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Show Special Edition Page 10 Town History With Silver Lining Continued From Page 7 received its statehood in 1896. The Great Fire struck on June 19, 1898. It started in the American Hotel and devastated Main Street, razing almost every building. The conflagration left 500 homeless, caused more than a million dollars in property damage and had many outsiders writing Park City's obituary. But the heat of the flames forged a collective character that was stronger than before. The Parkites were more than a match for the catastrophe and the city was soon rebuilt. The mining and the city continued to prosper until 1907 when a national depression sent silver prices downward and a cave-in at the Ontario curtailed production. The storm was weathered, however, and conditions improved the following year But with some of the smaller mines unable to withstand the economic fluctuations, a trend toward consolidation began. In 1919 the Walsh-Pittman Act set the price of silver at a minimum one dollar an ounce, igniting another boom period. Ski jumping on the local mountains also enjoyed a boom at this time with Alf Engen an'd the Utah Ski Club visiting Park City in 1922. The Twenties were a pleasurable period for Park City until it, along with the rest of the country, was slapped by the Crash of '29 Silver prices plummeted to 25 cents an ounce and unemployment was rampant. Prices began to rise in 1933 and the city was, once again, on the mend. But prices and consequently, the city's fortunes continued to fluctuate through the Thirties and into the mid-Forties. It was in 1945 that Park City Continued on Page 14 m " ' ' 'Jit ,f The Great Fire of 1898 destroyed nearly all of Main St. Photo: Courtesy of Main St. Photographers. Jdntiques 'international 3 ' if ' ML r mi w Mr 11 f Ecuadorian Sweaters 4 Gold Museum Pieces 4 120 yr. old English Victorian Ceramics 4 Exact Reproductions of the Bogota Columbia, 4 French, German, Swiss, Austrian, Antique Clocks Columbian Ceramic Jewelry 1780 -1840 French & Spanish Lithographs Equadorian Hand Embroidered shirts, skirts, vests, smocks Columbian Hand Embroidered Sandals nc. |