Park City was settled as a mining community in 1870, following the
discovery of lead, gold, and silver in the area. The city became
heavily populated to such an extent that many people thought it would
replace Salt Lake City as the primary city in Utah. However, the mines
penetrated the water table and were flooded, and the city nearly became
a ghost town. Skiing began to come to the city in the 1950s, but the
city did not recover until the 1970s, when growth finally came. Growth
has accelerated in the last few decades, and it now stands as one of
the most affluent and lively resort towns in the United States.
As long ago as the 1920s, miners in Park City were using underground
trains and shafts to gain access to the mountain for skiing. When the
slopes opened to the public in 1963 as Treasure Mountain, skiers were
transported nearly three miles into the mountain on the Spiro Tunnel
mine train and then lifted 1800 ft (548 m) to the slopes on a mine
hoist elevator. Aerial trams once used for hauling ore were converted
into chairlifts. To this day, there are still more than 1000 miles
(1609 km) of old silver-mine workings and tunnels beneath the slopes at
Park City Mountain Resort and neighboring Deer Valley.