In 1893, laborers in Park City joined together to form the Western Federation of Miners Union #144. One of the priorities for the miners was to address the availability of healthcare due to the dangers of mining and the town's remote location. There were some doctors in Park City but no medical facilities and miners had to travel thirty miles to Salt Lake City for emergency care, an especially difficult journey in winter.

The Union began to raise funds for a local hospital in December 1903. This took cooperation from the community and union alike. Eliza Nelson donated the one-acre section of land where the hospital was originally built. The spot, also known as Nelson Hill, was away from the noise and potential fire danger of the city. It was also ideal because of plentiful sunshine and fresh air. The site is now the northwest corner of the parking lot at the Park City resort near Thaynes Canyon.

Construction started in April 1904 and was completed that October. The building was designed by Henry Campbell. The dedication services began with all in attendance singing "America." Reverend J.H. Murray of the Methodist church gave the dedicatory prayer. LDS Bishop Fred Rasband and Reverend D.G. Graybill of the Congregational church also made remarks. Colonel William M. Ferry, mine owner and philanthropist, was the featured speaker.

The Miners Hospital served Park City's medical needs for thirty years under the Union. In the 1930s it was sold and run as a private clinic. In the late 1960s and 1970s it functioned as a restaurant, bar, skier dorms, and a hostel.

In the late 1970s plans were made to demolish the hospital and develop the land into a condominium unit, hotel, and conference center. Citizens of Park City rallied together to save the hospital. It took two days to move the 400-ton building to its present location at City Park on Park Avenue. Voters approved a bond to turn the hospital into a public library. It was renovated in 1981 and opened in 1982. The building is listed on the state and national registers of historic places.

The Miners Hospital at City Park is the headquarters of this year's Historic Home Tour. The neighborhood featured on the tour this year encompasses lower Park and Woodside avenues. Please join us this Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. 3 p.m. to learn more about the history of this unique area of our town. Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for non-members. For more information call the Park City Museum at 435-649-7457 or visit our website at www.ParkCityHistory.org.

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Our series on women's history would be remiss not to touch upon prostitution. It was a fact of mining town life that some women had no choice but to sell their bodies for a living.

Rachel Beulah Urban was a brothel madam and one of Park City's most well-known characters. Born in Ohio to Irish immigrants, it's likely that Rachel was a prostitute in her younger years. She was 25 and had already been married and divorced when she first came to town with her only surviving child, a baby girl named Florence. About nine years later, in 1898, she married George Urban, a local miner and carpenter.

Rachel had a big heart, giving generously to the poor and needy. She was a large woman, weighing about 200 pounds, with a peg leg and a pet parrot that swore at passersby from the front porch. As a madam, Rachel took good care of her girls, which is likely how she got her nickname "Mother Urban." She wanted them to be cultured and educated. They weren't allowed to walk the streets and if they broke the rules, she bought them a one-way ticket on a train out of town.

In most Western mining towns, red light districts were adjacent to the railroad. This was true for Park City, as well. In the 1890s, the red light district was near the train station on Heber Avenue (now Zoom Restaurant). In 1907, many Parkites protested its presence so close to homes and businesses. The city forced the district further east up what is now Deer Valley Drive. It's likely George Urban put his carpentry skills to work building the sixteen "houses of ill repute" often called "the Row" or "the Line."

Mother Urban's house was at 346 Heber Avenue, near the corner of Swede Alley. Called the "Purple Parlor," it had lace curtains and fancy furniture. Miners came for socializing, drinks, and gambling. There was no charge to visit the girls on the main floor. If the miners went upstairs, they paid $2.50. It was $10.00 to stay the whole night. At the time, most miners made about $3.00 a day. According to historian Cheryl Livingston, "Mother Urban always held a Christmas party for [bachelor miners] and it was considered a respectable place where they could gather The mining company's owners seemed to regard Rachel Urban as providing a valued and much needed service."

The city was aware of her business but didn't want to shut her down, as it was profitable for them, too. Each month, Urban would walk up to City Hall and pay her fines: $40 for herself as madam and $20 per prostitute.

In 1933, at age 69, Rachel Urban died of stomach cancer. She was buried in the Park City Cemetery. In his book Death and Dying in Old Park City, Gary Kimball noted, "she was honored with one of the most impressive funerals in Park City history." Funeral expenses totaled $515, a small fortune in the era of the Great Depression.

Sources:

Kimball, Gary. Death and Dying in Old Park City. Park City: Tramway Books, 2005.

Livingston, Cheryl. "Mother Rachel Urban." In Worth Their Salt: Notable but Often Unnoted Women of Utah, ed. Colleen Whitley. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996.

MacKell, Jan. Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2009. See page 315.

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Legend has it that in 1910, Kid Parker a common nickname for Robert Leroy Parker, or, as we might know him better, "Butch Cassidy" entered the Oak Saloon at 12:30 a.m. and asked for a cup of coffee. He then pulled out a six shooter and told everyone to give him their gold. He got about $600 worth of goods and, as he was leaving, said he would be back for more.

Or so it goes.

In truth, this "Kid Parker" was most likely a copycat of Butch Cassidy. Understandably, many young outlaws in the "Wild West" took on the alias of their hero when committing their crimes.

The real Robert Leroy Parker, the oldest of thirteen children, was born April 13, 1866 in Beaver, Utah, about 200 miles south of Park City. His grandfather, also named Robert Parker, was from Preston, England, where he converted to the Mormon religion and immigrated to Utah with the McArthur Enoch 2nd Handcart Company.

When Robert Leroy Parker left home at eighteen, he worked on farms and ranches. He was later a butcher in Wyoming, where he picked up the nickname "Butch." He met and worked with rancher Mike Cassidy whom he admired enough to take on his last name, thus becoming known as "Butch Cassidy."

Parker's first offense was a mild one. He stole a pair of jeans from a closed store and left an IOU on the counter, fully intending to pay for them later. The owner, apparently feeling unforgiving, pressed charges and the ordeal ended in an acquittal. Parker was later part of a group of ten criminals called the "Wild Bunch" and took on bigger crimes such as robbing the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado. One of his partners in crime was Henry Alonzo Longabaugh, known as "The Sundance Kid," famously portrayed by Robert Redford in the 1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Their adventures in crime included bank robberies, dozens of train robberies, and even murder.

There are many theories about how, where, and when Butch Cassidy died. Most believe he died from a gunshot wound in Bolivia in 1908, making it physically impossible for him to have robbed the Oak Saloon here in Park City in 1910. Others maintain he faked his death in Bolivia and returned to America to live and work for the rest of his days in Nevada.

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After finishing school, Tom joined the Marines, where he played in the Marine Corps Band. When he returned to Park City, he moved back into 10 Daly to care for his aging parents. He met and married Susan Bruun, originally from California. Tom worked as a purchasing agent for United Park City Mines and Susan worked for the post office. Tom died of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2000. Susan still lives at 10 Daly and remains active in the community.

The interior of the house was rebuilt in 2004 due to a faulty foundation. An addition was built on the southwest side at that time. The exterior wood was carefully disassembled and reapplied after remodeling so as to retain its original, historic character. Many artifacts were kept and reinstalled after the remodel including chandeliers and doors. The home still has the family's antique china cupboard and hutch. Before renovations, the home consisted of a front room, bedroom, small kitchen, bathroom, and coal shed. A coal stove was in the middle of the front room but was removed in 1964 when natural gas was installed. The home now has an additional bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, storage room, and an updated kitchen.

The backyard is also full of history. A tower built by Tom Martinez holds the "Ski Team" chair from Park City Mountain Resort. There are also ore cars used as planters, and up against a tree is a rusted out truck door that was excavated when the home was remodeled.

If you are interested in viewing this and other historic homes of Park City's "Upper town" neighborhood, please join us for our annual Historic Home Tour on Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for members and $20 for non-members. For more information please call the Park City Museum at 435-649-7457 or visit our website at parkcityhistory.org .

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