Premiered June 27, 2013
Why does Park City have a parking garage called “China Bridge”?
This is Hope Woodside with your weekly Park City History Bit.
Chinese immigrants made their way to Park City around 1881, and about 300 men, women and children lived in the area that is now Swede Alley, working as waiters, cooks, porters and laundrymen. Against the drab backdrop of mining life, their funeral processions were so big and colorful that the police would be called in to help. Non-Chinese Parkites also found curiosity in the fireworks they lit during the Chinese New Year. Residents of Rossi Hill looked down on the Chinese both literally and figuratively and built a bridge from their neighborhood to Main Street to avoid walking through Chinatown. The bridge spanned the location where the China Bridge parking structure sits today. The fire of 1898 destroyed Chinatown completely, and many Chinese left Park City at this time.
This Park City History Bit is brought to you by the Park City Museum, where you can explore Park City history every day on Main Street, and sponsored by Julie Hopkins of Keller Williams Real Estate.
