Hill AFB could have been named Dern Air Force Base

                      
                        Hill Air Force Base, as seen from the Layton foothills.

WHAT IF?

It could have been that Hill Air Force Base (celebrating its 80^th anniversary in 2020) had a different name.

The original Utah proposal was to name the base "Dern Field," after Utah's sixth governor, George Henry Dern (who served from 1925-1933).

Dern was later the U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt from 1933 until his death, in 1936.

According to the Davis County Clipper of Jan. 24, 1990, it was U.S. Representative J.W. (James William) Robinson, a Democrat from Utah, who made the suggestion to name the air base after Dern.

This honor wasn’t just to honor the late Governor/Secretary Dern for his high political offices. According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Feb. 4, 1940, Dern had “made an inspection” in 1935 of the potential air base land in northern Utah and “became very sympathetic towards its potential possibilities.”

“Secretary Dern’s efforts were responsible in a large measure for renewed interest in this project,” The Standard-Examiner further reported.

This led to the War Department securing options on 4,135 acres of land in the area where the Ogden Chamber of Commerce was promoting as ideal for a future air base and ordnance depot site.

Although most Utahns likely agreed it was a good idea to honor Dern with the base name, it apparently did not square with current Army Air Force policy. 

According to the 1990 Clipper story, Army General H.H. Arnold responded to Robinson's naming proposal that the base "would probably be named after an army flier who performed distinguished flying service in Utah, or whose death occurred in that vicinity."

Notwithstanding, the Hill Top Times newspaper of Jan. 1, 1946 stated, “War Department General Order No. 9 names site OAD ‘Hill Field’ in honor of Major Ployer P. Hill.”

(“Hill Field” was the base’s original name and it was retitled, “Hill Air Force Base” on Feb. 5, 1948.)

Major Ployer "Pete" Hill was killed while piloting the experimental Boeing B-17 ("Model 299") bomber at Wright Field, Ohio on Oct. 30, 1935.

However, Ployer Hill had no ties to Utah and Wright Field was more than 1,600 miles from today's Hill Air Force Base.

The fact that the sandy area where today's Hill Air Force Base is actually located on a "Hill,” elevated from much of the surrounding area, has made the title more appropriate over the decades.

Yes, there is no indication of displeasure with the base’s name, or any known move to rename it, “In fact, during its early years, Hill Field paid tribute to the daring test pilot on the anniversary of his death. “Field recalls tragic death of Major Hill. Army Base pays tribute to officer who died seven years ago,” was an Oct. 29, 1942 headline in the Standard-Examiner.

In addition, the base’s naming finally had its late arriving Utah connection in the 1960s. The Standard-Examiner of Nov. 7, 1965 reported that Major Hill’s only son, also named Ployer P. Hill, served a tour at Hill AFB as a major, from 1964-1966, prior to a combat mission in Vietnam.

(The younger Major Hill died on Jan. 21, 2008 at the age of 83 in Florida.)

Yes, “Dern Air Force Base” doesn’t sound right after more than 80 years. It could have been, but the Hill name is both appropriate and deserving today.

                   An F-35A at Hill AFB today.                                      (Hill AFB photo.)

-MORE HISTORY: The famous Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903 had a big effect on one Utah resident -- even some eight years later.

"Ogden aviator comes to grief" was an Oct. 19, 1911 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper.

"Fired by the accounts of the glider experiments of the Wright Brothers in North Carolina, Ray Irwin, 14 years old, constructed a biplane glider with a wingspan of 26 feet ..." the Telegram reported.

The young man, with the help of others, took off from the sandridge and glided some 300 feet and across the Weber River until it plunged to the earth and crashed in the sagebrush. Irwin escaped with minor injuries.

The Salt Lake Herald Republican newspaper of Oct. 19, 1911 hailed Irwin as "Ogden's first aviator." That newspaper said Irwin sprained his left leg on impact and that crash broke the framework of his glider. He apparently had some 300 spectators of his short flight.

What was Layton City like before Hill AFB came along?

HILL Air Force Base is the dominant employer in Layton City and
Davis County. However, what was Layton City like before Hill came along in 1940?
Here’s a brief look at that pre-situation:
In 1940, Layton was a small, sleepy farming town with a population of just 646 people.
“It was kind of a closed group,” Jay Dansie, a lifelong Layton
resident recalled during a 2014 interview about life in Layton before Hill came along. “It was still a settlement of families,” he noted, explaining that there just were not many outsiders.
That all changed, Dansie said, when Verdeland Park, a massive
World War II military housing development, opened where Layton
High School, the Layton City Offices and Commons Park are today, in 1943. It boasted some 1,500 residents – half the city’s population – in its heyday.
“The whole city changed when Verdeland Park went in,” Dansie
said. “It changed the city forever.”
Outsiders and many out-of-state residents moved in.
Indeed, Main Street was widened. The city’s first traffic signal went in during 1943 at Main Street and Gentile as Layton’s population had multiplied. Some of Layton’s “cow trails” became roads and
agriculture started being pushed out. Many new businesses came to
the city too.
Some of this was unexpected. The Ogden Chamber of Commerce
had led the charge to establish Hill Air Force Base and just assumed the main gate to the base would be located on the north, the Ogden side.
“Ogden wanted it all their way,” Dansie said.
However, the main gate – the south gate – faced Layton and spurred a lot of this explosive growth.

By 1950, Layton City’s population was 3,456 people, a 435 percent
increase from 1940.
After the war, many newly married couples in Davis County made
their homes there. (Verdeland Park closed in 1962.)
Before Hill Air Force Base came along, there was no “Hill Field Road.”
That road was “Easy Street.” Also, there was no Highway 193 and the main road to Weber Canyon continued along today’s 1800 North in Sunset and went straight east to the mouth of Weber Canyon.
Dansie said before Hill AFB came along, that area where it is now
was called “the Sandridge” and he recalls it being a great, sandy place to hunt for Indian arrows as he grew up in the late 1930s.
Layton’s growth, with Hill as the catalyst, continued in the next
decade, as Layton’s population soared to 9,027 in 1960, an increase of 161 percent over 1950.
Note: The ground-breaking to establish Hill Air Force Bases was on Jan. 12, 1940.
In the 1920s, more that 90 percent of Layton's population was involved in agriculture. By the 1940s, that had decreased somewhat, but the addition of Hill and the Freeport Center really downsized farming in town.

-There was also a lot of dust on the "sandridge" where Hill AFB now is. For example, after Brigham Young and his touring group visited that sandridge, the writer of the group stated, "If any of your readers desire a more ample supply of dust than they have at home, advise them to come north where it is plentiful and gratuitously dispensed to all visitors," (-From the Deseret News, Oct. 22, 1862).

Why the Hill AFB site was chosen

                                    Weber Canyon.

ACCORDING to the “History of Hill Air Force Base,” by the Ogden Air logistics History Office, there was an intense competition in the 1930s between Salt Lake and Ogden for location of the new “Army Air Force Base” (precursor to the United States Air Force).

Northern Utah, as an air base in the Intermountain area, had been rated a suitable location for an air mail terminal back in 1934, during the U.S. Army’s failed Air Mail experiment.

However, in the end, it was geography, not lobbying that tilted in favor of the Ogden area. Weber Canyon, “the largest hole in the Wasatch Front,” was a very attractive natural asset. The winds kept the canyon’s mouth and area mostly free of fog and early airplane pilots had followed the canyon as a landmark, that also boasted high visibility.

The former “Sand ridge,” a plateau north of Layton City, was selected as the best location for an air base.

                                Hill Air Force Base, as viewed from the southeast.

The twin 'Hill Field Roads'; The Clearfield, U-193 version, is the original

HILL Field changed northern Utah forever. The large military base became the area's largest employer, dramatically increased the population of cities nearby, like Layton and brought into a lot of non-Utah natives to the area.
And, Hill Air Force Base also expanded area roads significantly.
There used to be a road, called 1800 North on its west side. This road went all the way from South Hooper, through West Point, Clinton and Sunset, climbing through what was called "the sandridge" and then dipping down and accessing Weber Canyon. This road's eastern segment was deleted when Hill Field was established, since that land was now a military base.
But, two different "Hill Field Roads" were established as the base was developed.

                       Today's U-193 as it approaches Highway 89 in Layton.

Ironically, the original Hill Field Road is the one that officially lacks that title today.
"Hill Field Road is approved by U.S. Government" was a Dec. 5, 1940 headline in the Weekly Reflex newspaper of Kaysville. Work on this road began in the fall of 1940. It left the Salt Lake to Ogden road (Highway 91) at Clearfield and went eastward 1.7 miles to the base. An overpass above the Bamberger railroad tracks was also being considered at the time.
Today, this road is more often named Utah State Highway 193 and it goes from Highway 89 on the east, all the way to West Point on the west side.

                 Hill Field Road in Layton meets U-193, the original Hill Field Road, today.

The Deseret News of Jan. 16, 1941 reported that the Layton segment of the Hill Field Road went from the South Gate of the base 2.5 miles to connect with Highway 89 in Layton. And, that the upper portion of Hill Field Road, from the South Gate to Highway 89 east was 3.5 miles long.
The roads were two land gravel roads at first and then widened to four-lane asphalt highways.
The Clearfield to Hill AFB road was roughed in by late 1941 and paved in the spring of 1942.
However, Layton's Hill Field Road, from the South Gate wot Highway 91, didn't open until Sept. 16, 1943. It is one Layton's busiest roads today and extends westward to 2200 West and Ellison Park. This road runs by many major businesses, including the Layton Hills Mall and Sam's Club. It also runs by Northridge High School and connects with I-15. Of the two "Hill Field" roads, it is the busiest of the two today.
Originally (and in 1943), the West Gate to Hill AFB in Clearfield was restricted to government trucks and vehicles only. 

                        Hill Field Road in Layton, as it connects with Antelope Drive today.

The origin of Hill Air Force Base's name

HILL Air Force Base is indeed located on a hill above Layton and Clearfield cities. However, that is not where its name originated from.

“Honoring the memory of Major Poyer P. Hill, who in 1935 gave his life in Army Air Service, the Ogden Ordinance Air Depot, located at Sunset, Davis County, was named last week and will be known as Hill Field,” the Davis County Clipper of Dec. 8, 1939 reported.

A 650-foot-deep artesian well was also drilled for the base’s water supply, at a cost of $8,937.

By February of 1940, Hill Field was approved for $3.3 million in expenditures to construct a warehouse, commissary, shop and garage.

                                            Two F-35s from Hill AFB                                     (Hill AFB photo.)

Layton: A bustling, modern city built on two 'Hills'

                     Hill Air Force Base, as seen from southeast Layton.

MODERN Layton City is a community that has truly been built on two “Hills” – Hill Air Force Base and the Layton Hills Mall --  to become Davis County’s largest town, as well as a regional shopping hub.

-First there was “Hill Field.”

According to the “History of Hill Air Force Base,” by the Ogden Air logistics History Office, there was an intense competition in the 1930s between Salt Lake and Ogden for location of the new “Army Air Force Base” (precursor to the United States Air Force).

Northern Utah, as an air base in the Intermountain area, had been rated a suitable location for an air mail terminal back in 1934, during the U.S. Army’s failed Air Mail experiment.

However, in the end, it was geography, not lobbying that tilted in favor of the Ogden area. Weber Canyon, “the largest hole in the Wasatch Front,” was a very attractive natural asset. The winds kept the canyon’s mouth and area mostly free of fog and early airplane pilots had followed the canyon as a landmark, that also boasted high visibility.

The former “Sand ridge,” a plateau north of Layton City, was selected as the best location for an air base.

The U.S. Congress approved $8 million in July of 1939 to establish the Ogden Air Depot. Six months later, in December, the War Department selected the name “Hill Field,” in honor of the late Major Ployer Hill, who had perished in an experimental aircraft accident in 1935.

An official groundbreaking was held on Jan. 12, 1940 and the facility was built and expanded from there.

Surprisingly, the main gate to Hill, the “South Gate” (also ironically on a high hill/plateau in the area) emptied into Layton, not Ogden.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, many additional aircraft were transferred to Hill from the west coast, for additional protection.

It was the presence of Hill Air Force Base that weaned Layton from an agricultural base into a more urban setting. Layton’s population soared by 435 percent, from 646 in 1940, to 3,457 in 1950, mainly because of Hill.

New housing also boomed in Layton because of Hill. The Layton Trailer Park, with 300 units opened in 1942; Sahara Village, with 400 units came by 1944; Hillcrest Village, on the west corner of today’s South Gate, opened in 1942 and could house 2,500 residents.

Layton also experienced a business boom in 1946, following World War II, with its expanded population.

By 1947, the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Air Force and Hill was renamed Hill Air Force Base.

While Hill’s workforce was some 22,000 in 1943, it was reduced to just over 3,000 in 1946, following World War II’s end. Yet, new contracts, responsibilities and the Korean War increased employment steadily after that.

Hill had 11,864 military and civilian personnel in 1954; by 1966 the total was 18,436 and by 1986 it was 21,775, all as Utah’s largest single employer – all on the doorstep of Layton City.

According to the latest Hill AFB economic impact statement, there are now 23,969 total personnel within Hill Air Force Base, including 8,606 military and dependents and 12,363 civilians. Hill AFB has an annual federal payroll of $1.23 billion and annual expenditures of $907 million. Annually, Hill AFB creates approximately $1.19 billion in jobs created with a total of $3.32 billion in total annual economic impact.

-The Layton Hills Mall is Layton’s other significant “hill.”

“Work set to begin on Layton Hills Mall” was an Aug. 4, 1978 headline in the Davis County Clipper.

The Mall was then described as a mammoth indoor shopping center with some surrounding businesses, conveniently next to I-15. It opened after more than two years of construction.

Some of the land eventually developed into the Layton Hills Mall used to be the old 20-acre Layton Trailer Park.

The Layton Hills Mall opened in the spring of 1980 and was renovated in 1996.

Today it has more than 100 stores, with three anchor tenants and more than 576,000-square-feet of retail floor space.

The Layton Hills Mall, though not on an actual “hill,” has over the decades attracted many more businesses to Layton. “Restaurant Row,” Layton’s famed cluster of eateries, grew out of the Mall’s success. Layton had only two “sit down” restaurants in 1983,” but thanks to the Mall it boasts dozens and dozens today.

In addition to the Mall, Smith’s Food and Drug constructed its regional offices, plus dough/dairy plants and a distribution warehouse in Layton in the late 1970s in Layton.

-Additional reference source: http://www.hill.af.mil

(-Originally published in the Layton City newsletter.)