Charles P. Hayt is the senior partner of the firm of Hayt & Klinefelter, proprietors of the well-known Fashion Stables of Riverside. These stables are located on the corner of Main and Seventh streets. Their stock of horses, carriages, etc., are not excelled by any in Riverside, or even by any in the county. Of the seventy-five horses owned by the firm, thirty-five or forty are used in their livery business. They are the proprietors of the City Cab and Hack Service in Riverside. Mr. Hayt is among the well-known businessmen of the city.
He came to Riverside in October 1879, without capital other than good, sound business principles, untiring energy and industrious habits. In connection with his father, W. A. Hayt, he started a meat market on Main Street and successfully conducted the same until the next year. He then purchased the old adobe livery stable on the corner of Market and Eighth streets. He was also associated with his father in this enterprise. Their stock at that time consisted of three Cayuse horses and two wagons, but their energy and business principles won the day, and they rapidly increased their stock and business until they led all competitors and built up one of the largest livery enterprises in Riverside.
In 1880 they purchased from H. W. Robinson his stage and express line from Riverside to Colton, and conducted that enterprise, carrying the United States mails and Wells Fargo’s Express, and affording transportation for the large passenger traffic until the advent of the railroads caused a withdrawal of the stage lines. In 1886 they moved their stables to the present site, occupying a building 55 x 150 feet. In 1887 W. A. Hayt retired from the business, and in June of that year Mr. Hayt received S. K. Klinefelter into the firm. During Mr. Hayt’s ten years residence in Riverside he has been uniformly successful in his business pursuits, and his dealings have been of that honorable, straightforward character that ever gains the confidence and esteem of his associates.
He was one of the first directors of the Riverside Railway Company, and has been a subscriber to many of the enterprises that have tended to build up his chosen city. He is a supporter of the Congregational Church, and a member of Riverside Lodge, No. 282, I. O. O. F., and Sunnyside Lodge, K. of P. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Hayt is a native of Putnam County, New York, and dates his birth October 15, 1854. His parents were William A. and Mary Evalyn Hayt, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. His boyhood until twelve years of age was spent in schooling, and until about sixteen years of age he was given the benefits of a good education in the common and high schools. He then engaged in the butcher’s business in Patterson until he reached his majority in 1876, when he accompanied his father to California, and was engaged in various pursuits, mining enterprises, stock business, etc., in northern California and Nevada, until 1879, when he located in Riverside.
In 1884 Mr. Hayt was united in marriage with Miss Minnie M. Morey, a native of Illinois. Her father, General A. B. Morey, is a veteran of the civil war, and a well-known resident of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Hayt have one child William A.