Thomas Judd’s Shop Day; From lamb supplies to nostalgic dishes, St. George’s long history of business – St. George News

feature – From a variety of retro candies to old-time artifacts, it offers visitors a great deal of nostalgia. It is a device that has been in the same place for over a century.

Customers don’t know that the Thomas Judd store in the center of Tent Street was the oldest business in St George’s and, until it was bought by Greengate Village in the early 1980s, it was also the longest running. A family owned business in town.

Original ownership history

Thomas Judd was a prominent merchant in early St. George. Born in 1845, he immigrated from England to Utah in the early 1860s after his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the year He was a traitor in the Navajo Indian Wars of 1866-1870.

Along with two other partners, he opened the Woolley Lund & Judd Store in 1875, which provided competition to the Southern Utah Cooperative Store established by the church. He served a mission in his native England from 1876-1878.

In addition to the store he co-owned, he had a hand in several other businesses in Washington County.

In the year In 1888, he devised a plan to divert the Laverkin Bench from the Virgin River by canal and was forced to mortgage his house to raise the necessary capital to complete the project, which was key to Laverkin’s founding. Judd became president of the Laverkin Orchard and Nursery to establish orchards and vineyards, produce wine, and promote agriculture in the area. From 1890-1895, he hired 70-80 people and leased the Washington Cotton Mill for five years, helping it turn a profit for the first time in its history.

Judd served as bishop of the St. George 1st Ward for 18 years from 1879 to 1897, after which he was called to colonize Whitewater, Nevada. After completing his assignment, he returned to St. George and sold his interests in Laverkin, including what is now Pah Tempe Hot Springs.

Judd built and opened the store in 1911, a location across the street from Woodward School was a fortunate opportunity.

The store is built of the same thickness of adobe as the houses around it – the house behind it is Judd’s.

The store became very successful. Instead of selling the food he now produces, he first catered to the needs of the local cattle and sheep herders who were a major economic engine during Dikshe’s era. Then he sold everything from hay and grain to supplies of levees and sheep. It also carried merchandise and dry goods, including clothing, kerosene, hay and cloth.

Thomas Judd He died in 1922. His son Joseph continued to manage the store and handed over the business to his son Tom.

In the year In the early 1980s, the City of St. George wanted to condemn the store and turn it into a parking lot, but fortunately, Dr. Mark and Barbara Green purchased the building in 1982 and moved it into Greengate Village.

Tom Judd purchased Green’s and continued to operate the store after retiring in 1988.

The “school” business

Judd’s store seems to have a symbiotic relationship with the school across the street, first Woodward School, now used as part of the Washington County School District offices, and later West Elementary, where the 5th District Courthouse now stands. Students from the two schools were regulars at the store at lunchtime to grab candy for the day.

However, in 1983, West Elementary’s faculty and principal decided to implement a closed campus policy, prohibiting students from purchasing anything from the store during school hours.

Tom Judd Jr., the store owner at the time, was not interested in the decision. At the time, he admitted the store was dependent on student purchases, which he estimated accounted for 50 percent of his business. The small store has a hard time competing with the big chain stores.

Some West Elementary 5th and 6th grade students painted posters protesting the closed campus policy. The posters read “Mr. Judd, we need you” and “America, the land of the free, that’s why Mr. Judd stays.

Teachers said children crossing the street posed a safety risk, and Judd protested that there had never been an accident involving a student in the store’s history. The teachers said that candy is not good for their students and also contributes to high activity..

The policy was first implemented for a two-week trial period, and teachers emphasized that there were few problems at the school after the change.

The school principal admitted that he was not trying to harm Judd Store with the new policy, but rather to protect the safety of the students.

Later, however, the Washington County School Board made Judd’s Store a part of the West Elementary campus’s honorarium, allowing students to cross the street and visit the store during school hours if they had a signed permission form from their parents. The school board has received letters of support from community leaders criticizing the closed campus policy because it has caused undue disruption to Judd’s Store.

The shop today

Frequenting Judd’s Store is a tradition for many St. George residents. One woman in particular has made the shop her own “labor of love.”

Heather Graff was a regular at the store in the early 1990s when she was a student at the County 6th Grade Center (Woodward School). She also has some family history in the store; Her grandfather worked there in the 1940s.

During her elementary school days, she says, the store hosted Girls and Boys Day, allowing about 10 kids at a time to enjoy a meal away from their school grounds.

“I remember it being crowded with kids,” Graff said.

Graf gets nachos, bread sticks and Pepsi on her trips there during school hours.

“I don’t remember a sane thing,” she said.

Nowadays, the nostalgia of the candy and decor is a draw for locals and visitors alike, Graf says, but it’s the store’s friendliness that has endeared it to the hearts of many regulars.

“People like to go where they feel important,” she said.

The store staff will know the name of the stand and have a good idea of ​​what it is They order based on what they ordered in the past.

“It’s like ‘Cheers,’ without the noise,” says Graff, comparing it to the atmosphere depicted in the popular 1980s sitcom about a neighborhood bar in Boston.

The older generations love the store because it reminds them of their childhood, she said. Former Woodward School attendees will especially love the memory lane the store offers.

A person will not find any lamb in the store anymore, but what they will find are many delicious and tasty dishes.

The store still has the interior and some of the original items The front boasts a 1946 fuel pump. It is not the original, but the same one is in the same place where it once stood.

62 W. in downtown St. George. The small shop on Tabernacle St has in-store seating and is open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5.30pm.

For more information, visit the store’s Facebook page.

A photo gallery follows below.

About the “Days” series

“Days” is a series of stories about people and places, industry and history in and around the southwestern Utah region.

“I write stories to help Southwest Utahns enjoy the region’s history,” said St. George News anchor Reuben Wadsworth.

For previews of the daily series of stories, insights into local history, and information about future historical presentations, please “like” the Wadsworth author Facebook page.

Wadsworth has compiled a second volume of many historical features written about Washington County, as well as stories about other places in southern Utah, northern Arizona, and southern Nevada.

Read more: See all the features in the “Days” series

Photo gallery

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