Heritage Museum Blog

by Shelley Dawson Davies

Business along Layton’s Main Street was growing when Ernest Layton opened his hardware store in 1909, just south of where Main crossed Gentile Street. He located his two-story brick building to take advantage of the increasing activity generated by the Bamberger rail station, the Layton Roller Mill, the canning factory nearby on Cross Street, and increasing east-west traffic along Gentile. The Farmer’s Union Building and The First National Bank were right across the street; Adams and Sons general store, the post office and Becker’s Saloon weren’t much farther north. Eventually, just about everyone doing any kind of business had to pass by 27 South Main Street, where “Ern” (as he was known by friends and good customers) offered a solid variety of tools and farm implements.

Son of the town’s founder, Christopher Layton, Ernest had not only witnessed progress in his hometown, he contributed to it as well. In addition to running a West Layton farming operation, he helped organize the Kaysville-Layton Dairy Association, serving as president for a time. He eventually became director of the Utah Radio Products Company, and ran a car dealership that sold Chalmers automobiles. He was savvy enough to lease the front corner of his building to house the switchboard for Davis County Independent Telephone Company, and the second floor to Doctors Walter Whitlock, Fredrick Clift, A.Z. Tanner, and a man remembered only as Dr. Health.

Ernest expanded his operations the next year when he moved his business to 31 South Main, adding an auto repair shop in 1913 two doors down. He rented his original hardware store to Len Sandall and William Day and the upper story to Mr. and Mrs. George Stephens, whose Café Nouvelle served tasty meals with a view. The café moved to street level in 1918 when Sandall and Day signed up to fight World War I. The faded Coca-Cola signs which can still be seen on either side of the building were painted as advertising for the cafe. The upper floor rooms were managed as a hotel for many years.

Charles Brailsford and Ron Wiscombe returned the building to its original purpose by opening a hardware store known as Gambles during World War II, and in 1946 Ray and Ramona Young offered personalized instruction at the Symphonic School of Dance.

After Ernest Layton’s death in 1953, the building housed a variety of businesses that reflected the community’s changing needs. The main level was occupied in rapid succession by Mohawk Sporting and Hardware (1956-57), Disabled American Veterans (1959-1960), The Ink Spot (1960-1969), PH Cycle/Valley Sports (1970-1972), Brimley TV & Appliance (1973-1976), AA Appliance Masters (1977) and Cornelius Delight’s “Dutch Maid” cleaning and maintenance service, one of the building’s longest tenants (1978-2010).

Today the Ernest Layton Building is one of the city’s landmark historical structures. In addition to remaining a central location for small businesses, its century-old architecture reflects the charm of a progressive past and a solid foundation for the future.