Shoreline resorts give way to fun park
Shoreline resorts give way to fun park BY BOB MICKELSON Clipper Staff Writer FARMINGTON — Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s any city that was a city had have some kind of resort park, a place offering dinning, dancing, picnicking, swimming and other entertainment. Reminiscent of ocean front resorts like New York icon Coney Island, they sought to take advantage of any available water — lake, pond or man-made impoundment. Utah’s experience falls some where in the middle — with a massive lake that, like the ocean, consisted of salt water. Better yet, the high salt content meant bathers could bob around in it like corks and never sink. Enterprising souls opened the lake shore to bathers between the 1870s and the late 1890s. These first resorts offered boats, changing rooms and other activities. More than half of these Great Salt Lake resorts were in Davis County. The first to open was called Lake Side in South Farmington. John W. Young operated the pleasure grounds near Farmington and in 1872 made it the home port for the
Lake Park Bathing Resort, on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in west Farmington, was Simon Bamberger’s first venture into a resort. converted freight steamboat City of Corinne. Moonlight excursions
The 1953 Lagoon fire left both trees and rides shadows of their former selves. 22 Clipper 115th Anniversary
were now a part of the entertainment menu. In the end, however, it wasn’t boats, but railroads that brought the crowds to these lakeside resorts, just like their big city counterparts. One of these was Lake Park. Located in west Farmington, Lake Park replaced Lake Side, which had faded away under pressure from other shoreline establishments. Located on 215 acres of land, Lake Park attracted 50,000 visitors in just its second year of operation. Each of those guests paid a 50 cent train fare to reach the facility on a spur line installed by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Lake Park offered bathhouses, picnic kiosks, a shooting gallery, band concerts, race track and an
open-air dance pavilion. Rental cottages, a restaurant, rowboats and island cruises were added. In 1887, one year after Lake Park opened, the Syracuse Bathing Resort dived in providing fine beaches and deeper water. Soon more than 100 bathhouses, freshwater showers, a horse drawn merry-go-round, a restaurant, boating, special concerts, baseball games and picnicking pavilions followed. For nearly six years Lake Park, Syracuse and other resorts battled over recreationists’ dollars. But Mother Nature had the last word and the Great Salt Lake’s receding shoreline eventually forced all the resorts to close. When Salt Air opened in 1893, only the nearby Garfield resort was still open, and it burned down 1904.
Davis County Clipper
Lake Park Bathing Resort, on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in west Farmington, was Simon Bamberger’s first venture into a resort. converted freight steamboat City of Corinne. Moonlight excursions
The 1953 Lagoon fire left both trees and rides shadows of their former selves. 22 Clipper 115th Anniversary
were now a part of the entertainment menu. In the end, however, it wasn’t boats, but railroads that brought the crowds to these lakeside resorts, just like their big city counterparts. One of these was Lake Park. Located in west Farmington, Lake Park replaced Lake Side, which had faded away under pressure from other shoreline establishments. Located on 215 acres of land, Lake Park attracted 50,000 visitors in just its second year of operation. Each of those guests paid a 50 cent train fare to reach the facility on a spur line installed by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Lake Park offered bathhouses, picnic kiosks, a shooting gallery, band concerts, race track and an
open-air dance pavilion. Rental cottages, a restaurant, rowboats and island cruises were added. In 1887, one year after Lake Park opened, the Syracuse Bathing Resort dived in providing fine beaches and deeper water. Soon more than 100 bathhouses, freshwater showers, a horse drawn merry-go-round, a restaurant, boating, special concerts, baseball games and picnicking pavilions followed. For nearly six years Lake Park, Syracuse and other resorts battled over recreationists’ dollars. But Mother Nature had the last word and the Great Salt Lake’s receding shoreline eventually forced all the resorts to close. When Salt Air opened in 1893, only the nearby Garfield resort was still open, and it burned down 1904.
Davis County Clipper
