The Daley Freeze in Payson, Utah opened for business in June, 1954 and was originally called “Dairy Freez”. Douglass Dixon, a local grocery store owner, built the drive-in across the street from his grocery store on property formerly owned by the Salt Lake & Utah Railroad also called “The Orem Line”, which had ceased operations in 1946.

Dixon built his drive-in hoping to secure a Dairy Queen franchise and ordered a sign with “Dairy Queen” on it. When he failed to secure the DQ franchise, he simply had the sign repainted with “Dairy Freez” on it. He dropped the “e” in freeze because it didn’t fit on the sign.

When the fast food drive-in business became overcrowded in the 1970s, Dixon sold his Dairy Freez to Donald and Gaylia Daley in 1972. The new owners rechristened it “Daley Freez”. Don continued with the Daley Freez until his death at age 90 in 2017. His daughter Donna Daley Tipton took it over and has managed it to the present. – Douglass E Stevenson

50 E 100 N in Payson, Utah

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