When Layton began uniform street naming -- Avenues, drives and streets; Where did the name Gordon Avenue come from?

IT was 1959 when Layton City created standards in street names. From then on, any street that traveled east and west was a "drive," "lane" or "avenue" and roads going north or south were "streets" or "roads."
The Layton Planning Commission wanted this change to make it easier for residents or visitors to locate addresses in town.
However, there were some exceptions. For example, Fort Lane runs north and south and yet it is a "lane." That exception is likely because of the long standing tradition of calling it as such. (The road is named for the pioneer fort that used to exist along a section of the road.)

-WHERE did the name Gordon Avenue originated from?
Layton historian Harris Adams said he wasn't sure, as the name just seemed to be there in the late 1940s on. However,he said Gordon Gurr of Kaysville owned Security Title Company in Farmington and that company did a lot of business in Layton City. He said that's the only "Gordon" he recalls in the area, that somehow might have led to the street naming.

-Another variation in road names is Antelope Drive. That street was originally called "Syracuse Road" for many decades, until 1968, when Antelope Island was first developed. After that, Syracuse and Layton both agreed the Antelope name was more appropriate, even though the highway did lead into the center of Syracuse.

Bluff, Canyon and Mountain Road -- The 3 main pioneer trails in the Layton area

THE Layton area had three main pioneer trails back in the day.

According to Ken Day, the first curator of Layton's Heritage Museum, the forerunner of Church Street was Canyon Road, a path that followed the ridge above Kays Creek. Day said this Canyon Road used to go from Weber Canyon all the way southwest to today's Dawson and Weaver Lanes and eventually to where the Bluff Road used to traverse west Layton.
"The Kays Creen Corridor is loaded with history . . . It had to have been a known route," Day said of Canyon Road, explaining it was probably an Indian trail used by the Lienhard pioneer party in 1846 - one year before the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah.

Day said journals from the Heinrich Lienhard party describe coming down Weber Canyon, crossing to the south side of the Weber River, going up a hill and then turning southwest along a good path toward the Great Salt Lake.

The three oldest paths or trails in the Layton area are Mountain Road, Canyon Road and Bluff Road. However, Day said Mountain Road was too rough and that's why Canyon and Bluff were used more often.

He also said trapper/explorer Jedediah S. Smith went through west Layton along the Bluff Road trail in 1826. Today the Bluff Road ends in southern Syracuse because construction of West Gentile Street in 1880 provided better east-west access into Layton.

                             Highway 89 today, at Oak Hills Drive.

The Mormon Pioneers also constructed a "Little Fort" along Canyon Road, which gave rise to the Fort Lane name for one of the city's major north-south roads. At that time, the big fort was in Kaysville - the larger settlement.

SOURCE: Deseret News Archives.

When Layton City considered two different railroad overpasses

LAYTON City has one railroad overpass, on the Layton Parkway. A second one is just outside the City's boundaries on Antelope Drive.
However, over the decades the Layton City Council has considered at least two other locations for possible railroad overpasses.
The first time was at the end of 1940. According to the Weekly Reflex newspaper of Dec. 6 that year, "Study to be made at crossing of U.P. Railroad" was the headline.
"The hazard in question is the railway crossing on Gentile Street," the story stated, "one of the heaviest traveled thorofares in Layton, at which point it is hoped either and overpass or an underpass will be constructed."
The possibility was studied, but obviously no overpass was ever built.
At another time in the early 2000s, the Layton City Council briefly discussed building an overpass on 2200 West over the tracks. That was considered the only place in town where it was financially feasible for an overpass. However, the close proximity to the Antelope Drive overpass, less than 1/2 mile away made that seem a waste of resources and no action was taken.

1920: When the opening of the new cement S.L.-Ogden highway was celebrated in Layton

The Layton portion of the first S.L.-Ogden concrete highway in the 1920s,  at 27 S. Main Street
                                                                 -Photo from the Heritage Museum of Layton collection.



"OPENING of Ogden-Salt Lake highway to be celebrated" was a headline in the July 18, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald-Republican newspaper.
On July 22 that year, representatives of the Kiwanis, Rotary and Commercial clubs in northern Utah -- and the Motive Dealers' Association -- gathered in Layton to celebration the completion of the new hard-surfaced highway. The Commercial Club of Nation hosted the celebration of this 40-mile stretch of highway.
This concrete road was a narrow highway, with no middle stripe.
-Sadly, satisfaction for the new highway didn't last but less than three years.
"Wider highway from S.L. to Ogden sought" was a May 8, 1923 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper.
This story stated a four-mile section between Layton and Clearfield was of particular concern. That stretch of road was already crumbling after three years of use.
"...the road (there) is practically ruined and will have to be reconstructed," the story concluded.

This is a look at the section of road that was north of Layton in about 1920, that needed resurfacing less than three years later, in 1923.        -Photo from the Heritage Museum of Layton collection.

When North Layton Junior High School opened

IT was Tuesday Sept. 2, 1969 when North Layton Junior High School first opened for students.
Some Layton students had previously attended either North Davis Junior or Central Davis Junior High schools. Located at 1100 Antelope Drive, there was little else in this area of town when the school open. There was no nearby retail stores and even the Davis Hospital to the west had not been developed yet.
The only students originally bused to the school were those students from Hill Air Force Base/Hill Gate Terrace trailer court and those from the northeast area of Layton, near Church Street. All others had to walk to school, or be driven by their parents or in car pools.
Even students coming from the Holt and Vae View subdivisions, where the distance was in places more than a mile away, students were not initially bused.
However, there was a sidewalk on the south side of Antelope Drive to Main Street and sidewalks in the nearby Camelot subdivision. At least one crossing guard was stationed on Main Street, to assist students.
John Turner was the school's first  principal. Also, all of the kitchen facilities at the school were not yet ready when the school opened. Thus, cold lunches only were served during the first week of school.

1964: When Layton first enacted winter parking restrictions; A uniform street numbering system in 1962

IT is a well-known ordinance in Layton City that no one can legally park a vehicle on any city street overnight during the months of December, January and February). This law is to aid snow removal by keeping the roads clear for plowing purposes.
But, when did this law first come along?
According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Jan. 22, 1964, that year is when the Layton City Council considered such a ban.
"Layton may push city parking ban" was the headline.
At the time, this law in neighboring cities was also believed to produce a reduction in auto burglaries as well.
-It was in 1962 that Layton City adopted a uniform street numbering system, according to the Standard-Examiner of Jan., 10, 1962. Gentile Street was the north-south baseline and a portion of the historic south Main Street was the east-west baseline.

The beginnings of the Davis Hospital/Holy Cross in Layton

THE Holy Cross Hospital Davis, originally known as the Human Hospital Davis North, opened in the fall of 1976. A dedication and open house wee held on Sept. 25 of that year.
Ground was broken on the 22-acre site in late 1974. A silo and several farm buildings had to be demolished to make room for the facility, at 1600 Antelope Drive.
The $8 million hospital, with more than 90,000-square feet of floor space, began as a four story structure, with 100-beds and was expanded over the decades.
Humana Healthcare was the original owner and then Steward Health Care operated the hospital. Today, Common Spirit Health is the owner/operator.

SOURCES: Salt Lake Tribune of Sept. 28, 1974; and the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Sept. 5, 1976.