Preserving Park City Mine History lecture given by Brian Buck

Park City Museum and Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History will host a lecture called Preserving Park City Mine History given by Brian Buck on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 from 5-6 p.m. held at the Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. Please note the change of day of this lecture from Wednesday to Thursday. More information can be found at www.parkcityhistory.org.

The original reason for Park City was mining. Between 1872 and 1982 mining attracted workers from all over the U.S. to build a city that became famous nationwide for the mineral riches in over 120 mines around town. Reduced metal prices in the 1950s and 1960s shut down most of these operations and caused the remaining large mining company to repurpose its land holdings from mining to recreation. Today Park City is widely renowned for its outdoor recreation and the remaining structures of its past mining history have been left to the damaging effects of time and weather. In 2015 the Park City Museum organized to save these remaining structures and has since collaborated with the ski resorts; local, state, and federal government; and private supporters to stabilize over a dozen mining structures around town. Brian Buck is the project manager for two of the largest of these projects. He will describe these efforts and discuss the importance of preserving our mining history as an important aspect of Park City’s future.

Brian has degrees in Geology and Geological Engineering. His career has been with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, Getty Mining Company, JBR Environmental Consultants, and Stantec Consulting. All of his 49 years of professional experience has largely involved working with the mining industry in the U.S. West. Since his retirement, Brian has focused on studying the history of the Park City mining district. He joined the local Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History committee in 2016 and has been the Project Manager for their major construction projects for the last five years. Brian has presented a number of mining history lectures for the Park City Museum and written Way We Were Articles for the Park Record regarding mining.