As all mining towns are, Park City is said to be full of wandering spirits. Lost souls- wronged, killed, or simply malevolent- are said to linger between skiers and tourists. If you’re visiting this Fall, and you dare to take a closer look at some of these locations, you might just see someone looking back.
Our first hallowed tale of a local haunted hollow begins in the Snowed Inn, now out of operation. The Inn itself is a Victorian replica , built for the owner’s Grandmother in the late 80’s. It’s this very Grandmother who is said to haunt the place. Guests have seen her apparition floating through floors, throwing linens about, and appearing in photographs taken by guests and employees alike. The inn has since been closed- workers who were cool about hanging out with “Grandma” were hard to come by. After the hotel went out of business, the location was approved as a schoolhouse, and became the Colby School in 2001. The school closed shortly after in 2008- potentially due to the ruckus caused by a certain elderly spirit? Multiple permits have since been put in to reform the Inn back into a hotel, but all have been rejected.
Next up on our Park City spell is the abandoned Silver King Coalition mine. The mine was regarded as one of the world’s most profitable of the time, in the 1880’s. However, by 1888, the operation was shut down suddenly, due to deteriorating quality. Sporadic mining continued until the 80’s, when the site became a museum. Tours of the mine were offered until 1998, when the museum and tours quietly slipped out of existence, stopping without warning or explanation.
Mines are notorious for devastating accidents, with miners holding what is classified as one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. Silver King was no different, with their largest event occurring in 1902, when an underground dynamite store exploded, killing many miners by shrapnel, and dozens more with the noxious gas created. 34 workers died in total, three of which were designated rescuers or trapped miners. 21 bodies were recovered, with the remaining 13 being left for lost. Accidents like this will obviously cause quite the cursed atmosphere. Many apparitions have been reported by those lucky enough to attend a tour (guided by former miners) before the permanent closing of the facility. In addition to ghostly miners searching for lost limbs, or continuing on thankless work, a ghostly woman with long blonde hair has been seen near the main shaft- potentially searching for her lost relative, never recovered from the wreckage.
Our final story is one common for any old town with its roots in rock. The Man in the Yellow Slicker is a common figure seen wandering mine sites, and roads. Park City’s resident haunt has a muddled origin, with many potential histories. It’s unclear who exactly this man was, a young boy who died in a blast on his first day of work, a miner murdered for encroaching on another owners vein, or a thief who stole tools to give to a competing company. They say his face is dark and indistinguishable, or his head is horrendously disfigured, all due to the method of murder. Either way, despite his violent origin, this spirit is surprisingly said to be benevolent. Many miners have cited seeing him before disaster, as he silently warns them to leave, to go no further. Those who heed his warnings go unharmed, while those who gossip and ignore rarely leave the mines alive.