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LOCATION AND HISTORY OF PARK CITY,
UTAH
Park City is located 30.91 miles,
southeast of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Mountains. The city known as
Parley's Park was put on the map with the discovery of silver in 1868,
by U.S. soldiers stationed in the area to guard the mail routes. By 1870,
Parley's Park had grown with a population of 164. In 1872, Parley's Park
became Park City, and growth was rapid when a huge, rich silver mine called
the Ontario Mine is opened for business. George Hearst and his assoc.
bought this mine for $27,000 dollars. The Ontario Mine produced over $50
million during its long years of operation.
In 1882, other successful silver and
lead mines are started, including the Crescent, the Anchor and the Mayflower.
The Silver King Mine became incorporated in 1892, becoming the largest
producer of silver in Park City.
In 1884 Park City is incorporated,
and the population grew to over 5,000 people in 1889, and to over 7,000
people when Utah became a state in 1896.
Adversity visited Park City in the
forms of fires and mining accidents, along with the usual troubles of
periodic outbreaks of disease and fluctuating silver prices. The fires
of 1882 and 1898 taught the city residents to build with stone and brick,
cutting down the risk of destruction. The 1898 fire was the mother of
all Utah fires and destroyed 3/4 of the town. The people were a sturdy,
tenacious lot and rebuilt their town. By 1920, the town was completely
rebuilt, a new and improved town.
Most of the mines closed in 1949,
but some briefly opened for a bit in 1952. Though the mines opened again
for a bit in the 1980's, the writing was on the wall, that mining as the
main stay of the town's economy was ending. The population had dwindled
to less than 1500 people. Was Park City destined to be a ghost town?
The ingenuity of the people there
went to work, and the idea of having a ski resort was born in 1963. Treasure
Mountain Ski Resort gained some popularity in 1966 when Sports Illustrated
gave it high marks in the quality of its runs. Soon, other ski resort
outfits established themselves here, and the town of Park City was reborn
economically.
Though the mines closed in 1982, the
ski industry has boomed. The 1995 Winter Olympics encouraged new hotels
and businesses to spring up, bringing in new monies and a booming tourist
economy based on the skiing resorts, and all the recreational activities
the area offers throughout the seasons of the year.
  
HAUNTED PLACE: The Silver Mines
LOCATION:
The silver mines are located in the
The Park City Mining District, "which comprises a tract that lies
between the steep wall and ledges that mark the crest of the mountain
range on the west and the mountain meadows of Heber, Kamas, and Parleys
Canyon along the eastern foothills."
DESCRIPTION:
The mines go down hundreds of feet,
and are a labyrinth of tunnels. Tours can be taken of some of the mines.
On these tours, one sees some of the old equipment, and techniques used
in the mining industry. The
Ontario Silver Mine has a tour for the public.
Check out the pictorial history on parkcitymountain.com
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HISTORY:
The mines in the Park City area made
millions of dollars, bringing not only silver, but lead, copper, zinc
and gold to the mineral market. The down side to mining has always been
that there is /was an element of danger involved. Mining accidents throughout
the years have claimed many lives. In the early years, they were frequent.
The most deadly of these mining accidents in Utah happened in 1902, when
dynamite stored underground exploded, blowing many miners apart, and killing
many others by poisonous gas created by the explosion. After this disaster,
new legislation was passed which forbade the storing of dynamite underground.
 
MANIFESTATIONS:
* Ghosts of miners has been seen
by the living haunting the scene of their death. Some are looking for
missing body parts.
* Before someone would die in the
mines because of an accident, a male apparition in a yellow slicker
would appear to the living as a bad omen.
* A lovely entity of a woman with
long blonde hair riding a horse had long been seen haunting a mine shaft
on the 200 foot level.
* Evil presences were blamed for
knocking out the lower rungs of ladders so miners couldn't escape in
an emergency.
Still Haunted?
Yes.
Apparitions are still seen wandering
the mine tunnels.
Sources include: media.utah.edu * parkcitymountain.com * Courtesy of Park City Museum and Bea Kumer. community.iexplore.com/planning/journal * engr.psu.edu/etp/silver.html
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