Layton History

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Layton History

Centennial Lecture Series

Hosted by The Heritage Museum of Layton
Centennial

Join the Heritage Museum of Layton for the 'Centennial Lecture Series'. Each lecture will highlight a different subject and explore how it helped shape Layton City into the vibrant, thriving municipality it is today. Lecture series will stream live on the city's Facebook page. Each lecture begins at 12:00 pm. The videos will be posted on this page for future viewing if you miss the live event. For additional information contact the Heritage Museum, (801) 336-3930.

Lectures begin at 12:00 pm
Streamed live on Facebook


Lecture Date Time Topic Presenter
January 21, 2020 7:00 pm Kay's Creek: Layton's Beginning Bill Sanders
February 18, 2020 7:00 pm The Iron Rails Steve Handy
November 12, 2020 12:00 pm Layton City Incorporation Jerry Stevenson
December 10, 2020 12:00 pm That Was Entertainment Joyce Brown
January 7, 2021 12:00 pm Lost Industries Bob Stevenson
February 4, 2021 12:00 pm Verdeland Park Sam Trujillo
March 4, 2021 12:00 pm Layton Sugar Company Ted Ellison
April 1, 2021 12:00 pm Layton Century Mayor Joy Petro
Kay's Creek, Beginning
January 21, 2020
Presenter - Bill Sanders

Starting with the first Native American bands to camp in what is now Davis County; this lecture will cover the settlement of the city we now know as Layton, from 1850 until the City was incorporated in 1920. Highlighted will be the early settlers, early businesses, and early agricultural development.

The Iron Rails
February 18, 2020
Presenter - Steve Handy

With today's modern transportation, it is difficult to appreciate how important the railroads were to the development of Layton City. Starting in 1870, there were four railroads that ran through Layton. These railroads moved agricultural products and manufactured goods to markets all across the United States. Without the railroads, Layton could not have developed into the community it is today.

Layton City Incorporation
November 12, 2020
Presenter - Jerry Stevenson

In May of 1920, Layton City was incorporated. This lecture will cover the events that led up to the city’s incorporation and trace the people, places, and events that started the City on its Century of Progress.

That Was Entertainment
December 10, 2020
Presenter - Joyce Brown

What did they do before television? This lecture will trace the homemade entertainment of Layton's citizens; from the first fiddlers, to the early brass bands, to formal dances, and the multiplex movies. The citizens of Layton were very creative in providing a well-rounded social scene.

Lost Industries
January 7, 2021
Presenter - Bob Stevenson

Before Layton became a city there were several industries that contributed to the growth of the region. At one time, there were four flour mills processing the various grains grown in the region. There were also three canning companies who processed corn, peas, beans, and tomatoes for consumption throughout the Western United States. None of these industries exist today. This lecture will explore how these ‘lost industries’ contributed to the Layton of the past.

Verdeland Park
February 4, 2021
Presenter - Sam Trujillo

The attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 changed the history of Layton and Davis County forever. With the advent of war, Davis County saw the rapid buildup of military defense facilities. Hill Field, the Arsenal, and the Navy Supply Depot became major employers. To house the workers needed in the defense industry, a major military housing project was installed; thus Verdeland Park. A park of 400 units that changed Layton as drastically as Pearl Harbor changed America.

Layton Sugar Company
March 4, 2021
Presenter - Ted Ellison

In 1915, the Layton Sugar Company processing factory was opened. This facility produced refined sugar made from sugar beets. At one time, the Layton Sugar Company was the largest employer in Davis County. Local farmers raised the beets and local residents processed those beets into sugar. Mountain Brand Sugar, produced by the Layton Sugar Company, was sold in stores as far away as California and Montana.

Layton Century
April 1, 2021
Presenter - Mayor Joy Petro

Taking the history of Layton in twenty year increments, this lecture will cover the civic, agricultural, industrial, and social history of Layton City. Included in this lecture will be pictures of the City from 1920 to 2020.

The Heritage Museum first got its start in 1972 when a group of citizens met to discuss the possibility of a historical museum in Layton. By 1973, a nonprofit organization, Pioneer Museum of Layton, was incorporated with the goal of opening a museum in mind. Two acres of land were provided by Layton City for the building site, and the nonprofit’s Board of Directors began to raise money. In 1976, the ground was broken and construction on the Museum began. The Pioneer Museum of Layton was able to successfully secure over half of the funds needed for the construction of the building; Layton City loaned the group the remaining funds. The Museum opened to the public on October 10, 1981 and the Museum and its artifacts were given as a gift to Layton City from the Pioneer Museum of Layton. In 1983, the nonprofit was renamed to the Heritage Museum of Layton, which it remains today. In 1984, the final payment toward the city loan was made, and the City Council returned most of the repayment to the Museum for expenditures. Today, the Museum and Layton City continue to have a close relationship: the City provides a generous budget and salary, and the Museum covers additional expenditures.

The City of Layton began in 1850 as an agricultural extension to the settlement that later was incorporated as Kaysville, Utah. The original boundaries of what was called Kays Ward extended from Haight’s Creek on the south to the Weber County line and the Weber River in the north, and from the Wasatch Mountains on the east to the shores of the Great Salt Lake on the west. Although the settlers of Kays Ward eventually laid out streets and established a typical town plan and city center in 1854, the area that is now Layton remained rural, unorganized and unplanned during this early period.

The first three pioneer settlers of what is now the City of Layton were Edward Phillips, John Hyrum Green, and William Kay. These Mormon pioneers first established farms in April of 1850 along the banks of a stream that later became know as Kays Creek. Edward Phillips and John Green arrived a day earlier than William Kay, but when an LDS Church ward was established in January of 1851, William Kays was called to be the LDS bishop. Consequently, the fledgling settlement was called Kays Ward after Bishop Kay. However, in 1856 William Kay left the area to colonize in Nevada Territory so the name of the settlement was changed to Freedom. The settlement was known as Freedom from about 1858 until 1863 when the name Kaysville came into widespread use.

Within a year of the first settlers planting crops and building cabins, there were almost 300 people living along the banks of three local streams—Kays Creek, Holmes Creek, and Haight’s Creek. The majority of these families were from England or were New Englanders of English descent. Among them were several families that were related or were from the same or nearby English towns and cities. Later LDS immigrants from England tended to settle in Kays Ward too, making the settlement an ethnically as well as religiously cohesive community. Most of the early immigrants were of the working class, but only a handful were farm laborers in their native land. Consequently, the skills of farming in a semi-arid desert environment were learned from firsthand experience.

Following the building of a wagon road between Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, several mercantile and trade establishments were founded along what is now known as Layton’s Main Street. Also, in the late 1860’s the Utah Central Railway was built with tracks running parallel to Main Street so several businessmen opened workshops (blacksmiths, shoemakers, tanners, harness makers, weavers) or became tradesmen (carpenters, rock masons, sawyers). Other settlers built flourmills, made adobe bricks, or were innkeepers. With time, the small business district came to be called Kays Creek—as a suburb of Kaysville three miles to the south.

Kays Creek and Holmes Creek were the main streams capable of supplying enough water for irrigation. Roads running east and west soon skirted the sides of these creeks. Holmes Creek, according to several histories, was called “Fiddler’s Creek” for a time because three early pioneers who lived along the stream played the fiddle for early community dances and parties. Also, several families settled north and east of Kays Creek. This area became known as “Little Scotland” because these settlers were of Scottish ancestry while most of the other Kays Creek settlers were English or American.

Because Layton was an outgrowth of Kaysville, the settlers did not build their homes around a city block plan or a central fort. When fort districts were established in 1854 and 1855, for protection, the people living along Kays Creek contributed money and labor to the building of the Kays Ward fort. However, these settlers never lived in the Kays Ward fort area but built their own stockade that was called “Little Fort.” This structure was built on the east side of Kays Creek, south of what is now known as Fort Lane Street.

The earliest mercantile businesses in Layton for which there are records were the Burton, Herrick and White Company, Barton and Company, Adams and Son's Company, the Kaysville Farmer’s Union (later to become the Farmer’s Union of Layton), the William A. Hyde store, the A. H. Ellis Mercantile store, and the Layton Golden Rule. With time, these establishments became the nucleus of Layton’s commercial endeavors and their activities eventually led to a movement to make Kays Creek a separate and distinct town.

In 1886, with the establishment of a Post Office, the area that was previously known as Kays Creek became Layton. The name Layton was given to the community in honor of Christopher Layton an early LDS bishop and property owner along Kays Creek.

In 1907, the people living in Layton officially separated from Kaysville and a new town was born.

The following is a chronology of important events in the town’s history:

1869-70 Utah Central Railroad connects Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah
1881 Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company organized—bringing water to hundreds of farms
1882 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad extends through the Layton/Kaysville area
1886 Layton Post Office established
1891-1952 Bamberger Interurban Railway operates between Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah
1902 Layton Elementary School opens
1903 Telephones appear in Layton, Woods Cross Canning Company factory opens
1905-06 First National Bank of Layton opens; Severe east wind storm destroys many Layton buildings
1915 Layton Sugar Company factory built and operations begin
1920 Layton incorporates as a town
1936-1984 East Layton town is incorporated and then annexed back into Layton
1937-1957 Laytona incorporated and then annexed back into Layton
1940 Ground is broken for Hill Air Force Base
1941 Layton’s first subdivisions—Hill Villa, Skyline and Ellison are started
1943 Verdeland Park housing complex built to support Hill Air Force Base during World War II
1948 St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church dedicated
1949 Layton become a third class city
1954 Central Davis Junior High School opens
1957 Layton City purchases Verdeland Park property from Federal Government
1963 Fort Lane Shopping Center opens, Layton Sugar Factory has its last run
1964 I-15 nears completion, Verdeland Park dismantled and Layton Commons Park takes its place
1965 Layton High School opens
1969 North Layton Junior High opens
1978 North Davis Hospital opens
1979 Layton Pioneer Museum dedicated, name later changed to Heritage Museum of Layton, museum opens its doors in 1980
1980 Layton Hills Mall opens
1988 Layton Branch of the Davis County Public Library opens
1989 Layton City builds new city municipal building and complex
1992 Northridge High School opens
1995 New St. Rose of Lima church dedicated, Ed Kenley Amphitheater opens

A comprehensive history of Layton entitled: Layton, Utah, published by Kaysville/Layton Historical society is available to the Heritage Museum. The cost is $25.


William Allen Architecture Tour

William Robert Allen was a prominent architect in Layton and Kaysville from the late 1880s to the mid-1920s. Many of his buildings are recognizable by their red-brick, Victorian style. Prolific locations he designed include the George W. Layton Home, the Kaysville Tabernacle, and the second Davis County Courthouse. His architectural legacy is evident throughout Layton and Kaysville, as well as other parts of Davis County. Many of his buildings are still standing, an attest to his competence and craftsmanship. The Museum has prepared the most comprehensive list of his works, which is available below. The buildings are mapped so you can follow along in your car to see them as they are today!

E.P. Ellison History

Ephraim Peter Ellison was a valuable player in the founding of Layton City. He was involved with enterprises such as the Farmer's Union Store, the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company, the Layton Milling Company, the Ellison Ranching Company, First National Bank of Layton, and the Layton Sugar Company.

Read more about E.P. Ellison in the book below ( PDF Download).

TO BUILD, TO CREATE, TO PRODUCE
EPHRAIM P. ELLISON
Life and Enterprises, 1850-1939


Thank you to the Ellison family for making this book available to the public!

Elias Harris Adams

The Museum has digitized three Davis Hig`h School Yearbooks (1915, 1922, and 1923) for you to enjoy! As you are going through, if you recognize anyone whose name is not mentioned on the page, send us an email at jnewbold@laytoncity.org with the year, page number, photo location, and person's name so we can get a running record!


The books were loaned to scan courtesy of Laurie Williams.