Pioneer Village

Stagecoach
1987 PV Logo

QUICK FACTS

  • Pioneer Village is a collection of authentic pioneer buildings and artifacts from around Utah
  • Originally started in 1938 in Salt Lake City by Horace & Ethel Sorenson
  • Most of the collection was purchased by Lagoon and opened in its current location in 1976

CURRENT RIDES & ATTRACTIONS

Bakery
Barber Shop / Millinery
Bigler Cabin
Bingham Cabin
Blacksmith Shop
Carriage Hall
China Shop
Clock Shop
Coalville Chapel
Cobbler Shop
Dentist’s Office
Drug Store
Gingerbread House
Governor Dern Livery Stable / Telephone Museum
Grandma Cristie’s
Gun Collection
Humane Alliance Fountain
Jail
Kaysville Train Station / Model Train Museum
Kellersberger Meat Company
Main Street Clock
Miniature Circus / Toy & Doll Museum
Mormon Craftsmanship Display
Mormon Furniture Exhibit
Music Hall
Old Mill Country Kitchen
Photography Studio
Pioneer Kitchen & Hardware Museum
Pony Express Cabin
Pony Express Centennial Monument
Post Office
Print Shop
Rattlesnake Rapids
Rockport Co-Op
Rockport Schoolhouse
Salt Lake Temple Builders Memorial
Smokehouse
Token, Currency & Silver Collection
Town Hall
Village Green
Wanship Cabin

FORMER RIDES & ATTRACTIONS

Alma Warr General Store
Bonanza Shooting Gallery
D&RGW Railroad Cars
Fort Bell Tower Replica
Lagoon Miniature Railroad
Log Flume
Old Fishin’ Hole
Ox-Drawn Wagon
Pioneer Village Railroad
Pony Express Museum
Stagecoach
Ute Indian Museum

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26 replies on “Pioneer Village”

I am trying to confirm whether the Little Rock Chapel in the Pioneer Village was the one built by Ira N. Hinckley in 1863 in Coalville, Utah. Please contact me if you have information.

Yes, the Rock Chapel in Pioneer Village is the same one built in Coalville in 1863. I have emailed you with more information.

I have sent a response to the email you provided. Let me know if you have further questions.

I have a flyer from Utah Pioneer Village from when I attended in 1963 when it was on Connor Street in SL. Are there any aerial or panorama photos of Pioneer Village from that era? The cover drawing done in 1961 by Roy Olsen is nice but a photo would be better for jogging out memories.

I think I have the same brochure with the drawing. The photo I have on the Ox-Drawn Wagon page isn’t an aerial view, but it shows a lot of the original Pioneer Village. There’s also a photo on flickr that has a better view, but it was after the buildings had been moved to Lagoon. I hope to be updating this page with photos and history soon.

I had read that the Gingerbread House (Alma Gibbons) in Pioneer Village had originated in Rockport, Summit County (as did the School House and Co-op). Can you please tell me its origin?

I understand that the Wanship Cabin came from Rockport. I am wondering why it would be named thus if this is the case.

Thank you,

Alison Pack

The sign Lagoon has in front of the house says it “was built by Alma Gibbons for his bride, Cora Melissa Judd, in 1904. He cut the trees from his property, hauled them to his saw mill, and built the home and gingerbread trim with his own hands.” The last residents of this home were Ted & Lorea Brown. Ted (Thomas Edward) Brown was a grandson of Thomas Gibbons and a nephew to Alma Gibbons.

The schoolhouse was built in 1870. It was constructed of rough-hewn pine logs with a floor made of flat rock and measured 18 feet wide and 28 feet long. It was Rockport’s first public building and was also used for church services and community events until 1892 when a new church and social hall was built in its place. At some point, a new brick schoolhouse was built in Rockport and the old log school became the Relief Society Building.

The Rockport Co-Op operated from 1885 until the 1930s.

The Wanship Cabin was given that name because it was originally built in or near Wanship, a town just a short distance north of Rockport.

Before the Wanship Dam was completed, these buildings were relocated to the original Pioneer Village in Salt Lake City and were on display there for many years before coming to Lagoon. I will have more details and photos about these and other Pioneer Village attractions throughout the coming months.

Thank you for that information. I look forward to seeing more on these buildings.

We are planning a reunion and I was wondering if now you might have any more photos or information on the Rockport buildings and Wanship Cabin. Thank you.

I am interested in the origins of the old post office. Years ago, when I first went to the Pioneer Village in Salt Lake, my father told me it was the Post Office where his grandparents got their mail. He even remembered which box was theirs. But now he is too old to remember which one it was. Do you have any information to back up his story about where the post office originally came from?

That’s interesting. It’s very possible your father was correct. I’ll look into it and let you know what I find out!

According to information about the post office from the Sons Of Utah Pioneers, the post office originally came from Charleston, Utah. It could’ve been very similar to the one your father remembers.

I love the Rock Chapel, as well as all of Pioneer Village, and would like any additional information that you may have about it! Thank you

I am interested in talking to Allison Pack. I have just today seen these queries. I actually lived in that “Gingerbread House” when I was a small child. My family and the family of my aunt and uncle rented the house from Ted and Leora Brown. I would like to talk to Allison Pack to understand her interest in the home.
Dr. Ron Mano, Ph.D.
Draper, Utah

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