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Click here for museum hours and location.
Visitors can venture "underground" in the Silver King Mine, meet Park City’s Silver Queen, and inside an original stagecoach. Docent-led tours are available by reservation. Self-guided tour brochures are available at the museum desk.Our museum gift shop offers books on local history, limited edition Christmas ornaments, t-shirts, historic photographs, and (of course) memberships!
To get a taste of the museum, click on the exhibit names below for a virtual tour.
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The Winter Sports History Exhibit |
The Silver King Mine Exhibit |
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The Stagecoach and Tent to Township Exhibits |
The Territorial Jail |
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Winter Sports History Exhibit
 In the early 1900's, skiing was both a form of recreation and transportation in Park City. Emigrant miners from Scandinavia brought skiing from theAold country.@ The steep streets of Park City packed with abundant snow provided the ideal terrain for the popular winter pastimes. Early skiers made their skis from lumber or wood planks. The wood was steamed and a rope attached to a hole drilled in the tip used to bend the ski and secure the curve while it dried. A piece of leather was then attached to the middle of each ski to hold the shoe or boot in place.
It was natural for Scandinavian immigrants Christopher Rasmussen and his wife Elsie Marie to want to teach their children to ski. Using trees cut on their property, Chris constructed a jumping scaffold and opened the ranch to skiers, installing one of the first rope tows in the West. By 1927, the new ski area was hosting Salt Lake high school ski clubs.
After WWII, skiing continued to grow in popularity. As silver prices declined mining companies started to look for other ways to use their resources.  In 1963 United Park City Mines Company created the Treasure Mountains Resort (now Park City Mountain Resort). They installed a gondola, J-bars and chairlifts, but the most unique way to travel to the top of the mountain was by the "Skier Subway." Using the old Spiro mine drain tunnel, the mine company created the world's first underground ski lift, using the existing electric mine train coupled with cars fabricated to carry skiers and their skis. The skiers traveled three miles into the mountain to the Thaynes Shaft where a hoist (mine elevator) lifted them 1,800 feet to the surface in Thaynes Canyon. There they put on their skis and traveled the short distance to the Thaynes Chair Lift. The unique underground transportation system was soon dubbed the "Skier Subway." "Just like riding the subway in New York," remarked one skier.
The Silver King Mine Exhibit
Silver was discovered in the mountains of Park City in 1868 and soon thousands of miners arrived seeking their fortunes. At one time there were as many as 300 mines in operation. Lead, copper, zinc and gold were also mined here.In 1872, mining entrepreneur George Hearst paid $27,000 for the Ontario Mine. It rewarded him with a fortune of $50 million during the time he owned it.
 The rise and fall of fortunes was an often repeated story in Park City. So too was the story of fortunes missed. Solon Spiro was a German Jewish emigrant who came to Park City in 1894 to work in his uncle's mercantile store. After saving some money, Spiro invested in local mines but became best known for an ill-fated tunnel to drain water and facilitate the movement of ore out of the mines. It was only after Spiro sold the tunnel to the Silver King that the new owners discovered a silver lode there that eventually yielded three million dollars worth of high grade silver. The Sliver King became the premier mine in this area, and partners Thomas Kearns, David Keith, James Ivers, and A.B. Emery accumulated an enormous amount of wealth.
Mining prices started to decline during the Great Depression in 1929. The last year of any mining activity in Park City was 1982.
Stagecoach Exhibit
 This type of coach was popularly called a mud wagon, designed for use in difficult conditions. The technical design is the same as the Abbot-Downing Company's larger, more elegant coaches. The body is mounted on leather thoroughbases which serve as springs for the coach and shock absorbers for the team. This Abbot-Downing innovation is still in use today.
William H. Kimball, eldest son of Heber C. Kimball, started his stagecoach business in 1854, vying with Brigham Young's X-Y express for the lucrative federal mail contracts. Kimball's endeavor was interrupted by his serving a mission in Enlgand for the Mormon Church. After his return in 1860, he built the Kimball Hotel and Stage Stop in Parley's Park and resumed business. The hotel, a massive eleven room structure of native stone, still stands today by I-80.
 When silver was discovered in the area, the need for regular transportation service was recognized and in 1872 Kimball opened his Park City - Salt Lake City route. Kimball's ingenuity and reputation for delivering on time gained him and his sons (Kimball Bros.) many mail contracts. They established routes into western Utah and eastern Nevada. With the changing times, Kimball Bros. branched out into a livery stable and then a motor coach line and service station.
From Tents to Township Exhibit
Before the miners came to Park City, the area north of the present city was colonized by Mormon settlers. In 1848, Mormon leader Brigham Young sent Parley P. Pratt to see if this valley was suitable for colonizing. Pratt discovered a large open meadow that was park-like. The area was soon home to brothers Samuel and Chester Snyder and their families. Both men were polygamists and soon 150 people were living in the community of Snyderville. In 1872, their brother George Snyder brought hit his fifth wife, Rhoda, and their three children from Wanship and settled in this mountain valley five miles to the south. George and his family built a two-room home near what is now the corner of Park and Heber Avenues, with lumber from the sawmill in Snyderville. This high valley had been known by different names, including Upper Kimball's and Upper Parley's, until 1872 when the Snyders raised a flag and proclaimed that the new community should be know as Parley's Park City.
The Territorial Jail
 Most of the inmates imprisoned here were convicted of relatively minor crimes such as fighting and drunkenness, some spent time for robbery, moonshining during prohibition and gambling after it was outlawed. The jail also briefly housed a few prisoners accused of shooting and murder. Prisoners guilty of serious crimes were eventually sent to the State Prison in Salt Lake City.
The Industrial Workers of the World insignia was burned on the wall of the largest cell with candle smoke in 1916 when some of the "Wobblies" were mailed after a labor demonstration. The IWW was founded in 1905 in Chicago and called for more radical changes in industry. "They were great song writers and singers, but not so good as organizers," said Tim Rice, who has studied the groups history. IWW member Joe Hill, famous for his songs, worked in Park City at the Silver King Mine. He was executed by a firing squad for murder in Salt Lake City.
 The jail initially had a clay floor and was lighted with candles or gas lanterns. It was later "modernized" with a concrete floor, electricity and a toilet. The walls were built of native stone from quarries north of town. Arm irons, handcuffs and leg irons were made and installed by Berry Brothers Blacksmiths during its original construction. The only escape attempt ever made was through small openings in the ceiling of one of the cells. It, however, led into the firemen's quarters and a rapid capture was made. The holes were later covered with iron bars.
528 Main Street / P.O. Box 555
Park City, Utah 84060
pcmuseum_info@parkcityhistory.org
(435) 615-9551
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Museum Hours:
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Mon - Sat:
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10:00 - 7:00
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Sun
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12:00 - 6:00
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PCHS site generously hosted by XMission.