Old Town Park City Homes

5 King & 10 Daly

10 Daly - historic

10 Daly - 2001

5 King - 2001

David Baxter was born in 1862 in Chryston, Lancashire, Scotland .  He immigrated to Park City in 1890, settling in Lake Flat.  He was a miner and cager at the Ontario #3 shaft.  His wife Margaret and children David, Agnes, Margaret and John followed in 1893.

Mr. Baxter purchased the home at 5 King Road around 1894 as the Lake Flat settlement dwindled and its settlers sought more convenient housing in town, by then a cosmopolitan and prosperous small city.  Five other children were born to the couple in that home; Tom, Mary, twins Rachael and Ruth, and Davina.

The growing family acquired the home at 10 Daly from the William & Katie Bennie around the turn of the century for $250.  The two houses were joined via a breezeway to accommodate the couple, nine children and frequent visitors.  An outhouse was situated just west of the house, but some of the first indoor plumbing and electricity was added near the turn of the century. Apparently crowds would gather each night in the turn around area to watch the lights being turned on.

From these houses, the family witnessed many events in Park City History;  The Great Fire, haulage of ore and machinery to the mines up King Rd or Daly Ave, the ebb and flow of population, and all manner of transportation, including horses, wagons, sleds, cars and trucks.

Prominent in the memory of the Baxter children was the operation of the nearby Ontario Mill.  Smoke from the huge boilers, the frequent sound of steam whistles and the din of eighty 600_pound stamps filled the air.  The mill had its own system of water flumes, waste dumps and roads plied by huge ore wagons pulled by up to ten horses each.

The home at 10 Daly is a Pyramid house, a which was the popular house floor plan in the late 1890s.  Originally of single wall construction, stud walls were added in the 1930's.  Pyramid type houses contained a floor plans of four equal size rooms, this home contained kitchen, living room, dining room and bedroom.  The home featured coal/wood cooking range and parlor stove, and both a piano and organ.  Ornate wallpaper and area rugs complemented Victorian style furniture.

After the final closure of the original Ontario about 1904, Mr. Baxter began contract mining at the Judge Mine.  He prospered there assisted by his sons and sons in law.  During this period he had the 5 King Road house completely remodeled inside and out.  The house was expanded to include six rooms and furnished with comfortable new furniture and accessories, an early gas and electric appliances, large ornate parlor stove and other items of the day. Originally a hall/parlor type house, in April 1925  David Baxter and wife purchased $979.29 of materials and hired John R. Gourley as contractor.  This is probably the time when a wing was added to the north and one to the east creating a t_cottage house, the type that was popular at that time, enlarging the two room house to a six room house.

Shortly thereafter, the Baxter's purchased the large two-story house directly west of the other two homes, from the Wilson family.  Jennie Judge, who later married Thomas Kearns, was raised in this home.  It became the Baxter's primary residence for the next several years, after which it was sold to the Savage's who operated it as the Savage Boarding House for many years.  It was torn down in 1966 and the land is now occupied by Suzie Williams' garden.  Another small house was also located in the far southern corner of this lot.

Mr. Baxter became active in local politics, Western Federation of Miners activities, Masonry and construction of the Park City Miners Hospital.  He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors.  He died at home in 1925, of cancer.  Son Tom Baxter was paralyzed in a cave in at the Silver King and operated a cigar making business from the home until his death in 1930.  Margaret cared for Tom and remained in the home until her death in 1936.

John Baxter Jr. never married and remained in these 5 King Rd until his death in 1966. He served in World War One and was employed by the Silver King Co.  Davina Baxter was secretary to local mining engineer Charlie Moore and drove her own Terraplane car.  She never married and stayed in the home until her death in 1940.  The original mohair furniture and other dªcor remained intact until his death when home and contents were sold.

Following the marriage of Agnes Baxter to Fred Gillette, a Daly West hoist engineer, around 1910, that couple lived in the 10 Daly Avenue house.  The Gillette's later moved to a house further up Empire Canyon where Mr. Gillette could travel to work via the Judge tunnel.  Then the home was occupied by daughter Rachael and her husband Mike O'Connor, saloonkeeper.

Mary Baxter and husband Paul Williams moved into the home (10 Daly) in 1928 with their two sons, Paul and Tom, and remained until their deaths in the late 1960's.  Mr. Williams worked at the Alliance Tunnel and, for a time, owned the Park Motors Garage in Swede Alley. His son, Tom "Shorty" Williams, worked for United Park City Mines for 35 years, and remained in the home following his parents' deaths.  He married Suzie Brunn in 1967.  The couple had the home completely restored in 1979.   Shorty died in November 2000.

by Paul Thomas Williams (nephew of homeowner Susie Williams)