From a residence to a funeral home to restaurants and shops

       The Little Taste of Britain restaurant and other shops on Layton's Main Street in 2016.


EVOLUTION is the name of the game for most businesses.

What exists on one site today, may not have been the case decades, or even just a few years ago. Many locations sport a colorful history of occupants.
One site on Layton, Utah's Main Street is a prime example of this.
Located at 1095 North Main Street, the Little Taste of Britain restaurant anchors some other adjacent businesses in "The Cottage at Layton" strip mall, west of Shopko.
El Mate, an international market, Soda Crazy, a soft drink outlet, Jarochos Mexican Food and even an income tax preparation office are all located in the small strip mall. The basement property is currently looking for a tenant.

Let's trace the evolution of this property:
In the early 1950s, the north end of this business property was the home of Ray and Mary Dawson. 
"The Dawson home was a real show place in its time," according to Bill Sanders, director of the Layton Heritage Museum.
(These Dawsons were the parents of Davis High Coach John Dawson, a legendary prep sports mentor, who passed away in 2010.)
Ray Dawson died in about 1960, while mowing the large lawn that surrounded his home at 1095 North Main.
Shortly thereafter, his widow sold the property to the Layton Union Mortuary.
This Union Mortuary was an extension of the Bountiful Union Mortuary, 295 North Main, in Bountiful That mortuary began as an offshoot of Union Furniture Company in about 1933 under the leadership of Merrill Holbrook. It was first called Union Mortuary in 1934 in a Davis County Clipper newspaper article of Aug. 10 that year.
The Davis Clipper of June 9, 1937 reported that George W. Graham, an undertaker, was moving back to Layton, his former home. That was the year when Graham started a funeral home in Layton, located perhaps on South Main Street. This was a branch of Bountiful's Union Mortuary.
"New Mortuary Open" was a March 31, 1961 headline in the Davis County Clipper. This article mentioned a public open house on April 1-2 for the Union Mortuary, now at 1095 North Main Street., on three acres of ground in an 11,000-plus-square-foot building. The facility boasted six viewing rooms, a chapel, a four-car garage and an apartment.
Layton Union Mortuary operated from 1961 to 1972. Bodies were prepared for burial in the basement. There was also a furnace for cremations.
Gerald Thomson and his family lived in the apartment section of the funeral home for some years, until they built their own residence about a block to the west.
Merrill Holbrook, president of Union Mortuary, died on Jan. 14, 1972. Soon after, the Bountiful location was sold to Russon Brothers and became their funeral home, the first one outside of Salt Lake County, for that company.
The Layton Union Mortuary soon closed.
(Eventually Layton attracted two other mortuaries -- Lindquist's and Myers -- on the east side of town.)
Some years later, perhaps the late 1970s, Carlos Produce leased the former funeral home building and operated for more than a decade there, selling fruit and vegetables. A lot of their produce was stored in the basement.
The property was eventually converted into a strip mall with various suites. Little Taste of Britain opened there in 2008, but many other small businesses came and went before that, and after that time. For example, there was a private club/restaurant, the Empress Club, located there for some years too, long before Little Taste of Britain came along.

Layton: A bustling city built on two “Hills”

                     Hill Air Force Base, as seen from southeast Layton.

By Lynn Arave

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.)

Recalling the Layton, Utah flood of 1984

    Minor flood damage at the mouth of Adams Canyon is reminiscent of the significant damage northward,  on  Valley View Drive in the spring of 1984.

By Lynn Arave

IN the spring of 1984, Layton City residents along Valley View Drive (east of Highway 89) suffered a disastrous mudslide that destroyed one home and damaged several others. The water, mud and debris caused more than $250,000 in damages (almost $600,000 in today’s dollar value), displaced seven families, prompted the temporary evacuation of almost 150 more and put mud 10 feet deep on Valley View Drive.

This all happened during the record flood years for Northern Utah – 1983-1984 – when there was heavy snowfall and a wet/cool spring. When it finally did warm up in mid-May, there was too much melting snow in the Wasatch Mountains.

It was May 17, 1984, 6:15 a.m. and Layton resident Tom Jacques fortunately spotted the mudflow coming down the mountainside, adding more rocks, mud, trees and brush as it moved, according to the Davis County Clipper on May 23, 1984.

Unlike area floods in the 1930s, this one didn’t come down the middle fork of Kays Creek. It came down what was known as “Lightning Canyon,” or “No Name Canyon.” This mud flow was 60 feet wide and five feet deep.

Jacques became a modern Paul Revere, of sorts, and yelled “Get out! Get out! It’s a mudslide” as loud as he could to all of his neighbors. Luckily no one was hurt.

Neighbors were the first to arrive with shovels, drinks, food and encouraging words. Next came members of the neighborhood emergency preparedness team under the direction of Bill Jaques. Many volunteers were from the local LDS Ward. The third group to help was organized through Layton City and Davis County emergency preparedness efforts. Some 500 people worked for three days to clean up the area.

Walt “Waldo” Miller, an affected Layton resident, later reflected on the lesson the mudslide taught:

“There’s not a trace of bitterness with any of our neighbors,” he told Doneta Gatherum of the Clipper. “We’ve all learned the big lesson. It’s our families and neighbors that count, not material possessions.”

The CBS news show, “On the Road,” with Charles Kuralt, spent five days filming in Layton after the disaster.

“Water’s gone: Cleanup’s not” was an Aug. 8, 1984 headline in the Davis County Clipper that outlined the long term repair and preventative efforts.

Secondary water was cut off to the area for most of the summer. Besides the damage to homes, considerable landscaping needed to be redone.

A flood channel and debris basin were later added to hopefully prevent a similar disaster in the future.

Sadly, there was no federal relief money available to those families affected and no homeowner insurance covered mudslide damage either. A special citizen committee organized a trust fund to help those needing the most financial assistance.

-Later, there were landslides in 1998 on Sunset Drive and again in 2001 on Heather Drive within Layton City’s boundaries, further highlighting a vulnerability to nature and a need to always be as prepared as possible.

(Sources: Davis County Clipper, Ogden Standard-Examiner. Originally published in the Layton City newsletter.)

1915: When David O. McKay’s stolen car ended up in Layton

                       David O. McKay in the 1960s as president of the LDS Church.

"JOY riders ditch an auto for horse and buggy” was a May 5, 1915 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

An automobile belonging to David O. McKay, 38, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was reported stolen in Ogden the day prior.

The auto was found in Layton, near the train depot.

It was believed that the same thieves who stole Elder McKay’s car and took a joy ride, abandoned it in Layton. The thieves then stole a horse and buggy belonging to a night watchman at the depot, so they could return to Ogden.

(-From the Layton, Utah web site.)

Some notable Church policies from 1963

NOTE: This story is most suitable for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, given the depth and extensive details provided therein.

By Lynn Arave

THE Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) has experienced many policy changes over the decades.

Rapid growth alone has prompted many changes in Church policies over the years.
Below is a look at some of the more unusual of the Church's policies, as stated more than 50 years ago in the 1963 General Handbook of Instructions:

1963 LDS Church policy examples:

-In the 1960s, ALL stake presidents, stake clerks, bishops, high priest presidencies were supposed to ALL be set apart by a General Authority, either a member of the First Presidency, the Twelve, an Assistant to the Twelve or from the First Council of the Seventy. However, assistant stake clerks could be set apart by the stake president.

-BEFORE reorganizing any high priests quorum, a stake president was supposed to consult with a General Authority.

-Stake high council members and alternate members of a high council were still chosen by Stake presidencies and approved by the high council, but all new high councilors still needed to be interviewed by a General Authority. (Note that alternate high councilors do not exist today.)

-"Sunday Schools should not closed on the day of stake conferences," the 1963 handbook stated. All classes, except those for adults were still expected to be held back then. However, all church members, young and old, were still encouraged to attend stake conference and as such could be excused from Sunday School on that day. "... any class in Sunday School may, under proper supervision, attend the stake conference in a body," the manual stated. (Note that back in the 1960s, there was both a morning and an afternoon session of stake conference held. All church members were encouraged to attend both -- the afternoon session especially, a time period when NO Sunday School was held.

-Senior missionary couples DID NOT have an option to choose where they wanted to serve back then.

-"Stake presidents are not to release any bishop without prior permission from the First Presidency to take such action," the 1963 Handbook stated.

-"If sacrament meetings are held in the afternoon, stake and ward officers are expected to arrange firesides or other special meetings for the young people in the evening so they will not be enticed to go to picture shows, the canyons, or otherwise violate the Sabbath," the Handbook said.

-"Those who are invited to take part in the services (sacrament meetings) should remain until the close of the meeting; otherwise they should not be invited to take part," the Handbook stressed.

-"While the clothing and general appearance of those who administer and pass the sacrament should be neat, clean, and conservative, it is not desirable to require such uniformity in dress and action as to give the appearance of formalism. White shirts and modest ties are always appropriate and should be encouraged," the Handbook said.

-"Missionary farewells" were noted as being proper in the 1960s.  Talks by missionaries, family members and the bishop were all acceptable then. Missionary farewells with "entertainment" programs were to be held on a weekday, not Sunday, and their programs had to be approved by the Bishop.
"Home receptions following Sunday farewell testimonials should be discontinued as being out of harmony with Sabbath observance," the Handbook said.

-Red-colored warning stickers were attached to the white-colored church membership records of members where there was some question relative to extending temple and other privileges to that member.

-"A tithe is one-tenth of a wage earner's GROSS income," the 1963 Handbook specifically defined.

-Fast offerings back then were kept in ward accounts for ward use. However, remaining funds after a month's bills for the needy was paid, were to be sent to the stake president. Funds not used by the stake in a given quarter, were to be sent to the Presiding Bishop's office. If a ward or stake had fast offering needs they could not meet, Church Headquarters sent funds to cover such needs.

-There were NOT formal, as in word-for-word questions asked by leaders to obtain temple recommends in the 1960s. However, pretty much the same subjects of questions used today were suggested as things to ask a candidate -- Word of Wisdom, meeting attendance, morality, no affiliation with opposing groups, sustaining local and general church leaders, etc.

-"Temple recommends expire July 31 of each year," the Handbook said.

-NO temple recommends were to be issued to wives whose husband were not members of the Church. However, such wives could perform baptisms for the dead in temples. 

-Cremation was discouraged (like today). Funerals services were to be held the usual way, but graveside and dedicatory prayers were not necessary. Temple garments and robes were to be removed before cremation (as an opposite of today's policy).

-"Bishops may offer the use of meetinghouses for the funeral services of respected non-members of the Church who may have no direct religious affiliations, or are inactive members of denominational churches.These services may be held according to the rituals of the church of which the deceased was a member, and may be conducted by a clergy man of such church as the family desires," the Handbook said.

-There was a Church Building Committee in 1963, headquartered at 125 North Main Street, Salt Lake City. (However, standards and consistency was not prevalent in Church buildings until 1965, when a new Building Committee was organized.)

-Back then, Church Headquarters paid up to 70 percent of ward and branch operating expenses for utilities and  janitorial services. "Other operating expenses are to be raised locally through the budget," the Handbook stated.

-In 1963, there were priesthood quorum dues and relief society annual dues -- AND they were not included in ward budgets.
Ward budgets did include the "Boy Scout Council Quota." (So, yes, FOS did exist in some form back then too.)

-Members of the Church who work for state liquor stores, or who are engaged in the trafficking of liquor "should not be assigned as stake or ward officers," the Handbook stated.

When Goblin Valley was Mushroom Valley

By Lynn Arave


GOBLIN Valley was originally known as Mushroom Valley.
That's what Arthur L. Chaffin, who roamed the area and was the first known white man to report seeing the formations called it in the 1930s.
Chaffin starting exploring the area in 1932, when there weren't even any established roads there. 
He finally bragged about this "Mushroom" Valley" in 1949 he took some outside visitors along with him to see it.

Utahns were impressed. By 1964, it was purchased and designated as a Utah State Park. "Goblin" won out as a name, being more mysterious and colorful than a mushroom title.
However, the road into Goblin Valley was not paved until about 1990. It used to be a wash-boardy sandy road for the final 7 miles or so to the park.

(-The Davis County Clipper newspaper of Oct. 30, 1964 ran a feature on the new state park.)

When Arches National (Monument) Park was chained shut

By Lynn Arave

"Vandalism in Arches forces action" was a May 3, 1962 headline in the Moab Times Independent Newspaper.
"A two-month siege of destructive vandalism in the Arches National Monument confines has forced park officials to chain the entrance of the scenic attraction and ban visitors from the area from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.," the newspaper reported.
Signs destroyed, toilets filled with rocks, extreme litter and damage to a foot bridge were all acts of vandalism prompting the action.
Of course, this closure didn't last for long. The place was designated a National Park in 1971 and by then, vandalism had eased up.

                                                                   Photo by Liz Arave Hafen.
-Delicate Arch, the most famous icon in the park, was originally called "The Chaps" by area cowboys. "Bloomer's" was another nickname for the feature as well.
It looks likely that it was in 1934 that the feature was dubbed "Delicate Arch." The local newspaper, the Times Independent, called the feature "a beautiful delicate arch" in a January 18, 1934 story. That name stuck and sounded far better than the other two monikers.
Hiking to Delicate Arch was far different prior to 1953. A different trail was used then that required the use of handrails. It was in 1953 that the current trail was implemented, where it accesses the Arch from the north.

                       Today's trail over slickrock to Delicate Arch.

-To access Arches before 1939, today's back entrance -- far north of today's main entrance -- was often used. The road off Highway 191 at a low point of what was then known as Moab Canyon, was then built steeply up the mountain side.

That road was extended in 1948 to reach past Delicate Arch and to Devil's Garden. By 1958, that road was paved. However, it would be the late 1980s before the side road to the Delicate Arch trailhead and lookout were also paved.