One wouldn’t know it walking past the Summit County Courthouse in Coalville, but down below there is a microcosm of county history. The Summit County Museum, located in the basement of the Courthouse, offers a wealth of stories, artifacts and images—a treasure trove of historic artifacts.
The museum was started in 2004 by Summit County Historian NaVee Vernon in honor of the county’s 150-year anniversary. Vernon used some items she had owned or purchased as well as many donated from residents around the county. She recalls how the location of the museum was chosen.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we just have it in the courthouse? Because it was 1904 when it was built. And we can just have a big birthday party,'” Vernon said.
Vernon started the voluminous collection with an old coal stove, which she purchased specifically for the museum.
“I was criticized because they thought it wasn’t worth it,” Vernon said.
From Nov. 2003 to Jan. 2004, Vernon brought a lot of antiques from her house to donate to the collection, and many residents from Coalville and elsewhere in the county donated family heirlooms they had as well. The museum now occupies almost the entire basement of the courthouse, and Vernon says it seems space is always lacking.
“As it grew I kept asking for more rooms. And I still need more rooms,” Vernon said.
Each room in the museum has its own theme and aura. From a display of old medical instruments to a 19th-century bedroom to a drug store, a walk in the museum feels like a walk into the past.
One room in particular, the Boyden’s Drug Store room, houses items and memorabilia from the historic Coalville corner drug store now empty. The owners donated many of the items in the room, which include a vast assortment of medicine bottles (one notable bottle included chloroform), an old neon sign, fruit jars and even an old countertop.
Vernon pointed out a notable piece of history on display. John Leslie Boyden, the first owner of Boyden’s Drug Store, was the first registered pharmacist in the state of Utah. He received license No. 1 from the state. Vernon also highlighted her favorite room in the museum.
“I think the kitchen tells a lot about people and their lives,” Vernon said. “There’s also the work that the women did, which we don’t respect sometimes.”
Other themed rooms are dedicated to former and current industries in the county. One features the logging as well as the agricultural history, a blacksmith’s area (complete with two giant bellows) and an office that features the range of technologies throughout the history of the county. In this room, a 1980s computer sits next to old adding machines and typewriters.
A small military room has many donated by the Coalville Lions Club and the American Legion, including old military artifacts, guns, photos and newspaper articles.
The exhibits are annotated with personal stories from pioneers, community and business leaders and just average people.
“It’s a personal thing, so people can come in and relate,” Vernon said. “People can come down here and it’s kind of a self-guided tour.”
A particularly curious exhibit is behind a door which reads, ‘What’s in your Grandma’s closet
“I just want them to go to their grandparents’ and ask them, because we all listen to them and then we wish we would have written the story down,” Vernon said.
Behind the door, among other items, is a skeleton.
“We all have stories we don’t want told, but they’re the ones you need to tell,” Vernon said, referring to the ghoulish artifact.
The importance of our collective history is what keeps Vernon so fascinated with the museum, and she stressed how “a county without a history has none.”
“I’ve learned to respect what people have done before us. I guess it takes getting older to understand history,” Vernon said.
Visitors are welcome at the Summit County Museum in the basement of the Summit County Courthouse at 60 N. Main St. in Coalville Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays by special request.