the decades.

Stimpson's was a mini grocery market, sold gasoline and had a hand drive-up window option to purchase anything in the store. It also gave out "wooden nickels," that could be used to but items in the store.

The Stimpson's Market was NOT unique to Layton. There was a Stimpson's operating in Clearfield in the 1940s and 1950s.

Ogden also had a long-time Stimpson's Market operating at 2605 Monroe. That store, probably the chain's original, opened in May of 1936.

Washington Terrace in Weber County also had its own Stimpson's Market for many years. In fact, until Smith's Grocery came to the Terrace, Stimpson's was that community's only market for many years. That Stimpson's was also heavily damaged by a fire in September of 1958.

The Levi Roberts cabin, a well-preserved and showcased gem of Kaysville-Layton's early history

 

      The Levi Roberts cabin, built in 1865 near Kays Creek, as shown in a 1960s photograph.

THE Levi Roberts cabin is one of the best preserved gems of Kaysville-Layton's early history.

(Sadly, this cabin was incorrectly identified on page 12 of the "Images of America Layton" printed book as the Joseph "Cap" Hill cabin.)

While the Levi Roberts cabin was originally located in Kaysville, most of the land homesteaded by Levi Roberts was eventually included in Layton and the Roberts family is still farming a small portion of the original homestead.

The Levi Roberts cabin was donated to the "This is the Place Monument Park" in Salt Lake City in 1977 and has since been restored.

The cabin was built in 1865 and now resides in what is know as This is the Place Heritage Park, at 2601 East Sunnyside Avenue in Salt Lake City.

Go to:  https://www.thisistheplace.org/heritage-village/buildings/levi-roberts-cabin for more information on the cabin.