history: old photos of hometown

The Dixie Academy Gymnasium was part of the original St. George Stake Academy campus, also know as Dixie Academy. The gymnasium was completed in 1917. It included a swimming pool, athletic dressing rooms and a basketball court. Outdoor events, such as football games and track races, took place on the surrounding grounds. The space is now home to the Town Square bell tower and splash pad.

I played my first few years of city rec basketball in this gym. While I was in 5th grade, we used to run around the track as it was back then, just a dirt path it seems like.





The St. George Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was completed in early 1877 and originally featured a smaller tower than was planned in the original blueprints. Lore holds that Brigham Young, the president of the church at the time of the templeÕs construction, disapproved of the shorter tower and shortly after his death in August 1877, lightning struck the temple, burning only the tower. It was rebuilt with the taller tower that Young favored and that still stands atop the temple today.







The Big Hand cafe was built by George Pace on the northwest corner of 100 North (presently called St. George Boulevard) and Main Street in the late 1920s. George Pace bought the distinctive sign in the shape of an enormous illuminated hand and it quickly became well known throughout Southern Utah. The Big Hand closed in 1967 and later the land was developed into Ancestor Square by GeorgeÕs nephew Brooks Pace. In 2012 (date) Randall and Nicki Pace Richards (great-granddaughter of George Pace) opened GeorgeÕs Cafe in the same location, naming it after the original Big Hand Cafe owner.






A narrow tunnel was constructed through the north end of the ridge between Middleton and the central part of St. George during the 1920s. It remained in use as part of Old Highway 91 and the Arrowhead Trail until the cut was made through the ridge in the 1960s for the construction of Interstate 15. The tunnel is now privately owned and used for storage. Twin Lakes Drive now passes by the tunnel, leading north into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.






The tunnel is blocked off now. My dad used to take us through the tunnel on many a Sunday drive.




The home of Erastus Snow, president of Southern Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, once stood on the southeast corner of 100 North and Main Street. Known as the Big House, Snow often hosted LDS dignitaries from Salt Lake City there. The Snow family later sold the home to Samuel Judd, who operated it as the Hotel Dixie. Eventually 100 North became Highway 91/Arrowhead Highway and is now known as St. George Boulevard. The Big House was demolished in the 1930s and replaced by a service station. Zions Bank now stand on the corner.






The St. George Lions Club took on the project of improving the road to the Sugarloaf (Dixie Rock) on the Red Hill above downtown St. George from 1918 to 1922. They used horse-drawn scrapers to construct what would become known as Skyline Drive. In the past decade or so, a variety of construction projects have drastically changed the access to the Red Hill, including the rerouting of Skyline Drive so it intersects what is now called the Red Hills Parkway northwest of its previous location shown in the historic photograph.







The Virgin River Bridge along present-day River Road was built in 1908 to allow access to the agricultural area south of the river. It was originally painted red and known as the "Red River Bridge." The bridge washed out on New Year's Eve 1989 when the Quail Creek Dam failed and the modern bridge on River Road soon replaced it. 


We drove across this bridge on many a Sunday drive. I was nervous every single time.









The St. George Amusement Co. Electric Theater was built in 1911 to show early motion pictures. In 1930 its name changed to The Gaiety and it later became the first air-conditioned building in St. George. After a renovation in 1991 the name returned to the Electric Theater. It stopped showing movies in 1999 and has served as a concert and entertainment venue since.



I went to quite a few movies in this place. One of the first times, I lied to my dad and told him I was going with a girl friend. Then I met my boyfriend there. We were 11. We watched the animated version of The Lord of the Rings rated PG. I wasn't allowed to watch rated PG shows. We went with DuRae and his girlfriend, Neidra. I ended up having 7 kids with that boyfriend...





Construction began in 1867 on the old Washington County Courthouse in St. George and it was completed in 1870. The courtroom occupied the upper floor, offices were on the main floor and three rooms in the basement served as a jail. Now, the building houses the St. George Chamber of Commerce and the Washington County Historical Society. Three new courthouses have been built since this first one.

When I was little, I was always nervous to walk passed this building, cause what if a prisoner excaped just as I walked by?








This is on 100 E. Tabernacle looking toward the Tabernacle. The Electric Theatre is also in this picture.






The Sunshine Service Station and the Sunshine Cabins catered to tourists in the 1930s at the corner of what is now St. George Boulevard and Bluff Street, one of the busiest intersections in St. George. SmithÕs supermarket, Walgreens and other businesses now form an urban landscape at this location. 






Settlers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to Washington County in the mid-1800s to grow cotton as part of the churchÕs Cotton Mission. This cotton factory in Washington City was started in 1865 as a single-floor structure. Additional floors, as shown in this historic photo, were added in 1870. Today it still stands but now serves as a Star Nursery location.












The historic road between St. George and Santa Clara was sandy and prone to deep, sticky mud around the washes. The historic photo shows improvements to what was then known as the Arrowhead Trail in 1918. It was later replaced by Highway 91 and eventually Sunset Boulevard and Santa Clara Drive. The area shown in the photos is just south of Sunset Boulevard and west of Sand Hollow Wash, near the border of Santa Clara and St. George. Part of the old Arrowhead Trail still exists in Santa Clara but the new photo was taken at the east end of Hafen Lane.