FOLKLORE      GHOST STORIES      PARK CITY HISTORY

1847. Brigham Young and the Mormon settlers pass near the north end of this valley on their way to Salt Lake.

1862. Brigham Young’s “City by the Salt Lake” is booming and Federal troops from California under Colonel Patrick Connor are sent to guard the stagecoach lines and watch over the “Saints,” who might side with the Confederacy in the Civil War. Figuring that a strike (a find of valuable ore)would bring in outsiders and dilute the Mormon population, Col. Connor sends soldiers out prospecting.

1868. Late October, soldiers climb over the mountains from Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Park City area and find silver. During a snowstorm, they marked the outcropping with a bandana and returned to find it in the spring. The first mine is named Flagstaff.

1869. The Transcontinental Railroad is finished at Promontory, Utah, and laid off workers, including many Chinese, settle in Parley’s Park.

1870. Parley’s Park has a total population of 164

1872. George and Rhoda Snyder name the area “Parley’s Park City” , soon shortened to Park City. The discovery of rich silver ore leads to the opening of the Ontario Mine and starts a boom town atmosphere and a population of 5,000. George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, and partners buy the Ontario Mine for $27,000. It produced over $50 million in its lifetime.
1875. A public school is established.

1880. The first issue of the Park Record comes off the press. It has been published continuously since then.

1881. Park City is the third city in Utah to receive telephone service. A Typhoid epidemic hits area. The Catholic Church builds a frame church and names it St. Mary’s. Water in the mines is a continuing problem despite numerous underground pumps. The Cornish Pump, a machine 30 feet high with a 70 ton flywheel, is imported from Philadelphia by freight wagon. It pumps water from 1.000 feet below the surface in the Ontario Mine, taking over 4 million gallons of water a day. Later, drain tunnels will replace pumps.

1884. Park City becomes an incorporated town, City Hall is under construction, to be finished in 1885.

1889. The town’s population is over 5,000. The city is one of the first in the state to have electric lights.

1892. Silver King Mine is incorporated. It will prove to be one of Park City’s largest producers of silver.

1893. Because silver is no longer to be used to back currency, silver prices drop. Miners at the Silver King accept a pay cut from $1 to $.50, allowing the mine to continue while others remained closed. The first drilling contest occurs. Yearly contests continue to this day as part of the Miners’ Day (Labor Day) festivities.

1894. The Silver Queen, Susanna Bransford Emery, is making $1,000 a day from her interest in the Silver King Mine.

1896. On Statehood Day, Park City has a population of 7,000, about the same as today. The Silver King aerial tramway uses buckets to bring ore down to town, lowering transportation cost to 22 cents a ton from $1.50 per ton when hauled with horses and wagons.

1898. Park City has 10,000 people, fire destroys three-fourths of the town -- $1 million in property is lost. Gone is the brand new opera house built at a cost of $30,000 and open less than three months. Seventeen volunteers leave to fight in the Spanish-American War, which forces up the price of silver.

1899. The town is rebuilt in one and one-half years! The new buildings are more substantial -- many are built of brick and stone to withstand fire. George Wanning’s saloon is the first to be rebuilt.

1902. The mines are going strong with new companies, new buildings and equipment. William Tretheway is honored at a special banquet for his heroism in carrying a case of burning dynamite from the Silver King Mine. On July 15th 34 men from the Daly West Mine die in the explosion of a large underground store of dynamite and from the resulting fumes. It is the worst mine disaster in Park City history and resulted in a state law which forbids the underground storage of large amounts of explosives.

1904. The Miner’s Hospital is open and 6,000 miners are treated in the first year largely for miner’s con or silicosis.

1906. One of the first skiers in the area, “Bud” Wright, spends the winter on skis, trouble shooting as a lineman for the telephone company between Alta, Brighton, and Park City.

1916. Heavy snows cause fatal snowslides and the collapse of the famed Dewey Theater on Main Street (where the Egyptian Theater now stands) just hours after 300 patrons had finished watching the evening movie.

1920. Skiing becomes widespread as workers take the mine train to the top of the Thaynes Canyon for a trip to the bottom.

1929. The stock market crashes and so does silver mining. A rope tow is installed at Snow Park, now called Deer Valley Ski Resort.

1930. A ski jump is built on the Creole mine dump. Downhill skiers are few and skiing is mostly a spectator sport.

1931. Alf Engen sets a world record at Ecker Hill by jumping 247 feet. In all, Engen sets five world records at Ecker Hill (located in the Pinebrook subdivision).

1936. A special ski train running from Salt Lake City to what is now Deer Valley is so popular that it is repeated the next year.

1946. First lift is installed at Snow Park and ore prices drop.

1949-1954. Park City’s population dwindles. The town is listed in a book called Ghost Towns of the West, indicating no population. There were actually 1,150 “ghosts” still living here! Welsh, Driscoll and Buck’s department store closes after 50 years.

1958. United Park City Mines looks to diversify and starts a feasibility study to begin the Treasure Mountain Resort (now Park City Mountain Resort).

1963. Treasure Mountain Resort is funded through a federal loan. A gondola, chairlift, tow J-bars and $3.50 lift tickets.

1968. Park West Ski Resort (now The Canyons) opens. Snow Park closes.

1970. Park City holds first Park City Arts Festival.

1980. Deer Valley Ski area opens.

1994. Park West Ski Resort becomes Wolf Mountain Resort.

1995. Population is approximately 7,500.

1996. Utah learns it will host the 2002 Olympics.

1997. Wolf Mountain Resort is purchased by the American Ski Company, becomes The Canyons. Park City Ski Area changes name to Park City Mountain Resort.