Davis County Welcome Center
Welcome Center is place to find
what's happening in Davis County
Would you like to find out what’s happening in Bloomfield and Davis County? Look no further than the Davis County Welcome Center. The facility is staffed by local volunteers who are more than happy to help you find out information on anything and everything Davis County has to offer.
Since the doors first opened in March 1988, the Welcome Center has directed thousands of visitors to local points of interest, great places to eat or sleep, or garages to get a car fixed.
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Staffed by volunteers seven days a week, the center offers plenty of information on local, regional and state tourism sites as well as a restful stop for weary travelers.
The Welcome Center, a remodeled 1910 Sears & Roebuck mail order house, is located on U.S. Highway 63 about three blocks north of the Bloomfield square. It plays host to some 3,500 visitors a year—about 75 percent of which are out-of state. A number of foreign countries are also represented in the center's guestbook.
In 2006, the Welcome Center had 3,531 travel parties and 5,561 individual visitors. Most of the people that stop at the Welcome Center are headed for Iowa or Missouri destinations. Their interests include historic landmarks, sightseeing, visiting friends and family, traveling Scenic Byways, visiting museums and camping.
Over three-fourths of the visitors stop at the Welcome Center for information while others stop to use the restroom, to take a break, or to shop.
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One entire room of the Welcome Center is devoted to travel information. Racks of brochures list state and local attractions, lodging, medical services, food services, vehicle services and other general information. The bathroom is handicapped accessible and the rear is a small kitchen with a lounge area and refreshments for road-weary travelers.
Three rooms display homemade arts and crafts by 100 local residents. These are sold on consignment and help fund the center. The crafts include items such as souvenirs, cookbooks, books by local authors, quilts, crocheted items, birdhouses, embroidered pillowcases, woodwork, and jams and jellies from the Amish. A Christmas room with Christmas crafts is open year round. New crafts come in almost every week. The crafts are sold, and the crafters get the price that they asked for while the Welcome Center gets commission money.
The center also boasts a dump station for recreational vehicles, a picnic area, and a pet walking area as well as beautiful flowerbeds.
Hours during the summer season, which runs from April through October, are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Hours during the rest of the year are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays.
A large number of volunteers make the Welcome Center work. The daily hostess handles minor cleaning each morning with general cleaning days scheduled for the bigger stuff. The lawn and flowerbeds are also kept up with volunteer labor.
Membership dues, commissions on crafts sold at the center, and donations fund the center. A cash buildup is used to fund major repairs, such as a new roof, as needed. The sale of afghans has gone to pay for the asphalt in the parking lot.
The Davis County Tourism Board manages the center with oversight from the County Board of Supervisors, Davis County Development Corporation and County Conservation Commission.