A walk down the Main Street in Fillmore

I arrived in Fillmore at a good time, around 1:00 p.m.   Lunchtime was winding down so hopefully I wouldn't have to wait too long.  There are two drive-ins in Fillmore - Larry's Drive-in and Cluff's drive in.  I wanted to try Cluff's.  The question was which exit to take.  I don't know Fillmore very well and didn't know which exit was closest to Cluff's.  I decided to take the south exit.  That was the right exit to get the sign.

Fillmore offers a big old friendly greeting to visitors.  It's probably more like a small monument than just an average welcome sign.   And I felt very welcome!

But I took the wrong exit for Cluff's.  The south exit was the Larry's drive-in exit.  The north exit is closer to Cluff's.  So rather than hop back on the freeway, I decided to enjoy a drive through town. 

Still not a cloud in the sky.  But I did find main street and I also found Cluff's at the far end of it.

I had a good lunch and I'll write about that in my next post.  After lunch, I took a stroll down main street

Aside from the cars, main street in Fillmore probably doesn't look much different than it did 60 years ago. 

                                          The store I liked the most was Pioneer market. 

This store has everything you need.  There were groceries in the back.  All kinds of hunting supplies in the front.  There were even electric guitars sold somewhere in the middle section.  There was also an very impressive array of  taxidermy that could even rival Sportsman's Warehouse.

                                                      And then there was the bear.....

 

The bear was definitely the stand out feature of the store.  I think it had a name, too, but I forgot to jot that down. 

The owner of the store is Joe Ashman and he is an avid hunter.  In the book Utah Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff, Ashman's store is cited as an amusing Utah curiosity.  From the book, I am providing the following quote

The pioneer market is like a small town Wal-mart only with stuffed wild animals.  A one-stop shopping mix of groceries, outdoor gear, and assorted taxidermy, the store sells, as the Salt Lake Tribune once noted, "everything from buttermilk to buck shots."


                                                     The Millard county courthouse.

Fillmore used to be the territorial capitol of Utah - not the state capitol, mind you, just the territorial capitol.  Utah was much bigger when it was a territory and it was believed that Fillmore would be a better spot for an administrative center because it was more central to everything.  Fillmore was named after president Millard Fillmore who signed the bill that created Utah as a territory.  Utah gave him even further honor by naming the county after his first name, "Millard"

The local Fillmore supermarket and it's donut case below.

At the end of the block, I stumbled upon another Drive-in called Winget's.  I won't be eating there any time soon.  This drive-in has been closed for some time.

 

Winget's really piqued my curiosity.  What happened to this place?  Why did it close down?  Internet research provided a few answers.  It had originally been a Texaco gas station.  That actually makes sense, considering the design. It looks like a 50's/60's style gas station.   Then it became an Arctic Circle for a time.  And then it was transformed into Winget's for it's last incorporation. The site I got the info from said that the original "C" from the Arctic sign can still be seen on the Winget's sign but I wasn't able to make that out.   I don't know why it closed but I would imagine that you can only have so many drive-ins in a small town like Fillmore before the competition starts getting a little too stiff.


The Avalon Theater is probably one of the most historic landmark on main street.  There's also an Avalon  theater in Salt Lake that is pretty old but I don't think they are related.  The one in Fillmore is much older.  It first opened in 1926 and it is still open for business.  On the surface, it may seem strange to see a main street theater still in operation well into the 21st century but it shouldn't be.  It's those larger mega-plex outfits that drove many of the main street theaters out of business in the first place.  If there are no mega-plexes nearby then there is no reason to stop going to the main street theater or to close it down.

The theater wasn't opened for matinees but I put my camera high on the glass and was able to get a look inside.

                Here's my last photo taken which brought me right back to where I started my walk. 

            And what would a small town American Main Street be without a Whirlpool dealership.

I didn't go see the old state house which is a historic landmark open for tours.  I have been on the tour before but it has been awhile.  I'll get some photos of that another time.