If the Centennial House Could Talk: Miners, Ski bums, Ghosts, and a New Start
By Meredith Gustman I Townlift News
Long before ski bums and luxury condos, 176 Main Street—better known as the Centennial House—was the site of whispered ghost stories and labor-era unrest. Once a boarding home for miners and now a fixture on the Park City Ghost Tours, the house is rumored to be one of the most haunted in town. Tied to decades of local lore and left untouched for nearly 20 years, the storied home is finally getting a new lease on life, as a major restoration effort breathes new energy into its storied halls.
“We are so excited for this once-in-a-generation historic preservation reconstruction project to revitalize and reconstruct the iconic Centennial House,” said Makenzie Kink Winder, realtor with Windemere Park City.
The Centennial House has been an integral part of Park City since its early mining history, serving as one of the original boarding homes for miners.
Kink Winder also said she and her client were grateful for support from the PC Planning Department, Historic Preservation Board, and many local neighbors in reconstructing the house.
“The home will be restored to its full 1907 former glory and become a beautiful single-family home at the top of Main Street that will be cherished for the next 100+ years,” she said.
The origin of the name “Centennial House” is unclear, and this reporting found no definitive explanation, but the building’s history runs deep.
The Beginning
Mining began in Park City in the 1870s, and until 1901, single miners weren’t allowed to live offsite from the mines where they worked. Companies often took advantage of the system, charging miners inflated prices for housing and essentials, deducting fees directly from paychecks. But that changed in 1901 when Utah passed a bill allowing unmarried miners to seek their own housing, setting off a wave of construction along Main Street.
Joseph Durkin was one of the first to capitalize on the opportunity. He built the Centennial House at 176 Main Street in 1901, a two-story boarding house on upper Main, across from where Grappa now sits. Known at the time as the Durkin Boarding House, it operated as a home for miners, while Joseph lived with his family nearby at 22 Prospect Avenue.
Durkin died just two years later, in 1903. It’s unclear whether he passed away at the Main Street boarding house or at his residence on Prospect. His wife, Mary Durkin, died in 1909 after a prolonged illness, this time at the Durkin House. The Park Record described her as “a good woman” and “one of the oldest residents of the Park,” noting that she and her husband had come to town around 1876. Her death is the earliest confirmed inside the house.
A Long Line of Residents
After the Durkins, the home passed through several hands. Joseph and Assunta Piva ran the boarding house until 1918. D.L.H. Grover, a prominent Chinese American Parkite, bought the property next. His son, Joe Grover, known locally for graciously not charging rent during the Great Depression, eventually inherited it. In 1930, Grover sold it to Hilda Johnson, who lived in the home until 1964.
