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This year marks Summit Land Conservancy’s 20th Anniversary as Park City’s local land trust–- 20 years of saving the landscapes that are the heart of our community. The first 20 years of forever…
To honor the places we have protected, we will highlight and share some of the stories about these precious lands and how the Conservancy has grown over the years.
The historical McPolin Farmlands, located along the Park City entry corridor on S.R. 224, is not just an iconic landmark for visitors and full-time residents to enjoy. It was once home to hogs, sheep, chickens and dairy cows. In 2005, the Summit Land Conservancy worked with Park City Municipal to place a permanent conservation easement on the beautiful green pastures that we admire today. The Conservancy is proud to partner with the City and Bill White Farms to return traditional uses to the property which focus on using self-sufficient agricultural practices to increase biodiversity on the land.
“The Osguthorpe family has been farming in the Park City area since 1947 when Doc Osguthorpe bought the 160 acres on Old Ranch Road that became their first property. But Doc’s history in Park City goes back even before that. As a child he rode up from Salt Lake City with his father. They came down what is now White Pine Canyon, and young Doc looked at the big white McPolin barn and thought to himself “I’d sure like to own a barn like that someday.”
As Doc was finishing up the purchase of the property on Old Ranch Road (that we now call the Green Heart of the Basin), the owner of the McPolin farmlands offered to sell Doc that iconic barn along with the surrounding farmland.
For the next forty-four years, the Osguthorpe family ran dairy cows on the property, using the barn and a milking parlor on the east side of the little one-lane road (now Highway 224).
In the late 1980’s, the Utah Department of Transportation was widening Highway 224 into the four-lane expressway that it is now. Doc tried a number of ideas to stop the road expansion, but in the end, facing a condemnation, he sold the beautiful barn and the farm to Park City Municipal in 1991.
The City Council at the time knew that the community wanted the farm to continue to be the iconic gateway into Park City, but developers were already proposing a supermarket and subdivision for the site. The Park City Council passed a resolution saying that property would never be developed, and even restricted use of the existing buildings because the parking is so limited. They formed the Friends of the Farm Committee, which organizes a handful of public events at the farm each year.
In 2007, the City Council agreed that the best tool we have to protect land is a permanent conservation easement held by a nonprofit land trust whose mission is land protection. The Council granted an easement on 120 acres, which included land on both sides of 224. The big barn and the outbuildings are not part of the conservation easement, but the City continues to manage and maintain that barn that Doc so admired all those years ago. Today, that barn and the surrounding open fields are one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Park City.
FYI: The City passed a resolution stating that it would take a super majority of the Council to change the uses of the land. But a Council resolution can be overturned by a simple majority. Tim Henney spoke to the City Council as a member of the Conservancy’s Board, urging the City to use the best tool (a conservation easement) to protect this important community treasure. Mayor Dana Williams signed the easement on behalf of Park City Municipal in November 2007.”
Learn more about the Conservancy’s work and how you can save the lands and waters you cherish at www.wesaveland.org.
Photo Courtesy of Gray Crane Studios
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