Starting out as a boomtown meant that Parkites had to create and build many of the necessary community staples and amenities for themselves as the need raised. This included schools.
The first schools to open in Park City were one sponsored by John Street and George Gideon Snyder and the one-room Ontario School – both around 1875. Most students were in the elementary range.
In 1879, the New West Education Commission funded the Free School in Park City (also called the District School #12). Their goal was to establish schools throughout Utah, which was largely rural at the time. This school served students from first grade all the way through high school. That first year, there were 79 secondary school students, though it is unclear which grade defined the split from elementary school, so it is unknown how many were truly high school-aged students.
By 1887, high schoolers were being taught in the basement of the Congregational (Community) Church. By the end of the decade, the community was clamoring for a dedicated high school. In 1891, the Park Record prophesized, “we feel safe in saying that in the near future Park City will be able to boast one of the neatest high school buildings in the territory.” Unfortunately, no such building materialized for the high schoolers, although the Jefferson School was built that same year to house more of the ever-growing elementary-aged student population. The Central School (renamed the Washington School once the Jefferson was built) had also opened back in 1885 to replace the Ontario School.
The need for a high school continued to be a pressing issue. In 1892, the Park Record put out an editorial saying “One of the most pressing needs of this camp… is a well-conducted and thoroughly graded high school, wherein young ladies and men may be fitted for college.” They continued, “The Record has spoken of this need several times but did not realize the extreme necessity for such an institution until the beginning of the present schoolyear when so many of the pupils who had mastered the various branches taught in our public and private schools announced their intention of going to the high schools of Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo, and Logan.”
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Thomas Hansen Collection
Finally, in 1895, Park City built a school that could provide an adequate education for older students, keeping them in town. The Lincoln School, starting in 1898, hosted younger students on the first two floors and high schoolers on the third floor. An addition was added in 1914 to accommodate the growing high school population, but the addition was built on a cesspool that ultimately had to be demolished.
It was not until 1926 that a building dedicated solely to high school students was constructed on lower Park Avenue. The first graduating class subsequently started school in the fall of 1927 and graduated in 1928. There, the high schoolers remained in their own dedicated space, complete with classrooms, mechanical arts building, gymnasium, and football field until 1977.
Ground broke on a new, expanded high school in September 1975 after the town’s fortunes had fully turned following the transition to and growth from the skiing industry. The first graduating class for the new building on Kearns Boulevard started school in August 1977 and graduated in 1978. The high school remains in that building today, though there are plans for expansion once again.
Happy new school year from the Park City Museum!
The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History are offering a free guided hike to and tour of the Alliance Watchman’s Cabin for anyone interested on September 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register here.