History

Archive for the ‘Layton city’ Category

The history  of  Layton  is a s tory of progression  and  struggling  against obstacles.   It is  a  story  of early industrial  life molded by necessity and forces of nature. The  American  Indians  who  inhabited  the  area  that  is  now  Layton  were  the  sole  occupants  for  many  centuries. Their land rights were uncontested until trappers and frontiersmen came to the mountains and explored the valleys. The first written account of encounters between the Indians and frontiersmen occurred in the fall of 1825 between a  group  of  trappers  and  the  Blackfoot  Indians.    Occasionally  trappers  and  frontiersmen  made  brief  visits  into  this  area, but there were no permanent settlements before the coming of the Mormon pioneers in 1847.  The  first  pioneers  who  came  just  picked  out  the  place  where  they  wished  to  live.    This  choice  was  usually determined by the location of a spring along the banks of a creek.  The first homes were dug out of the north banks of the stream.  These dug-out homes sufficed until  logs could be brought down from the mountains to build sturdier homes .  Adobe, rocks and brick s were later used in building homes. Because  of  the  scarcity  of  water,  Holmes’  Creek  and  KaysCreek  were  most  important  in  the  settling  of  Layton.

Gradually a system of irrigation was developed. The  area  north  and  east  of  the  north  and  center  forks  of  KaysCreek  was  referred  to  as  “Scotland”  because  the inhabitants  were  from  Scotland.    Many  of  the  other  settlers  of  Layton  were  English.    From  the  center  of  Layton along  the  section  line,  a  road  was  made  to  the  farmlands  on  the  west.    This  street  was  called  Gentile  Street because those who lived on the street did not embrace the Mormon faith and were called gentiles. A small fort to protect the people from Indians was built on the south bank of KaysCreek overlooking the Sandridge road from Morris Town Hill.   The road from the east was called Little Fort Lane.  The main road from Salt Lake City to  Ogden  went  through  Layton.    In  1857,  the  stagecoac h  lines  carrying  mail  and  passengers  between  Montana, Salt Lake City and points north and  west came through Layton.   These coac hes and freight wagons continued until the arrival of the railroad in 1869. The  first  public  building  to  be  erected  in  Layton  was  a log  schoolhouse  in  1860.    By  1875,  the  town  was  able  to build  a better schoolhouse of brick, which  was heated with a stove.   Thus, the old log schoolhous e with its dirt roof  and open fireplace was abandoned.

Alfalfa  hay  and  grain  were  the  two  crops  most  raised  by  the  pioneers  in  large  quantities.    With  hay  and  grain plentiful and  fine pastures in  the  hollows,  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses  were  raised.   The  dairy  and  poultry  industries  were also of importance.  By 1869, Central Canal Company had begun to build a canal to bring water from the Weber River out on land north and  west  of  Layton.   In  1884,  the Davis  and Weber areas  were incorporated  and  in 1896,  they s tarted  building  a dam at  East Layton and later at Echo to store water for later use.  Since the Davis and Weber Canal  took  water to more of Sandridge, it has become one of the mos t fertile spots in Davis County. The history  of  Layton is  really an  out growth  of the  history  of  Kaysville, becaus e  most  of  what is  now Layton was,  until 1890, included in Kaysville.   There was  a growing  problem of taxation between residents of Kaysville  and  the  area  north  of  the  c ity.    People  in  the  outlying  rural  areas  objected  to  paying  city  taxes  for  which  they  saw  little benefit.    Also,  they  did  not  like  a  Kaysville  law,  which  required  dog  licenses  and limited  the  number  of  dogs  per  household  to  two.    Controversy  over  taxes  continued  for  years  and  went  through  several  court  proceedings, including the  Utah  Supreme  Court.    On  March  1,  1902,  Layton  was  legally  deemed  a  farming  community  with no need for city government, and was officially separated  from Kaysville.  Layton was unincorporated until 1920, when  it  officially  became a city.   The new  city was  named  after  Christopher  Layton,  a prominent businessman,  pioneer, LDS Church leader  and  farmer.   Interestingly, Mr.  Layton himself  never lived within  the boundaries of Layton;  his home was in Kays ville.

Today,  Layton  is  a  rapidly  growing  community  of  over  70,000  citizens.    Recently,  it  became  the  most  heavily populated city in Davis County.  Hill  Air Force Bas e is the major employer  in the city and has played  a major role in the  city’s  growth.    Layton  has  bec ome  an  important  shopping  and  business  center  in  the  area  with  numerous businesses including the Layton Hills Mall.  Citizens of Layton enjoy living near the mountains, and the closenes s of skiing and other recreational areas.