PICTURES TELL THE PAYSON STORY -- PAYSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY -- PAYSON CITY LIBRARIES

Shown in the foreground in the undated picture above are the Hancock Building to the left and the home of William Douglass to the right. The home was located where we find Wells Fargo Bank today.

Since the early pioneers arrived and settled Payson in October 1850 the residents were always interested in books and learning. What few books that they had, they were willing to share with their neighbors. Sometimes the settlers, who didn’t know how to read, would gather in the home of a person that was able to read and that person would read to them and share whatever reading materials they had.