PICTURES TELL THE PAYSON STORY: SIMONS-WIGHTMAN BUILDINGS

 

PHOTO: The Elite Café in the Historic Downtown Payson, Utah, of the 1970s.

In 1891, the Simons Block Building at 86 South Main was constructed by Orrawell Simons. An adjoining building was later constructed in 1898 by Joseph Wightman. The combined structures are now known as the Simons-Wightman Building. Each of the two buildings has their own individual design in the brickwork.

The Simons Building at one time housed the local newspaper offices and a lawyers office.

In 1916, the Simons Building, the south part of the two adjoining buildings, was sold to Leo and Amy Vest. They established the Elite Café on the Main Street level of the building. They lived in an apartment on the building’s upper floor.

The café remained in operation until 1965 when it closed for business. The family still lived on the upper floors. Years after the business closed, you could peer through the window and the tables were still set with white clothes and silverware. It appeared as if the business had just closed the night before and was awaiting its opening the next day.

For many years after closing, you could still find Mrs. Vest with her white apron going in and out of the building as if she was just going to the nearby market to get some additional food supplies for their menu items. Mr. Vest passed away in 1957 and Mrs. Vest in 1970. Their daughter Thelma Vest Smurthwaite became the owner of the building. She maintained the apartment as well as another home in Salt Lake City. She served as the Utah County Recorder for more than 16 years.

The old Elite Café never changed during most of the time it was owned by the Vest family. However, a number of years ago, it became a restaurant once again. It served Chinese cuisine. It remained in business for a short time.

The building remained empty for a period of time. New owners remodel the facade of the restaurant as well as the upstairs apartment. The new restaurant was a very popular Thai restaurant known as Saisvanh Authentic Thai Cuisine. It too later closed and the building is once again vacant.

The former restaurant and adjoining businesses to the north may have changed over the years, but the appearance of the upper floors Simons-Wightman Building seems to have remained intact with the exception of new windows that were added during remodeling.

The two-story Wightman building was constructed in 1898 by Joseph Wightman. He first occupied the building with his meat and grocery store. The new building was built on the site of a small market he had previously owned.

In 1902, he leased the building to Charles C. F. Dixon who also operated a grocery business in the building. In 1905, he sold the building to his son, Philo Wightman. Philo lived in the upstairs rooms while his new home was being constructed on today’s South Main Street. He operated the Wightman Supply, Meats and Groceries for a number of years. The building was later leased to various grocers that included, O. P. Skaggs, Joseph Reece, John Done, Orson Cloward and the Harrison Brothers. The Skaggs store was located across the street in the old Hyrum Lemmon Store.

Later, L. D. Pfouts, a local dentist, had his dental office in the upper rooms of the building.

In 1942, the building was sold to Philo’s son, Ned Wightnam. He established Recreation Billiards in the building. In 1945, he sold the business to Bill Fairbanks and Pete Wilson. They in turn in 1949 sold it to Brooks Robertson. Mr. Robertson operated the billiards hall until 1960 when he closed the business.

The building remained vacant until about 1970 until The Body Shop opened the building. The store specialized in teenage and young women’s clothing. It was operated by Carol Dixon. The store was only open for a short time.

The building later saw a print shop, a church meeting hall, and several other businesses locate there and then later vacate the building.

Cleary Building occupies the Wightman Building today. It was originally in the Zeeman Sports Building in Spring Lake until about 1997 until they relocated to the Payson location.

The upstairs rooms in the Wightman building used to be accessed by the stairway in the Simons Building. Another stairway was constructed in the Wightman Building to access the upstairs rooms that are now a modern apartment.

The Wightman and the adjoining Simons building have seen many different tenants during the last 120 years for the Wightman Building and 127 years for the Simons Building. These two buildings comprise one of the most unique buildings on Historic Payson Main Street. These two buildings have helped to preserve the appearance of Payson’s Historic Downtown.

Courtesy of the Payson Historical Society

Story and accompanying photos were published in The Payson Chronicle in 2018.