As new rides and attractions are added to Lagoon, sometimes it’s necessary to remove an older attraction – often to the dismay of fans. But even then, some remnants are often left behind or repurposed. Here’s a few fragments of the past hiding in plain sight at Lagoon. These are things guests see all the […]
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Out of the hundreds of concerts at Lagoon’s Patio Gardens, some might assume there are many recordings of those concerts available. But in reality, they are extremely rare. For a long time, I thought Stan Kenton’s 1962 concert was the only one. But I was pleasantly surprised recently when a visitor to the website left […]
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The Runway Meets The Midway
Many who have lived in or around Utah for long time will remember ZCMI. For those who are unfamiliar, ZCMI was a regional department store chain that started in Salt Lake City in 1868. The company was eventually sold in 1999 and today the remaining stores have become either Macy’s or Dillard’s. Now for the […]
In 1988, Pioneer Village celebrated its Jubilee year with a week full of music, contests and demonstrations from pioneer life. Although Pioneer Village opened at Lagoon in 1976, it originally opened in Salt Lake City in 1938 by Horace Sorenson, owner of the old Southeast Furniture store who had amassed a large collection of pioneer […]
In May 1968, Lagoon was the setting of a key moment in the history of The Monkees. Although the band was created by Hollywood producers for a TV show beginning in 1966 and media critics nicknamed them the Pre-Fab Four, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork quickly rose to fame as The […]
Frightmares has been an increasingly popular Halloween event at Lagoon for over 20 years now. But before Frightmares, Lagoon tried out a short Christmas event. In November 1994, possibly for the first time ever, Lagoon opened its doors to the public for a post-season holiday celebration. The three-day Pioneer Holiday was basically a community event […]
Thirty years ago, Lagoon was celebrating its 100th birthday. It had only been open in Farmington since 1896, but the park traces its history back to Lake Park which opened on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in 1886. Still, many have wondered why “The Celebration Of A Century” was held a year late […]
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Eyerly Aircraft
How did an aircraft company become a major amusement ride manufacturer when most of their rides didn’t even look like airplanes? It all started with an aspiring pilot and lifelong tinkerer. Born in Illinois in 1892, Lee Eyerly had a natural curiosity for machines. When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to […]
There’s an old documentary about amusement parks called America Screams which aired on PBS in 1978. It was an hour long, but was later whittled down to a half hour when it was released on VHS. This edited version can be seen on YouTube. (The Lagoon sequence starts at the 7:30 mark and ends about […]
Lagoon has reached an impressive milestone this year. Thirteen decades have passed since it began as the Lake Park Bathing Resort on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. In that time, Earth has orbited the sun one hundred and thirty times and traveled millions trillions of miles. Considering the oldest person alive today […]