St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School

The Saint Mary of the Assumption Church and School in Park City, Utah is the oldest extant Roman Catholic church in Utah. The present church was built in 1884 after a fire destroyed an earlier church during July 4 celebrations. The first church was built in 1881 to serve Park City's largely non-Mormon mining community, an anomaly in the Mormon-dominated state. The mining boom in the area around Park City brought miners, many of them Catholic, from all parts of the country.The church and school are located next to each other with a connection to the rear. Both buildings are rectangular buff limestone structures, the school two stories in height, the church taller, but one story in height. The church features a large Gothic arch at the center entrance, flanked by large sash windows, with two smaller sashes close together in the loft over the main arch. A small wooden belfry tops the church. The school, to the left of the church, has a similar but smaller facade, the Gothic arch replaced by a plain rectangular doorway, with a flue in place of the church's belfry. Since both buildings are on a hillside above the street, the lot is fronted by a tall stone retaining wall.The church and school were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 1970. The main church has been relocated and the historic church is referred to as the Old Town Chapel.