Park City’s economic decline began with the onset of the Great Depression, and it would only get worse after WWII. The 1950s began ominously; On Tuesday, January 3, 1950, the historic St. Mary’s church burned. It would take a year to repair the damage.
The next month the Park Record published a letter from Thomas Kearns, president of the Silver King Coalition Mines company. His message: the combination of low mineral pricing, increased extraction costs, and high labor rates created a scenario that “can only be described as little short of disastrous for the interests of stockholders and employees alike.” Faced with a ruinous business model, the largest employer in town shut down, laying off 300 workers. Adding insult to injury, in 1951 the editors of Ghost Towns of the West included Park City. By 1960 less than 1,200 people lived in town – from a peak of over 8,000.
It seemed as if Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch had taken up permanent residence in town. Would they, could they extinguish the holiday spirit? No way – their combined kill-joyousness proved powerless against the Christmas magic wielded by resilient Parkites.
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Kendall Webb Collection
For the youth of Park City, the unofficial start of the holiday season occurred on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. On this day, the Marsac school and their cooks prepared a sumptuous feast. The culinary skills of madams Anderson, Bircumshaw, Tree, and Wheeler convinced even those who regularly ventured home for lunch to stay. Decades later, the memories of that special meal remain indelible – in particular the rolls made from scratch by Mrs. Wheeler. Owing to the town’s economic blight, for some of the students this would be their Thanksgiving meal. The Marsac staff understood this, so they served a meal to remember.
The Christmas spirit blossomed the week after Thanksgiving. The town’s volunteer fire department erected a community tree in the post office plaza. Their task was not complete until the tree was adorned with lights. Concurrently, City employees strung colored lights between the light poles stretching the length of Main Street. The energy to illuminate the festive bulbs was provided “free of charge” from dusk to midnight by the Utah Power & Light Company from December 1 to January 1. The town’s Christmas tree and holiday lights were illuminated simultaneously in the first week of December. Parkites gathered to sing Christmas carols, exchange season’s greetings. Santa also made a surprise visit to distribute bags of treats to the children.
Credit: Park City Historical Society & Museum, Kendall Webb Collection
Park City’s last operating train station, the Union Pacific (UP) depot at the bottom of Main Street, joined in the light show. While the UP did not provide a budget to decorate the depot, the station agent, Fay Dearden, and his family strung festive lights on the second story archway. Those merchants still in business contributed to the holiday spirit as well. Their windows were festooned with lights, Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers (Glade’s chocolates were a favorite) and holiday foods. Mother Nature added her touch, blanketing the town in a mantle of snow.
The town was ready for St. Nick’s arrival – and they would not have long to wait. Stay tuned for next week to hear more about Park City’s holiday spirit.
Acknowledgements: A big thank you to Alan Dearden, Jim Hewitson, The Flinders family (Leland, Melvin, Jerran and Elizabeth), Steve Leatham, Marian McGuire and Scott Smith for sharing their Park City Holiday memories with us.
The Park City Museum annual holiday ornament, featuring Mel Fletcher and ski jumping this year, is available in the Museum store or online at parkcityhistory.org.