Summit County Courthouse

The Courthouse in Summit County didn't always reside in Coalville. The first Courthouse was located in Wanship, which is an easy five-minute drive from Coalville. The first recorded use of the Wanship courthouse was in June of 1866, but by 1871 Coalville was greatly prospering in the discovery of Coal and business was thriving in conjunction with the adjacent town of Echo and the Union Pacific Railroad. The People of Coalville Appealed to move the county seat to their town, and in 1872 A two-story brick building was built and Coalville authoritatively got to be the seat of Summit County. The previous Summit District Courthouse in Wanship commenced in 1871 and was utilized as a courthouse and imprison.

The competition commenced in 1880 when Park City was moving towards a petition to move the county seat. Park City had discovered silver in the 1860s and was rapidly growing economically, residentially, and structurally. The idea of a petition to move the seat from Coalville to Park City was not taken lightly by the Coalville residents. In 1895 Park City had officially announced their proposal to move the seat to Park City. Their proposal was to construct a building that was suitable for the county and would cost no less than $10,000. However, when it came down to the vote, the petition to move the seat narrowly lost and was denied.

In 1903 the Commissioners of Summit County proposed that a new courthouse be constructed. The county wouldn't pay any more than $20,000 and wanted to obtain resources from locals in order to keep the revenue within the county. Luckily, J.H Salmon, one of the contractors that were hired, owned his own quarry that had hand-carved white sandstone, so the sandstone was chiseled out of the quarry and used in the construction. In 1904 the new County Courthouse was complete. The new courthouse has a similar design to that of the Salt Lake County Courthouse with its Romanesque Revival style.

By the time the 1970s rolled around, Summit County had been growing exponentially which led to the need for the courthouse to grow as well. In 1979 the jailhouse portion of the courthouse was torn down and a new jailhouse was built as well as an extra courtroom. The historic part of the building has now been renovated, the ceilings were lowered and covered with wood paneling, and the windows were replaced to give it a modern 1970s look.

The Summit County Courthouse has been moved, replaced, and renovated a lot since its original structure and location, but history has allowed the courthouse to remain in Coalville. Despite Coalville no longer being the center of Summit County economically, it's still a great place for the location of the courthouse because the style in which the courthouse was built complements the rustic atmosphere of the town and gives the people of Coalville pride due to the value the town gives to the county. The Summit County Courthouse stands as a tribute that they can hold onto to the old and bring in the new with manner, sympathy, and unmerited favor.

Summit County Courthouse, Historical sites . Accessed December 8th 2020. https://www.summitcounty.org/134/Summit-County-Courthouse.

Notarianni , Philip F. Utah SP Summit County Courthouse, National Archives Catalog . December 15th 1978. Accessed December 8th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/72001785.

History of the Summit County Courthouse, Summit County Utah . Accessed December 8th 2020. https://www.summitcounty.org/801/History-of-the-Summit-County-Courthouse