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.

The first RC Willey was originally in 'Layton' from 1949-1950; New store 'returns' the business to Layton

                      The new RC Willey store in Layton opened in late July of 2020.

This ad in the Weekly Reflex newspaper of Sept. 22, 1949, lists Layton as the RC Willey home.


RC Willey was technically originally located in Layton from 1949-1950.
The business' first 15 months of advertisements (see example above) listed Layton as its address, NOT Syracuse.

The first-ever RC Willey advertisement appeared on Sept. 1, 1949 and listed Layton as the business address.
The first ad to list Syracuse as the RC Willey address was some 15 months later, on Nov. 30, 1950 and then again on Dec. 14, 1950 (see ad below).

                           One of the first two RC Willey ads to list Syracuse for an address.

(A new RC Willey store is now open in Layton, just northeast of the Antelope interchange at I-15. The original Syracuse store has closed permanently.)

Why did RC Willey list its early address as Layton?
The actual physical store in Syracuse did not open there until 1950. And, since Syracuse lacked its own post office, the Layton address was likely tied to delivery through the Layton Post Office.
Still another possible factor was that Syracuse was NOT an incorporated city until Sept. 13, 1950, or about two months before RC Willey began listing its address as Syracuse.
-Rufus Willey worked out of a garage in Syracuse for the business' earliest years and he used a red truck to deliver items to customers.

  It was probably a red truck like this that delivered the first RC Willey products in the 1950s. This antique truck resides inside the RC Willey Layton store today.

The RC Willey advertisements changed significantly again on June 19, 1954, when they made a reference to "RC Willey and Son" as its owners/managers.

                                           Rufus Call Willey in an undated photograph.

-Harris Adams, a Layton historian, said he recalls purchasing a Hotpoint stove from RC Willey in about 1950. Adams said he had just $15 to spend on a stove and resigned himself to only being able to afford a used stove from Mr. Willey. However, Mr. Willey kept lowering the price of a new stove the longer Adams held firm. First the price was $250, then $200 and finally $170. When Adams still said he only had $15 to spend, Willey said to give him the $15 for a new stove and pay the remaining $155 when he was able. Adams said that was how Willey usually operated. No written contract, just a handshake.

                                    An inside view of the new Layton RC Willey store.

(However, that unofficial way of giving customers credit was probably also the reason why the RC Willey business was insolvent when Bill Child, son-in-law, took over its operations in late 1954. He had to make it profitable -- and he did over the decades.)

 A 1966 advertisement in the Ogden Standard-Examiner for Layton's "Willey' store.

-BUT RC Willey also had a second connection to Layton City.
A nephew of Mr. Willey, Jay Willey, operated a similar home furnishings store, the “Satisfaction Center” in Layton, from 1955 until 1983. This store was originally located at 48 East Gentile Street and later moved to 144 East Gentile (when the installation of I-15 in the early 1960s forced it to move) and finally to 250 East Gentile Street. Jay Willey was an appliance salesman for RC Willey prior to starting his own store. By 1983, the store changed owners and became the Brent Allen Satisfaction Center. It closed about 1984.

-Some key dates in RC Willey’s early history:

1932: Rufus Call Willey starts selling appliances door-to-door in Davis County. He specializes in Hotpoint appliances. He works out of his garage and used a little red truck.

                             The former Syracuse RC Willey Store.

1949-1950: RC Willey lists Layton as its address in its first 13 months of newspaper ads.
1950: RC Willey opens its first store in Syracuse, a 600-square-foot cinder block building, next door to his home.

1954: William H. Child takes over the business, after his father-in-law, Rufus Call Willey, dies on Sept. 3, 1954, at age 54.

1969: A second RC Willey store opens in Murray.

1995: Billionarie Warren Buffett purchases RC Willey.

                    An RC Willey delivery truck in Layton on Feb. 12, 2020.

Late July 2020: A new store in Layton opens and the original Syracuse store closes.

                    The Layton RC Willey Store under construction in the summer of 2019.

A list of Layton's top 28 businesses in 1951: Only 2 left today

                                                           Heritage Museum of Layton photograph.

HERE'S a list of Layton's top businesses in 1951, according to the Weekly Reflex newspaper of Nov. 15, 1951:

Wayne's Market
Dick's Service
Dick's Distributing company
Tri-State Lumber Company
Layton Launderette
Bill's Sheet Metal
Traveler's Cafe
Layton Department Store
Ray Walker's Service
Layton Cold Storage
W.M. Bush Company
Adams Grocery
Nellean's Cafe
Layton Sporting Goods
Roy's Service
Layton Auto Parts
Ray's Shoe Repair
Adams Supermarket
Signal Cafe
Farmer's Union
Union Furniture Company
Bishop's Ford
Clarence S. Simmons Realty
Dick's Billards
Kowley Drug
Layton Noodle Parlor
Stockman's Bar
Penney's
(All these were members of the Layton Chamber of Commerce.)

-HOW many of these 28 businesses listed are left today?
Only Bill's Sheet Metal (now Bill's Comfort Systems) and Stockman's Bar.

                                                                          Heritage Museum of Layton photographs.