This 130-Year-Old Amusement Park In Utah Will Have You Missing The Old Days

By David Clarke 3 min read

Extreme thrill seekers are always looking for their next fix, whether that be bungee jumping, skydiving, or some other terrifying activity. The less extreme thrill seekers usually turn to a less dangerous but still exciting activity like riding a rollercoaster.

Amusement parks have changed a lot over the years. From the classic carnival style with a range of games and tamer activities to the parks that exist today with their sky high roller coasters with steep drops. It might not be skydiving, but it can still provide quite a rush!

While new amusement parks obviously have a lot of appeal since they’re always packed with people, there’s still something about the old-fashioned amusement parks that holds a special place in our hearts.

One of the oldest parks around is in Farmington, Utah, and it’s currently in the midst of celebrating its 130th year in business. The Lagoon has a fantastic blend of modern engineered wonders and features more typical of a classic carnival.

Dating back to 1886, Lagoon was once part of the Lark Park Resort situated on the Great Salt Lake. Eventually, the lake’s water level started falling precipitously and the park was forced to move. Simon Bamberger was the Governor at the time and he decided to move the park to Farmington in 1896.

Lagoon’s new location turned out to be the perfect spot once the Salt Lake & Ogden Railroad opened up and people were able to conveniently travel to the park as a weekend getaway.

Most of the inventions we see today in amusement parks didn’t exist at the time, so the main attractions of Lagoon were bowling, water sports, music, and dancing. Since then Lagoon has grown rapidly and adopted many of the modern toys featured in most amusement parks.

Lagoon now features 53 rides and 10 roller coasters, but their first legitimate thrill ride, Shoot-the-Chutes, opened in 1899. It also built an incredible wooden carousel in 1893 called the Herschell-Spillman Carousel and was officially included in the park in 1906. The wooden carousel is a classic ride with few of its kind still surviving today, so it’s definitely worth checking out!

Jon Miller built many of the famous rides on Coney Island, and he also built the “White” roller coaster featured in Lagoon in 1921. As is a problem with wooden rides, part of it was ravished by a fire in 1953. Since then it’s been restored, and now Lagoon has expanded to steel roller coasters with a total of nine built after 1976.

An interesting piece of trivia is that the Lagoon has always been a family-owned and operated amusement park. The Freed family took over the Lagoon after it closed during World War II and fell into disrepair, but after restoring it they’re still in charge today.

With its amazing history and fun assortment of rides, Lagoon is well-worth checking out. Check out the YouTube video below if you’re not convinced!