A History of Park City’s Post Office

There has been a lot of discussion in town about the post office recently, so today we are writing about the history of the post office in Park City. 

In 1880, the United States Postal Service started mail service in Park City.  There were a few different locations for the postal building over the years, as the United States Postal Service rented different buildings based on its needs at the time and the space available on Main Street.  The first known location was on the east side of Main Street, which burned down in the Great Fire of 1898. A quickly constructed shack was put in its place until the town was rebuilt.  In 1899, a few businessmen raised money to help put a new post office in town at 401 Main Street.  That building is no longer there, as it burned down in 1973, but a new building was put in its place (where LaNiche is located today). 

By the late 1900s, Park City was a booming silver mining town, and there was a need for a bigger post office. In 1908, Congressman Joseph Howell and Senator Reed Smoot asked the government for a permanent Federal post office building in Park City. Between trying to convince the government to give the money to Park City for the new federal building, finding the land to construct the post office, and acquiring the land from landowners, a new building was not built until 1921. 

There were many discussions in town about the placement of the post office. The City was most concerned that it needed to be located in the business center and close to the railroad depots.  A Committee was formed, which finally decided to build the post office where the old bank in town burned down during the Great Fire, as it was never rebuilt – this would allow the post office to also be located on a corner lot. The location was at 450 Main Street – where our post office remains today. 

The original post office was a small cement building featuring Greek Revival architecture. It had a transom window and pillars by the door. Greek Revival was popular during 1830-1860, so it was unusual that in 1920 a building was designed using this style. The construction supervisor also asked for more money from Congress to add sidewalks near the building. 

The post office quickly started running out of space in the 1960s, as the town went from a dwindling mining community to a ski tourism town. The post office was remodeled and expanded in 1965, and again in 1975.  All sides of the original building had additions, so the building doesn’t look like it did back in 1921. The U.S. Postal Service paid for additions, as they realized more room was needed for workspace and lock boxes. They owned the ground where the additions were built and where gardens, maintained by the post office staff, used to be located.

In 1979, Park Meadows, Holiday Ranch Loop Road, and Prospector went to home delivery due to a shortage of boxes. In 1982, a new branch office called the Emporium Station was built on Kearns Boulevard to help with postal services and more lock boxes to accommodate Park City’s growing population. It was small, in a poor location, and didn’t have enough parking. The newer post office on Park Avenue opened in 2001 and the Emporium station on Kearns Boulevard was closed. This new branch helped give the community more lock boxes that were so desperately needed at the time, and it still serves residents outside of Old Town and Deer Valley (though several of the neighborhoods do have mailbox service).

A post office for Old Town Park City has always been essential.  It will continue to be so, as Old Town residents do not get home mailbox delivery. 

The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History and Park City Museum are offering a free ski tour visiting several mining history locations on Park City Mountain on the afternoon of February 11. For details and to RSVP, visit the Museum website.