Plenty of towns around the world have Christmas traditions, ranging from large festivals to Christmas markets to Christmas tree lighting ceremonies. Our modern tradition in Park City includes Santa on the ski lift and a torchlight parade, among other festivities.
But years ago, coming out of the Great Depression, Park City was looking for something to bring back a communal spirit during the holiday season.
The Park Record reported in 1941 that a new tree lighting was “the firemen’s effort in establishing a better Christmas spirit in our community.” They also noted that the Parent-Teacher Association was hoping to make the tree lighting an annual tradition.
Santa Claus was tasked with greeting Parkites at the ceremony and signaling to light the tree, which would bring a beacon of light to the center of Main Street.
Indeed, the lighting turned into an annual affair, wherein a large evergreen tree was hauled in, up-righted, decorated, and lighted in the empty lot (at the time) just south of the post office (uphill). The tree lighting continued well into the 1950s, before falling away as Park City’s population declined, and with it the Christmas spirit once again.
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Kendall Webb Collection
Eventually, the Kimball Art Center, which used to sit at the northwest corner of Main Street and Heber Avenue decided to bring the tradition back as Park City bounced back as a ski resort town. Deer Valley donated a tree, and a Main Street lighting ceremony took place once more in 1981, forty years after the first one had taken place. Interestingly, those involved thought their tree-lighting was Park City’s first ever, and were proud of their novel idea.
This second run of lighting a tree on Main Street (and sometimes in other prominent locations around town – like the Park City Library/Miner’s Hospital) lasted through the mid-2000s, before shifting to a permanent location in Miners’ Park in the 2010s. This change was part of the Electric Light Parade festivities that marked the winter season in Park City for about a decade. Eventually, some of the hotels, like Stein Eriksen Lodge and the Montage at Deer Valley, began hosting their own tree lightings as well.
The Canyons side of Park City Mountain began their tree lighting ceremony in 2016, which continues to today, while Main Street has shifted focus to the snowglobe displays.
Merry Christmas from the Park City Museum!