Weber Canyon has always been the most important gateway into the Great Salt Lake Valley. Through its portals passed many notable persons of early Utah history including John Weber, a trapper, who is supposed to have been killed by Indians in the winter of 1828-29, Etienne Provost, who in 1824 reported one of the first explorations of the river, Osborne Russell, who reported exploration in 1841.
In 1846 California emigrants took the first wagons down into Weber Canyon encountering many hardships and suffering severe losses. They included the James Hudspeth, Bryant Russell, Young and Harlan parties.
In this vicinity, the Donner-Reed party of 1846 which later met a tragic fate on the east slope of the Sierras in California turned southwest and blazed a trail through the mountains to the Salt Lake Valley. This trail was followed by the Mormon Pioneers in 1847, the California Gold Rush emigrants in 1849-50, the Mormon Handcart Pioneers and Overland Stage in 1856, and the Pony Express 1860-61.
Founded by Summit County Restaurant Tax and Summit County Historical Society. Built in 1990 by Boy Scouts of American Troop 681 and restored in 1999 by D. H. Evans Varsity Scout Team 523 Eagle Scout Project. The aging wood was replaced with steel in 2015 by Summit County Historical Society.
Under the leadership of Brigham Young the “Mormon” pioneers exploring their way to the valley of The Great Salt Lake passed here July 15 to 20, 1847. Orson Pratt’s advance company reached here July 15, others following at intervals. The rear company, including Brigham Young, who was ill with mountain fever encamped near here July 20.
The trail turned to the left at this point to avoid Weber Canyon, the impassable to wagon trains, ascending Henefer Creek to its head and passing thence into East Canyon approximately along the route now traversed by the highway.
This historic marker is U.P.T.L.A. Marker # 4 and a pony express trail marker and it is located at the southwest corner of 100 North and Main Street in Henefer, Utah.
There was a time when most of Woodland‘s residents worked and played where they lived, using local services and relying on the general store for most of their supplies.
This small building supplied nearly everything the community needed for nearly sixty years. Hyrum Winterton and his oldest son, Harold, sold everything from fresh meat, eggs and dairy products to appliances, clothing, nuts and bolts, coal and hay-baling wire, and even pumped gas. They used their trucks to deliver locally produced goods to the Salt Lake and Provo valleys, returning with feed and supplies for local residents.
Hyrum Winterton moved his family to the Woodland Valley because his Charleston farm was destined to be flooded by Deer Creek Reservoir. He purchased a fire-gutted building in the early 1930s, cleared the lot and began construction of this building. Though he hired a mason from Midway to lay the eight-inch-thick brick walls, he and his family built most of the structure.
When Harold died in a truck accident while delivering cattle, Hyrum’s daughter and son-in-law, Luella and Lamont Walker became the sole owners of the shop. After Lamont Walker passed away in 1971, Luella continued to run the store, selling sewing and craft supplies, until she sold the building in 1987.
Built in 1928 at 1255 Park Avenue, this was Park City High School until the new high school on Kearns Blvd was built in 1981. This is now the city library.
During the 2002 Olympics the top two floors were Norway House, housing the King and Queen of Norway and many Norwegian athletes, officials and business people. A Norwegian restaurant and display area were open to the public. Next door in the Library Park monster.com built a giant snow maze for children.
Although the mining community of Park City began in the 1870s, it was not until 1895 that plans for the construction of this LDS Church were formulated. In 1897 construction on a meeting house was started and apparently completed that year. However, the church was burned in the great fire of June 19, 1898, which destroyed many of Park City’s buildings. Rebuilt in 1899, this building was formally opened for services on March 18, 1900. An addition was made to the rear between 1926-1930 and in 1938 work commenced on the amusement hall. The building served as a meeting house until 1962.
This gothic style brick church was constructed in 1899 by P. Anderson & Company for the First Congregational Church of Park City. Established in Park City in 1879. The Congregationalists joined with the Park City Methodist Church in 1919 under the direction of the Home Missions Council to form the Park City Community Church.
Park City Community Church
The original church on this site was built in the 1880’s by the Congregationalists, a sect which arrived in Park City while it was still a mining camp. Congregationalists were the first to establish regular Protestant services in Utah. By 1883 they were actively proselytizing among local miners and had acquired this property to build a church.
Fire raged through Park City in June of 1898, destroying the original structure. The Pastor immediately declared intention to rebuild, making use of walls left standing after the fire. Plans for the present edifice were complete by October of 1898. The design reflects a basic Gothic style much used in religious institution of that time. Construction was delayed, however, and not completed until 1899.
The church became the Park City Community Church in 1919 when several local Protestant denominations joined congregations in an ecumenical effort. Continuous operation of this church since it was built has provided Park City with important religious, social and educational facilities.
Built in 1935-36 at 1167 Woodside Ave, the Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resource nomination and is significant because it helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the county, and for the period 1932-40 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including county courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of the several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA), and almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. Built by the Works Progress Administration and designed by Scott and Welch, the Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is also architecturally significant as one of five buildings remaining in Park City constructed in the PWA Moderne style.
Between 1933-39 federal agencies spent nearly $300 million in federal assistance in Utah. The longest-lasting and most extensive New Deal relief program in Utah and the rest of the nation, the WPA was established in 1935 and continued until 1943. The peak of WPA employment in Utah was in the fall of 1936 when more than 17,000 Utahns were at work on WPA projects. The New Deal era programs offered not only work relief, but also provided long-term benefits to the communities and the state in the form of improved public facilities. The Mechanical Arts building in Park City is one of the 233 public works buildings identified in Utah that were built during the 1930s and early 1940s. Only 130 of those 233 buildings are known to remain today and retain their historic integrity. Of the 233, 107 were public school buildings. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is one of 7 public works buildings constructed in Summit County, 6 of which remain.
Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings are the most conspicuous elements of public works architecture but are overshadowed by a large group of buildings constructed in what David Gebhard has called the PWA Moderne style. During the depression years, Gebhard writes, “architects Streamlined Moderne… These buildings were fundamentally classical and formal, but just enough Moderne details were injected to convey a contemporary Moderne feeling as well as the traditional authority of the classical.” The PWA Moderne style combines the formal symmetrical elements of the Classical roots with Art Deco and Art Moderne details such as masonry wall surfaces, metal sash, vertical molded ornamentation, and decorative parapet. Many of these buildings-schools, mechanical arts buildings, city halls-appear at first glance plain and box-like. Upon closer inspection, however, in their rigid symmetry and abstract classicism, they remain fully consistent with the stylistic impulses of the times. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is one of five remaining PWA Moderne style buildings remaining in Park City.
Most public works buildings were designed by architects. The most prolific firm was Scott and Welch of Salt Lake City. Carl W. Scott and George W. Welch were both prominent Utah architects. Scott was born October 17, 1887, in Minneapolis, Kansas, and graduated in 1907 from the University of Utah with a degree in mining. He was given credit for the idea of the concrete “U” that is still above the University of Utah campus. Following graduation he began a career in architecture as a draftsman for Richard Kletting. In 1914 he became partners with George W. Welch.
Welch was born in Denver, Colorado, on May 15, 1886, graduated from Colorado College, and came to Salt Lake City to begin work as an architect. Active in political affairs while here, he was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1919 until 1921.
Scott and Welch designed the Salt Lake City’s Elks’ Club Building, South High School, the Masonic Temple, and many public school buildings throughout Utah including Hawthorne Elementary School and Bryant Junior high School in Salt Lake, Park City High School, Tooele High School, Blanding High School and Cedar City Elementary School. They also designed a number of commercial buildings including the Nelson Manufacturing Company Warehouse, the Nelson-Ricks Creamery Building, and the Firestone Tire Company building, all in Salt Lake City. Scott and Welch also designed and built the planned community of Copperton. Copperton was a company town built by the copper mining company, Utah Copper Company, in the 1920-30s. Included in the plan was a Bingham High School, built in 1931. Scott and Welch designed more school buildings during the 1930s than any other Utah firm.
The Park City High School Mechanical Arts building is historically related to the adjacent Park City Education Center, formerly the Park City High School (1926), and to the Marsac Elementary School (1935-36). The Mechanical Arts building was built as an addition to the high school “campus” and incorporates similar materials and detailing to “harmonize” with the adjacent High School structure. The High School was constructed in 1926-27 and renovated in 1993-94 by the City to house the library, a theater, and educational facilities.
The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building was originally constructed in 1935-36 as a part of the same bond issue used to build the Marsac Building. Approval for funding the building was given at a bond election in Park City on October 19, 1935. Approval was overwhelming: 169 in favor and 12 opposed. The two buildings used the same architects, materials, similar styles and were constructed and dedicated at the same time. The Marsac Elementary School was fully renovated c.1985 and is in use today as Park City’s municipal offices.
At its original dedication the Park City newspaper described the Mechanical Arts Building as follows:
The high school mechanical arts shop was built at a cost of about $15,000. Like the elementary school just described and the high school built ten years ago, it is fireproof throughout. In design and material it harmonizes with the high school building. This shop is the last word in Industrial arts housing. It contains one large room for general shop classes, a drawing room, toilet and locker rooms, paint and storage room. It is equipped with tools, benches and machinery for woodwork, cold and hot metal work, and auto-mechanics. Translucent glass is used in all windows. The drawing room is equipped with individual drawing tables and stools. Other special rooms are furnished with appropriate appliances. The shop is heated from the high school heating plant.
Construction began on the Mechanical Arts Building at 1167 Woodside in the fall of 1935, was opened for use on November 15, 1936, and was officially dedicated on December 4th, 1936.
When the high school program moved to its present location in Park Meadows, the School district began using the building as a bus barn for the City school buses. It was at this time that the structure’s mezzanine and the mechanical systems were striped out to make more room for the buses, plows and storage needs. The 1995-96 restoration of the building is currently near completion and will be used for architectural offices.
In Park City’s history there were few civic and educational structures built. Accordingly, they were and are particularly significant to the community’s history. This is especially true for this structure since it was in service as a school shop as recently as 15 years ago. Many still live in Park City who grew up, took classes, and created fond memories in this building. In a city faced with the pressures of development, the preservation of historic properties as a part of the town’s promotional vision is difficult to balance. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts building retains its historic integrity and contributes to the qualities of the town.
