Orem Railroad Cut 600 East--Photo of the Day

During the construction of the Orem Railroad (Salt Lake and Utah Railroad) a large cut was made through the hill north of the Peteetneet.  This is the east side of the cut.  The highway is to the right .The large barn is located at the home of the Fairbanks Family.  At the time of the photo in about 1915, the home was owned by a local Dentist, Dr. L. D. Pfouts.

Payson Palace Drug Store--Photo of the Day

In 1878, Richard and Tabitha Gough arrived in Payson about 1878.  They had been in Utah for a few years.  They arrived in Utah in 1861 and settled first in Provo.  They then moved to the Tintic Mining District for a few years.  After arriving in Payson, they purchased property on the northeast corner of today's 100 North and 100 East.
Payson had several drug stores, they constructed the Payson Palace Drug Store in 1879.  In that period of time, many drug stores sold wines and liquors.  The Goughs became very prosperous.  They owned a great deal of property along Main Street between 200 and 300 South.  This area is now part of Payson Memorial Park.
The property was later purchased by Thomas H. Wilson and he constructed his new family home on the site.  Later, it became a motel and bus station operated by one of the daughters.  Today, we find the law offices of Bill Hansen located in the former home.

Going to the Payson Resevoir--Photo of the Day

The photo is from the Dr. L. D. Pfouts Collection.  This photo was taken in the early 1930s showing the trials one encountered in traveling to the Big Reservoir in Payson Canyon.  The photo was taken just below the turnoff to the reservoir.

Illiff Academy--Photo of the Day

ILIFF ACADEMY AND PAYSON BUSINESS COLLEGE
    Today, as we go around the curve in the highway at 100 North and 100 West, we see a corner that is much different that it appeared more than 100 years ago.  At that time there was no curve in the street but it had a square corner like all other street intersections in town.  The curve was installed in 1935 when the main highway was moved from Main Street that was much too narrow to handle the traffic.
     In 1890, the Methodist Church built a new building on the property where we find the One Man Band restaurant today.  The L-shaped building was constructed of red brick.  It was designed in Gothic style with beautiful arched windows. The building housed the Iliff Academy and the Payson Business College. 
    At the corner of the L-shaped building was a vestry, a room used for religious meetings.  The vestry supported a bell tower that was topped with a cross.
    The school closed sometime after 1900.  The building was used for various purposes until 1920.  In that year, Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Porter purchased the building.  They converted the building into their home.  It is not known when the north-south portion of the building and the vestry portion was torn down.
    After the Porters moved out in about 1926, the building was used for different purposes until it was sold and remodeled into the Central Apartments. 

Historic Homes--George Patten Home--Photo of the Day

The George Patten home was built in 1876 by the local cattleman and land owner.  In 1901 Dr. Parley Pratt opened a hospital in the home.  His wife was Jennie Patten.  The parlor became the office for the doctor, the kitchen became the operating room and two of the upstairs bedrooms were patient rooms.  The hospital  closed in 1913.  The home has now been restored and is now owned by a Patten descendent, V. L. Barnett.  The young boy in the older photo is a well-known Payson resident for many year, Ed Balzley.

Historical Society Elects New Officers

Payson Historical Society Elects New Officers

    The Payson Historical Society recently held elections for a new slate of officers.  In February, Gloria Barnett, President of the Historical Society, announced to the group she would not be seeking re-election to her position in March due to declining health.  She asked L Dee Stevenson to run for president since he had held the position prior to assuming the presidency of the People Preserving Peteetneet.  Gloria passed away on March 1, 2015 just prior to the elections that were held on March 5th.  She was one of the founding members of the Historical Society in 1989 and served it, the Peteetneet Museum  and the community well for  the next 26 years.  She will be missed by all that had the opportunity to work with her over the year.
    The following officers were elected to serve for the next two year: L. Dee Stevenson, President; Cal Reece, Vice-President, Helen Walker, Secretary; and Sandra Hummer as Treasurer.
    Mr. Stevenson served as Vice-President of the Historical Society for the last two years.  Prior to that he served as President of People Preserving Peteetneet.  He also served as Vice-President of that organization while Gloria Barnett served as President.  At the same time, he served as the President of the Historical Society
    He was teaching Computer Technology when he retired from Nebo School District after serving 37 years in the classrooms of the district.  He was a member of Nebo Education Association, Utah Education Association and was a Life Member of the National Education Association.  He served as an officer in the Nebo Education Association and was a Teacher Leader in Nebo School District for many years.
    He received numerous awards while he was teaching.  He was honored in the publication, Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America, and Outstanding Teacher in American Education.  He was the recipient of  “The Crystal Apple Award” that is awarded for Excellence in Education.
    Dee and his wife, the former Julie Cheever, have resided in Payson their entire lives.  They have five children and seven grandchildren.
    Dee attended Peteetneet for elementary school so the building holds many fond memories.  He served his country as a member of the United States Army in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division in the late 1960s at the height of the Vietnam War.
    He has been involved with the Peteetneet Museum for over fourteen years and has been on the Board of Trustees for over twelve years. He is also a member of the Payson Preservation Board.   He developed and maintains the web site of the museum as well as the Facebook page and Blogspot for the organization.  He is also responsible for the compilation and publication of the Peteetneet Newsletter three times a year.  He also serve as a Tour Guide one day a week.
    He previously served a term as President of the Historical Society.  He worked with Gloria Barnett in updating “The Walking Tour of Fort Peteetneet” as well as other pamphlets utilized at the museum.
    He worked closely with Cal Reece in the “Payson–Now and Then” series that appeared in the Payson Chronicle for several years.  The articles were later compiled into a book, Payson Than and Now” is used as a fund raiser for the Historical Society.  Dee and Cal collected almost 600 historic photos of Payson.  These are now being put on the Blogspot and Facebook pages of the Historical Society under the title, “Photo of the Day.”  These photos will became the basis of a photo album book that will also be used as a fund raiser.
    Dee loves working with all the great people on the Historical Society and the Volunteers of the museum.  Peteetneet is the “Showpiece of Payson” and when people think of Payson they automatically think of the Peteetneet.  He said it would be impossible to operate the museum or do the work of the Historical Society without all the great people.  Dee looks forward to working with the Historical Society and the Peteetneet Museum in the coming years.

Commercil Bank of Payson--Photo of the Day

The Commercial Bank of Payson opened on August 30, 1940 in the old State Bank of Payson building.  The former State Bank had closed in 1932 and Payson was without a bank for eight years.  The building was remodeled in 1954 and the front of the building had changes made to its appearance.  An addition was added to the rear where part of the Farmer's Mercantile had part of their store for many years.  The remaining part of the Farmer's  building to the south of the bank remained for a number of years until it was demolished and a drive-up for the bank was constructed.

Aunt Mary Ellsworth Confectionary

Through the years many buildings on Payson's Main Street remain just a memory.  The building in the center of the photo housed many businesses over the years.  Aunt Mary Ellworth called the building home when she operated her confectionery business in the building.  Later, Clyde Stewart operated a barbershop in the building for many years.  One of the last businesses to occupy the building was Tanner Paint.  It was later purchased by Page Furniture and they used it for many years as a warehouse adjacent to their furniture store.  Page's demolished the building and enlarged their business building. Morris Quilting now occupies what was once Page Furniture.

Historic Homes--Samuel Douglass--Photo of the Day

    The Samuel Douglass home which is located on the northwest corner of Main Street and 200 North is the oldest of the three homes on the National Historic Register. The other two home in the Register are located directly across the street.  The John Dixon Home and the C. F. Dixon Homes were built in the 1890s.  The Douglass Home was built in 1874.
Mr. Douglas had cattle holdings and a local mercantile store.  It is still owned and occupied by descendants of the original owner.

Samuel Douglass Building--Photo of the Day

The Samuel Douglass Building was located on the northwest corner of Main Street and Utah Avenue.  It was constructed in 1891 and served the community until 1954 when it was demolished and replaced by the City Drug Building.  Samuel Douglass was the son of William Douglass who had one of the first stores in Payson.  William later constructed a two-story building on the original site, the northwest corner of First North and Main Street,  and it operated as William Douglass and Sons Mercantile.  Later, Samuel and his brother, Joseph, constructed a two story building just east on 100 North just adjacent to where we find the Walgreen Drug.   They operated a hardware store here for a number of years.  Samuel sold his share of he hardware store and constructed his own business building.

Moore Hotel--Photo of the Day

MOORE HOTEL

    Prior to 1857, John Harvey Moore constructed a home on the corner of what is known today as 100 North and 100 West.  He later enlarged the home and established a nine-room hotel.  It was built across the street from the Simons Grist Mill.  The mill race (Peteetneet Creek) cut through the street north and then through the Moore property.  A plank bridge spanned the creek to give access to the hotel on the west or the barnyard on the east.
    Some of the sleeping rooms had four-poster beds laced with rope that had corn-husk or straw filled mattresses while other rooms had feather beds.  Feather beds and pillows were filled with feathers from the geese they kept.  The guests were served in dining room at a common table.
    The story is told that one of their neighbors used to throw scraps to the geese over the fence to eat.  The neighbor was also known to make her own grape wine.  One Sunday morning, as Mr. Moore and one of his wives looked out the back door, they observed that the geese appeared to all be dead.  They had no idea what had killed their geese.  They decided to pluck the feathers from the geese before going to church.
    On the way home, the Moores met a friend who inquired what had happened to their geese.  Mr. Moore told him the geese were all dead but he didn’t know the cause.  The friend replied, “Dead nothing, I never saw such an odd sight.  They’re all waddling around the yard with their feathers off, falling all over like they can’t stand up.”  After investigating, Mr. Moore found they were dead all right, “Dead Drunk” from eating the fermented grape pulp that had been dumped over the fence by the wine-making neighbor.
    The Moore Hotel later went out of business and the building was divided to be a home for two families.  Mrs. Anna Samuels-Smith acquired the building in the early 1900's.  Mrs. Samuels-Smith improved the west side of the building, added a dining room and a kitchen on the east side and constructed an annex at the rear.
    All of the rooms of the Strawberry Hotel were filled with boarders and roomers during the construction of the Strawberry Irrigation project that was being built at the time.  In 1925, the hotel was sold to Marcellus Burdick and his wife Elizabeth.  Mr. Burdick died in 1934 and his wife continued operating the hotel until 1936.
    Mrs. Burdick then leased the hotel to her sister, Eppie and her husband Charles E. Cloward Jr.  In 1942, the hotel was leased to Ida McDonald who operated the hotel until her death two years later.
    The next owner, Bill Pons, established the High Hat Café in the center of the building.  He built a room onto the southwest front and operated a bus depot for Greyhound and Continental Trailways bus lines.  The business was very successful during World War II.  After the war, the business became less profitable and the building was converted into apartments.

American Legion Post 48--Photo of the Day

    PAYSON AMERICAN LEGION POST 48

The American Post 48 was established in Payson on October 1, 1920.  Dr. L. D. Stewart was the first commander, Harry Tipton was the vice commander and Rex Peery was the adjutant.  The first meetings were held on the upper floor of a building located on North Main Street.
    In May of 1940 plans sponsored by the local American Legion were underway for a great civic development in Payson.  For some time the plans were under consideration of solving the problem to find the Legion a home.
     On June 21, 1950 a new American Legion Hall was dedicated.  The building was located next to the alleyway west of the Safeway Building on 100 South.      The building at one time had been the body shop for the Shuler Motor that was located to the east and it had later been part of the old Payson City Shops.  It had undergone extensive alterations to make it suitable for all civic and social occasions.  The remodeling of the building exceeded $17,000.  The building, owned by Payson City was leased to the American Legion and was available to all civic groups for club meetings, banquets, and dances.
    The American Legion Post 48 called the building on 100 South home for the next 32 years.  In 1982, Payson City Council voted to tear down the Legion Hall which was city owned.  In August of that year,  Mayor Gary Tassainer gave the Legion officials notice that the lease for the building would not be renewed.  The city was planning on placing a parking lot on the location of the Legion Hall and the old Wilson Feed building located just to the west of the Legion Hall.  Since the Legion Hall’s demise, the Post has held meetings in various locations in the city.

Hancock-Page Building--Photo of the Day

    HANCOCK-PAGE BUILDING
   
    George W. Hancock was one of the earliest merchants in Payson.  He was born in Columbia, Ohio in 1826.  During the Mormon Trek west,  he became a member of the Mormon Battalion.  After arriving in California,  he had made his way to Sutter’s Mill.  He was at Sutter’s Mill when gold was discovered and  the California Gold Rush began.
    He later returned to Council Bluffs, Iowa when he gathered his family and began the trek to Utah in 1849.  He was then directed by Brigham Young to travel on to Peteetneet which later was renamed Payson.
    He built his home, a log house, at 290 North Main by today’s address system.  He set up a small mercantile business in the front room of his home.  He had several mule teams that he kept on the road shipping out and bringing in supplies.  He shipped products such as pork, flour, eggs, butter, and candles to the gold fields of California and Montana.  Two brothers, the Keeles, were his head mule drivers.  Mr. Hancock actually has the distinction of being the first merchant.
    In 1866, he was appointed to a committee to investigate the possibility of organizing a cooperative business to supply the wants of the local citizens.  Many non-Mormon merchants were selling goods at such a profit that it was felt there was a need for a Mormon Cooperative type store.  Nothing was done at the time but later the cooperative system was adopted throughout the territory.
    He later constructed a two-story building at 90 North Main Street (also by today’s address system).  He later went out of business and sold his stock to the Female Relief Society in abut 1871.  They operated their cooperative store in his former location.
    He later re-entered the mercantile business.  By 1875 William Douglas, another local businessman, and Mr. Hancock were the leading merchants in Payson.  He operated a general store until about 1890.    The building later became known as the Hancock-Page Building
    In about 1885 Hancock Hall was established in the building.  Asail Hancock, one of G. W. Hancock’s sons, remodeled the second floor of his father’s store and established a hall for entertainment.  There was a stage for theatrical productions, bleacher-type seats lined the walls and could be moved onto the floor when necessary.  Dances were also held in the hall.  One of the first
pianos used for dances was located in Hancock Hall.
    The Payson Public Library was established by the Cultus Club in 1917,  in the southeast corner of the building.  It would remain here until the library was moved to the main part of the former Payson Exchange Bank building in 1927.  Payson City had purchased the old bank building for the city offices and library.  After Mr. Hancock closed his store in 1890, the building housed a number of various businesses until the building was destroyed by fire in 1931.
            The property was later the location of a small service station that was operated by Arvil Conk for a number of years.  In about 1938, the Conk station was demolished and Utah Oil Refining Company constructed a new station on the corner.  It was branded a UTOCO service station.  It later became an AMOCO station.  Various individuals operated the station over the years until the building was then demolished in the late 1900's when Christensen Oil removed the old building from the corner and constructed the new CREST station that we see on the corner today.

(Photo Above)The Hancock_Page Building is on he left and the William Douglass Home is on the right.  Photo taken at First North and Main Street.
(Photo Below)Photo was taken from the roof of the Hancock Page Building looking north.  The William Douglass home is on the left.  The newer Douglass two-story store is in the center.  This is the location of the Wagon Wheel Park today.

Orem Station--Photo of the Day

The Salt Lake and Utah Railroad was an electric railroad.  It was known as the Orem Railroad.  The line ran from Brigham City on the North and ended in Payson.  There had been plans to extend to line south into Juab County but the plans never materialized.  The Payson Station was located where we find the parking lot for the Crest General Store.  The line came in from the east and a cut was made through the hill to the north of the Peteetneet School to  accommodate the tracks.  The repair shops were located several blocks to the east of the station.  We find Best Deal Spring Service located on the site today.  The line operated from 1916 until 1946.  George A. Cheever Sr. served as the Station Master during almost the entire time.

Historic Homes--C. F. Dixon Home--Photo of the Day

    The third home on the Historic is the Christopher. F. (Jack) Dixon home located at 248 North Main.  It was built in 1897.  It was designed by R. C. Watkins who also drew the plans for the Peteetneet School as well as other well known building in Central Utah.   You will note many similarities between this home and the Peteetneet School. The home is constructed of brick and sandstone.  It too is still occupied by a descendant of the original owners.