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Show 1 IV. I. Dunn's garage by Juanita Dunn Larabee The gold and silver mines of Eureka, Utah held no allure for my father, "Ed" (W.E.) Dunn although he was born there in 1892. For as he grew older, he saw the effects of mining accidents ac-cidents on the lives of his friends and his neighbors so he was determined to try for his fortune elsewhere. About 1914 or 15 he came to Sprjngville, riding the distance from Eureka on a bicycle with $35 in his pocket to seek a small building to establish a bicycle repair shop. He had "cased" the town, saw the need, and figured they could use a good repair shop; besides he liked the town with its wide, tree shaded streets. He' found a small building to rent next to the Golden Rule store. This was located on the corner where the Allen Drug is now. Above the store was the photographer business of Ed Anderson, one of Utah's best known photographers of his day. So at the age of 23 years my father brought his wife and two small children from Eureka, started his small business and made Springville his home for the next 54 years. For many years he was a member of the Springville Fire Department. His business prospered, so a few years later he bought a large piece of property on the east side of Main between first and second south. This block contained the Huntington Bagley Studio, later Snelson's Studio, the big Packard home and at the other end, the Mendenhall Bank. At one time a beautiful opera house was in the same block. Information In-formation of early We Specialize in Wedding Breakfasts Family Group Parties H, Club Parties ; Family Style Breakfasts For Reservations From 7 a.m. tall 489-5671 1250 No. Main Springville SAGI jjk ,3,, tne ffefp us liquidate as soon as possible! Starts Wednesday, February 3 10:00 a.m. SAVE 20 30 40 50 75 s BANK CARDS WELCOME Springville tells as that this first theater was built in 1882, where the museum is now. It was a beautiful building costing $10,000, which was a huge sum in those days. It would seat 500 people. Many a professional artist performed there, as well as local talent. In 1890 the lovely Opera House was burned to the ground, much to the sorrow of the general public. Later another theater was built around the corner on second south and this too burned. It is sad we do not have pictures of these buildings. At the time Dad bought this property, there was a large hole, on the south, that we assume was an excavation of a building that was never built. In front were two large billboards with the latest advertisements of the day. I guess they were there to hide the ugly hole and its accumulation of trash. The family was unsure as to whether my father built the building or whether it was already there, but on contacting our father's sister, Fern, she said that when he bought the lot there was only a small cafe there and that his mother ran this cafe for awhile. Dad come over each night from his business to see how things were going and to pick up the day's earnings. As it was the only cafe in town it did very well but dad preferred the bicycle and garage business so he tore the cafe down and built the garage which is still standing. It is a two story frame building covered with stucco. Dad always regretted that he didn't build it out of brick, but he was just a young man and didn't have the money. In Don C. Johnson's History of Springville, there is a to 11 489-5671 n m JEWELRY El E rui 4? FIXTURES HANGERS JliiUfl) picture' of a small brick building called the Springville Independant-sounds Independant-sounds like a newspaper-and newspaper-and we believe this was later used as the cafe that was on Dad's property. In 1917 Dad contracted to take some men up into the Thistle area to look at some mining leases. While there, he drank from a polluted stream and became ill with the dreaded Typhoid Fever. For a long time we prayed for his life to be spared and it was. After weeks and weeks he started to improve but he was so weak from the high fever that it was a few months before he was back on his feet. I was about five years old at the time but I remember him hanging onto buildings, fences, and the picket fence in front of the Old White Meeting House as he feebly made his way from our home on second north and first east up to the garage. Our home, at that time, was where Dr. Hewett's office is today. During these dark days for our family we sould have lost the business and everything if it hadn't been for a wonderful young man by the name of Leonard Callister, who ran the business and kept the garage going until Dad returned. He became a mechanic for G. Lowry Anderson and later went to Spanish Fork to start his own ' business. We were always so grateful to him. A year later tragedy once again struck my father when in 1918 the "flu" epidemic hit Springville. My father, as well as the whole family, became very ill and at this same time they lost a beautiful little baby daughter. After a time he regained his strength and returned to work. The building that he built was long and narrow with a small office on one side and a large door on the other side where cars were admitted. Also along this side was a set of wooden steps leading up into the second floor that was used for storage. There was another large door at the south side of the building where cars could come in from the street on the south. There was a high board fence across the back that shielded an old-fashioned "privy". Indoor plumbing was very scarce in those days. Later two restrooms were added inside the building. My sister, Beverly, made this statement and I quote. "In looking back on my impressions of my father's garage, it seems that it was always a haven to me. Whenever I went to town there was always the garage to go to. Dad always made us 171? J WILL mmcce ALL RACKS MIRRORS 170 NORTH MAIN ' n - -, : ; i 'v m rikvSmii iMAV fJ:spp thy: X mi ; ' vfe This early-day photo shows the auto-bicycle repair garage of W. E. Dunn. The building still stands today on Main Street just north of The Springville Herald office. See the accompanying story written by Juanita Dunn Larabee on the in feel good about being there. In the winter he always had a fire going in the big old coal stove where we could get warm and there were the restrooms-the cold made the use of these very necessary at times. Dad was usually working on a bicycle or doing some sheetmetal work, bending a big sheet of metal on a huge bending brake or hammering something together on a long wooden bench. As a little girl, the big space behind the office always seemed a little dark and full of shadows. There were all sorts of tools hanging from the walls and ceiling, bicycle tires hanging in rows, and automobile tires on a large hanger type rack. "I remember on holidays, like the Fourth of July, we had a clear view of the parade. Yes, I was proud of my father and used to bring my friends there. As I grew up it always seemed a special place and I tried to help Dad. He taught me to repair bicycles and wait on the gas pumps." Yes, I too, remember helping my father by waiting on cars, filling the ni7iiiniA lUhW BE SOLD SALES i FINAL ALL SALES FINAL gas tanks, checking the oil, washing windshields and all the things that modern service stations do not do now. When I grew older I did some of the bookkeeping chores too. The garage only boasted of one gas pump at first, but later two new ones were purchased and installed. To buy gas in larger quantities, Dad had two big 500-gallon tanks installed in the ground under the pumps. Later he added two 8,000-gallon 8,000-gallon tanks in the back of the garage and had lines running out to the front pumps. These'tatiks were filled by railroad tank cars that had a spur at the old Orem Express Depot. Dad had an underground direct line from the tank cars to his huge tanks. When Dad retired he had these tanks dug up and they were sold. He became the Springville distributing agent for Shell Oil Company and received a plaque depicting his many years of business relations with this well-known well-known concern. He also held the dealership for the Maxwell car. At this time gas was 15 cents per gallon and oil about 10 cents a quart. The pumps had a round glass container on the top. On the side was a lever that you pumped back and forth. As you did, the glass container would fill with gas. I believe it held ten gallons. When the glass container was full, the hose was put into the car and the gas flowed naturally into the tank, I developed some mighty For Your Valentine This Year . . . 0LD AND CHARMS w n) R p) 0FF a Sl Us MARKED strong muscles pumping gas. Oil didn't come in cans then. I remember we had a large rectangular container on wheels, with four compartments. Each compartment contained a different grade of oil. A small pump with a hand crank was on each container con-tainer and the oil was pumped into a quart receptacle with a long flexible spout on it. This was used to put the oil into the car. There was also an air hose outside the garage and my father was always willing to take the time to blow up the tires on all the kids' bicycles when needed. Many of the town's older citizens remember of his doing this. Inside there was a very noisy generator that ran most of the time. I believe it was to furnish the air pressure for the hose. In the back portion of the garage there was a deep rectangular pit in the floor with steps going down. Cars were driven very carefully over this and a mechanic could work underneath with ease. The days of the hydraulic lift had not yet arrived. As his business grew he had to hire some extra help. Some of his early mechanics were Dick Conover, George Rowland, Ollie Zabriski, Leo Marshbanks and Rob Martin. By this time cars were becoming more popular and dad bought an Overland truck and later a model A Ford truck, as he had contracted to take the mail from the post office down to the train mi February teresting life of her father and his business ventures. The home at the left of the Dunn garage is where First Security Bank now stands. depot on fourth west. He brought the incoming mail back and also any passengers that were getting off in Springville. He had also arranged with the D.B. Welch & Gividen Orchards, in Mapleton, to take their boxed fruit to the train, where it was shipped all over the United States. I remember our first touring car. I believe it was called a Maxwell. It was a two-seater with gear shift control. To get into the car, because it was so high off the ground, it had running boards. Inclement weather caused us to bring out the isinglass curtains that were snapped onto the sides to keep out the storm. We were really proud of this car. Later Dad began doing sheetmetal work making stove pipes, gutters for roofs, furnace pipes and all sorts of metal work and much, much later some furnace installation. in-stallation. This was where my husband, Frank, was taught the sheetmetal trade that he followed all his life. Dad also did lawn mower repair work - he could fix most anything. At one time Dad decided to expand into the motel business so he built two double cabins deep in the back of his property, but due to the inac-cessability inac-cessability to them, they did not prove profitable so they were abondoned. All his life he worked long hard hours, sometimes 14 to 16 hours 14 Karat Gold 4, 19H2 - The Springville Herald - Tao Five a day as he had a large family to support. He was a good businessman and was always honest in his dealings with his fellowmen. In 1939 he sold a piece of the property on the south to Harrison Conover. Mr. Conover later built the Springville Herald Office on this ground. In 1949 Dad decided to retire, so he sold all of his property to Mr. Conover. Dad, however, only retired from Main Street. He didn't retire from work, for when he built his new home a block off Main Street he included a large double garage where he carried on a little bicycle and sheetmetal sheet-metal business just to keep himself from getting bored with life. He worked up until his death in 1968 at the age of 76. He spend 54 years as a businessman in Springville and at one time or another, in their youth, all of his nine children worked side by side with him. These children are as follows: Juanita Larabee, Elmer Dunn, Raymond Dunn, Beverly Bingham and Frances Stone all of Springville, Eva Nelson of Orem, Norma Jean Anderson of Pleasant Grove, Bill Dunn of Calif, and Norman Dunn of Oregon. 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