Frank Edward Peterson was born to Charles John Peterson and Mary Christina Petersen on Nov. 22, 1891, in Draper  He was one of 11 children. His siblings included Victor, Violet, Cecil, Clarence, Leland, Charles, Goldie, and Maurine — all who were alive when he went to war — and two siblings who died as babies named Olive and William. 

Frank graduated from Park City High School, as his family lived in Snyderville. Frank was in his third year at Brigham Young University and working on his father’s farm when he enlisted in the Marines on April 11, 1917. Two of his brothers also enlisted around that time.

Frank earned the title of Private Peterson and was assigned to the 2^nd Division, 18^th Company, and 5^th Regiment. He was sent to the Marine barracks on Mare Island in Vallejo, California, northeast of San Francisco. The barracks were taken down in 1986. He was then sent to Quantico, Virginia, and on July 29, 1917 was one of the first Americans to be deployed to France during World War I.

Frank participated in the Battle of Belleau Wood, which is one of the most legendary battles in Marine Corps history. They were tasked with capturing a fiercely defended mile-square French hunting preserve from the German army. The battle lasted almost four weeks and many soldiers lost their lives. Unfortunately, Frank was one of those who never made it home. 

An official notice arrived at a local recruiting station that explained what happened to Frank during the battle: “Private Frank E. Petersen started up carrying a 50-pound Chauchat rifle. One ammunition carrier dropped wounded. Peterson shouldered the heavy clips. A minute later, a second carrier dropped. Peterson added this ammunition to his own burden and reached the spot picked out for him, packing the rifle and all the ammunition. Peterson maintained his position and obeyed orders to hold on until the last. He obeyed orders, accounted for many of the enemy, and in doing so gave up his own life for his country.”

Frank was gravely wounded in the battle on French soil on June 12, 1918, and died two days later on June 14 at the age of 26. He was the first Summit County man to be killed in actual warfare. 

The American Legion Posts from Park City and Draper arranged the funeral. They had some members meet his body on arrival, selected pall bearers from the Marines in Salt Lake City, and named people for a firing squad for his funeral.

The Park City American Legion chapter was chartered during World War I, and so it was fitting that the post be named after the young Summit County man who was the first to lose his life at war. It remains the Frank E. Peterson Post #14 today. The American Legion was developed to provide war veterans a place to maintain the bonds of fellowship and service that they had in uniform after arriving home.  

Frank was buried in the Draper City Cemetery. The inscription on his gravestone states: “He gave his life on the battlefields of France that others might live in peace and liberty.”

His parents wrote a letter to The Park Record thanking everyone for their kindness and letting people know that their son’s remains were buried in Draper, which was his original hometown.

“Park City Loves A Parade: Our Parades, Processions and Protests from Past to Present” runs in the Museum’s Tozer Gallery until April 4, 2027. Learn all about the creative and interesting ways Parkites have celebrated our town, mourned our loved ones, and stood up for our beliefs, including parades and funeral processions related to World War I

Diane Knispel is the Park City Museum director of education.

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There has been a lot of discussion in town about the post office recently, so today we are writing about the history of the post office in Park City. 

In 1880, the U.S. Postal Service started mail service in Park City. There were a few locations for the postal building over the years, as the Postal Service rented different buildings based on its needs at the time and the space available on Main Street. 

The first known location was on the east side of Main Street, which burned down in the Great Fire of 1898. A quickly constructed shack was put in its place until the town was rebuilt.  

In 1899, a few businessmen raised money to help put a new post office in town at 401 Main Street. That building is no longer there, as it burned down in 1973, but a new building was put in its place (where LaNiche is located today). 

By the late 1900s, Park City was a booming silver mining town, and there was a need for a bigger post office. In 1908, U.S. Rep. Joseph Howell and Sen. Reed Smoot asked the government for a permanent federal post office building in Park City. Between trying to convince the government to give the money to Park City for the new federal building, finding the land to construct the post office, and acquiring the land from landowners, a new building was not built until 1921. 

There were many discussions in town about the placement of the post office. The city was most concerned that it needed to be located in the business center and close to the railroad depots. A committee was formed, which finally decided to build the post office where the old bank in town burned down during the Great Fire, as it was never rebuilt — this would allow the post office to also be located on a corner lot. The location was at 450 Main St., where our post office remains today. 

The original post office was a small cement building featuring Greek Revival architecture. It had a transom window and pillars by the door. Greek Revival was popular during 1830-60, so it was unusual that in 1920 a building was designed using this style. The construction supervisor also asked for more money from Congress to add sidewalks near the building. 

The post office quickly started running out of space in the 1960s, as the town went from a dwindling mining community to a ski tourism town. The post office was remodeled and expanded in 1965, and again in 1975. 

All sides of the original building had additions, so the building doesn’t look like it did back in 1921. The Postal Service paid for additions, as they realized more room was needed for workspace and lock boxes. They owned the ground where the additions were built and where gardens, maintained by the post office staff, used to be located.

In 1979, Park Meadows, Holiday Ranch Loop Road, and Prospector went to home delivery due to a shortage of boxes.

In 1982, a new branch office called the Emporium Station was built on Kearns Boulevard to help with postal services and more lock boxes to accommodate Park City’s growing population. It was small, in a poor location, and didn’t have enough parking.

The newer post office on Park Avenue opened in 2001 and the Emporium station on Kearns Boulevard was closed. This new branch helped give the community more lock boxes that were so desperately needed at the time, and it still serves residents outside of Old Town and Deer Valley (though several of the neighborhoods do have mailbox service).

A post office for Old Town Park City has always been essential. It will continue to be so, as Old Town residents do not get home mailbox delivery. 

The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History and Park City Museum are offering a free ski tour visiting several mining history locations on Park City Mountain on the afternoon of Feb. 11. For details and to RSVP, visit the Museum website.

Diane Knispel is the Park City Museum’s director of education.

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One of Park City’s greatest historical resources, the Glenwood Cemetery, is located at the end of Silver King Drive and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been in existence since 1885, created by the fraternal organizations in town as they were looking for a place to bury their members who were dying in the mines. 

Fraternal organizations provided health insurance and burial benefits for their members as the mine companies refused to offer any kind of benefits to their employees in the early days.

The fraternal societies also gave the men opportunities to socialize with other members. Some men were part of multiple fraternal organizations. Men who farmed or who owned businesses on Main Street could also be part of fraternal organizations, as they needed insurance for their families, too. 

Wives of these men were sometimes able to join sister auxiliary organizations, where they could meet and socialize with other women in town. 

With all of this in mind, the fraternal organizations approached the Thiriot family around 1885 and purchased three acres from them to form a cemetery. The Thiriot family then donated two more acres, leaving the cemetery at five acres, which it still is today.   

The fraternal organizations in town during our mining days included the Knights of Pythias, Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks, Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen of America, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of the Oddfellows, Loyal Order of the Moose, Ancient Order of United Workers, and others.

As mines consolidated and closed, the membership in the fraternal organizations dwindled, and most dissolved and/or left Park City. The Elks are the only ones that remain active in Park City today.

If you walk through the Glenwood Cemetery (please do, it’s open to the public, or join one of our guided tours in the summer), you will see the many insignias from the various fraternal organizations on the gravestones.

Let’s talk a little bit about a few of the people who were part of these organizations and who are buried in the cemetery.

Robert Bennie was an active member of the Masons and is buried in the Masonic plot of the cemetery. He was a miner employed by the Daly West Mine and died of “obstruction of the bowels.”  Robert also had rheumatism which caused him to be unable to work for the last few years of his life. Robert lived with his brother James’ family in the years leading up to his death. James and his son William both died young from miner’s consumption and are buried nearby.

Richard Barrett was in multiple fraternal organizations including the Masons, AOUW, and the IOOF.  He chose the IOOF plot for burial, where he and his wife, Annie, both reside today. Annie was in the Orders of the Eastern Star and Daughters of Rebecca organizations, and she was active in their church and community. Richard died of miner’s consumption at the age of 51, and Annie died years later of old age. 

Mabel and Fred Tregunna are also buried in the Glenwood. Fred was involved with the Knights of the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias. Mable became a member of the Lady Maccabees, which was the first auxiliary organization operated exclusively by women. It was a social club, but also offered its members insurance in case something happened to their husbands. Fred and Mabel both died of the Spanish Flu in 1918 and are buried in their plot within the Knights of Pythias section.

The Park City Museum is hosting a lecture on the history and care of Glenwood Cemetery, given by longtime Glenwood benefactor and Museum Board member Barbara Martz on Oct. 23 from 5-6 p.m. at the Museum’s Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. 

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