Where the Dollar Has More Cents

Former Pony Express rider and ferryboat operator William Ashton brought his family to Vernal in 1879. William’s sons and grandsons, all of whom engaged in retail trade, consolidated their businesses in 1922, opening Ashton Brothers Mercantile Company directly across the street from you.

Ashton Brothers, the largest and finest department store in Vernal’s history, eventually expanded to cover two-thirds of the city block. The store contained nine departments, carrying everything from groceries to greasers (overalls). They provided superior service and catered to almost every desire in Ashley Valley.

The Ashton’s amazing success was based in their customer service. They frequently extended credit to their patrons during Ashley Valley’s lean times or when families experienced their own hardships. These loyal customers repaid Ashton Brothers when they sold their livestock, wool, or other produce.

This is #18 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located at 26 West Main Street in Vernal, talking about the location across the street at 25 West Main Street.

What do you get with a cow, a jug of whiskey, and the city’s “Cat?”

The 7-11 Ranch Restaurant, located directly across from you, is the oldest existing restaurant in Vernal. In 1933, Warren “Fat” Belcher sold a cow and bought a hot dog stand on South Vernal Avenue. Rising to the challenge of getting it moved to East Main Street, he bribed George Ramsey with a jug of whiskey to “borrow” the city’s “Cat,” (bulldozer) and moved the stand in the middle of the night. George took the bribe and the rest is history.

Warren and his wife, Daisy, operated their restaurant as the Grub Box until their new place was built in 1949. The café was named the 7-11 and sported four dice on its marquee, supposedly because Warren liked to gamble and shoot craps. It was also said that the Belchers wanted eleven children, but they only had seven.

One night a couple of men came in and after looking around, asked the waitress where the “Crap Room” was located. She hesitated a minute, then directed them to the men’s restroom. They came out looking very sheepish and left. The 7-11 Café is still owned and operated by one of Warren and Daisy’s daughters, Connie, and her husband, Jerry Pope.

This is #13 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located at The 7-11 Ranch Restaurant at 77 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

If You Were an Outlaw, Where Would You Shop?

Diagonally across the street from you was the Ashley Cooperative Mercantile. It began in 1881 as a small, one-story log and rock building. By 1900, a new two-story general merchandise store with groceries, meat, dry goods, hardware, shoes, and a men’s department was constructed. Area residents also used the store to deposit and exchange money, to obtain loans, and to make investments. The volume of money became more than the Co-op could handle, resulting in the establishment of the first Bank of Vernal. The bank opened inside the Co-op in 1903. To discourage local outlaws, a large walk-in vault and a bulletproof screen surrounding a steel-lined counter became added security features to the new bank.

In the early 1880’s, two gun-toting horsemen robbed the Co-op. At closing time, the robbers caught the store clerk up on a ladder, where he was showing off a new, brimmed hat to two customers. In response to the clerk’s reply, they fired a shot, grazing the store clerk’s hatband before making off with the money.

Butch Cassidy (Robert Leroy Parker) was also a Co-op customer. In 1896, he purchased a Colt .45 single-action revolver which may have been used by the outlaw on his exploits with the notorious Wild Bunch.

This is #5 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located diagonally across the street from and about the building at 4 West Main Street in Vernal, Utah.

Where Can You Get an Iron Port, Phosphate, or Suicide?

Today it would be difficult, but in 1946 you could have ordered one of these soft drinks at a soda fountain. Vernal’s most popular soda fountain was part of Vernal Drug which was located in the building across the street. At the marble counter, soda jerks mixed a variety of soft drinks and ice cream delights. A popular treat was cherry phosphate (cherry syrup, soda water, and citric acid); you could also order a cherry or vanilla Coke. Vernal was one of the few places you could find “Iron Port,” an old fashioned ice cream soda. If you wanted chocolate ice cream, you would ask for a “dip of mud;” a chocolate cone was called a “black stick;” a “houseboat” was the common term for a banana split. In the 1950s the soda fountain was a focal point where young people gathered after school or with a date.

The soda fountain hosted its first customer in 1900 when Vernal Drug opened its doors. The drugstore relocated several times, but in 1917 it found a permanent home. In 1960 the drugstore expanded into the Vogue Theater building. In 1991 Vernal Drug closed after 91 years in service, giving way to discount store pharmacies and the changing tastes of youth. So today you can’t get a “suicide” (a squirt of everything in the soda fountain) in Vernal.

This is #6 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located across the street from and about the building at 23 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah.