Park City marks Historic Preservation Month with McPolin Farm celebration

After the coalition building burned on July 20, 1981, McPolin Farm was considered the last big landmark in town. That is the backdrop for Park City’s Historic Preservation Celebration at the McPolin Barn, a free public gathering that will put one of Summit County’s most visible open-space investments back at the center of the conversation about what preservation protects, and what it keeps off the market.

Park City Municipal will host the event Friday, May 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the barn on Highway 224. The open-house format will bring together Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History, Friends of the Farm, the Park City Museum, Preservation Utah and the Utah State Historic Preservation Office. Guests will be able to visit partner tables, weigh in on city initiatives, hear music from DJ Silver King, and take brief barn tours from Friends of the Farm members. A community memory station, including a video booth, will invite residents to share stories about favorite historic sites, and the city is also asking people to submit old photos, plats, maps and other documents ahead of time or bring them to the event.

The celebration is also a reminder of the financial and land-use choices behind McPolin’s preservation. Park City bought the 126-acre farm on both sides of Highway 224 and 80 acres of PC Hill for $4.4 million in 1990 from the Osguthorpe family. The farm was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, and a permanent conservation easement was signed in 2007 to protect the property’s natural, scenic, recreation and visual open-space values. In a town where every acre can carry development pressure, McPolin is the city’s argument that preservation is not just about memory, but about land-use control.

The farm’s history runs through several ownership eras. The Harrison McLane family homesteaded the land in 1886. The McPolin family owned it from 1897 to 1947, followed by the Osguthorpe family from 1947 to 1990. The white barn, completed in 1922, reflects Improvement Era dairy methods and has required steady work to remain standing. Park City completed major barn renovations in 2016, including a new roof, steel framing, interior shear walls, new footings and wooden roof trusses. Earlier preservation work included barn stabilization in 1992, reconstruction of the machine shed in 1999 and restoration of smaller outbuildings in 2002.

The city says the property has served more than one purpose over time, with trails, local history interpretation, limited agriculture and regenerative agriculture all part of its use. That mix is what makes McPolin more than a postcard. It is public land, protected land and an economic decision, one that helps define the scenic identity Park City markets to visitors while limiting what can be built on one of its most prominent parcels. No on-site parking will be available for the celebration, and the city will offer free parking and a shuttle from the North Marsac Lot at City Hall and the surface lot at 1420 Munchkin Road from 3:30 to 7 p.m., along with a bike valet on site.