Utah Heritage Foundation

Take a step back in time to the grandest home in Utah.

My name is Bill Frey. I work here at the Kearns Mansion as Thomas and Jennie Kearns’ chauffeur and gardener. Rumor has it that five silver coins are hidden somewhere in the Kearns Mansion. Thomas Kearns, after all, is known as “The Silver King.” Will you help me search for the coins?

You will need your best detective skills as we search for the coins. Clues will help you find the rooms where the coins are hidden. To solve the clues, you will need to find out about the Kearns family and they way they lived in the early 1900s.

Let me introduce you to the Kearns family. Thomas Kearns is one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Utah. He owns the Silver King Mining Company in Park City, The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper, and the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City. He also served as a Senator from Utah in Washington D.C. Thomas Kearns wasn’t always rich, though. He came to Park City in 1883 to work in the mines with nothing but the clothes on his back.

Jennie Kearns is a very generous and caring person. She loves children and donates money to many charities. Before she married Thomas, Jennie helped her mother run a boarding house for miners in Park City.

Thomas and Jennie’s three children are Edmund, Thomas, and Helen.

Thomas and Jennie spared no expense building this beautiful mansion in 1902. One newspaper called it “the finest house anywhere in the west.” It has 32 rooms, elegant decorations, and all the most modern technologies. Are you ready to go inside?

Good detectives often get background information from a case report before they begin solving clues. You can learn more about the Kearns family and their home by reading a case report before you start searching for the coins.

Let’s get the first clue!

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Utah Heritage Foundation sincerely thanks the generous donors who made developing The Kearns Mansion and the Secret Silver possible:

• The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation
• Humaniz Interactive, Inc.
• The C. Comstock Clayton Foundation

All historic photos used with permission of the Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved.

Game design by Humaniz Interactive, Inc.

The historical information in this game is as accurate as possible. The information used to develop the game was researched in reputable, published sources. Any inaccuracies are unintentional.