Lake Side, between Kaysville and Farmington, the first Great Salt Lake resort

      The Lake Side resort was located a mile or so north of this area, along the Great Salt Lake.

THE first established resort along the shores of the Great Salt Lake is also perhaps the most obscure and forgotten -- "Lake Side."
Located between Farmington and Kaysville, the first mention of the resort was in the June 9, 1870 edition of the Salt Lake Herald newspaper.
The Utah Central Railroad had a "Lake Side Station" in 1870 and passengers from Salt Lake paid $1 for a fare there. Then, it was a half-mile walk west to the actual resort.
John W. Young, a son of Brigham Young, established the resort. (John Young was an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and later was a First Counselor in the First Presidency.)
Haight's Grove provided shade at Lake Side resort and in 1870, it was another 440 yard walk to the actual Great Salt Lake water.
Lake Side later, in 1872,  became more well known as a stopping point for the steamer, "City of Corrine" as it boated on the lake between there and Lake Point, on the south end of the briny waters. Such a boat cruise lasted three hours (Salt Lake Herald May 8, 1872).
It was a good thing for the boating at Lake Side, because a May 22, 1872 Deseret News story stated that the resort itself had a Marshy bottom" for land. The reporter noted that for 30 or 40 dollars worth of labor, a good trail could be created for passengers walking from the Lake Side train station to the boat ramp.
However, once the reporter caught sight of the City of Corrine Steamer, he stressed how large and streamlined it was, drawing all attention away from the bleak shoreline around the Great Salt Lake.
By July of 1883, the Salt Lake Herald of July 19, 1883 stated that a new pleasure boat offered trips from Lake Side.
The resort's final newspaper mention was in the summer of 1886 in the July 27 issue of the Salt Lake Herald. That was likely its final season and it is probably no coincidence that Simon Bamberger's much better developed "Lake Park" resort a few miles south premiered that summer. (That was the forerunner to Lagoon.)

The boat’s Corrine name was later changed to Garfield, according to the Salt Lake Herald newspaper of July 31, 1910.

This was a large stern wheelboat, really made for use on a river, like the Mississippi, and not so safe on the Great Salt Lake, as passengers were said to attest.

One of the final trips the boat made included some 75 passengers, with a Captain Dorris at the helm. The boat left from the south end of the lake, with the destination being Promontory Point on the north end.

However, a heavy storm struck almost immediately and the captain lost control of the boat. It drifted toward Antelope Island and as darkness set in, all attempts to anchor the boat failed. It was daybreak before boat control was regained. The danger had kept most of the passengers from even eating as the storm was so fierce and the danger so high.

 -And, yes, it is all the "Lake" names of the historic resorts along the Great Salt Lake that make examining them so confusing ...

     Farmington's Buffalo Trail is located slightly south of where the Lake Side resort was located.

A History of All 8 former Great Salt Lake Bathing Resorts

     The south shore of the Great Salt Lake, as viewed from Antelope Island's highest point.


By Lynn Arave

PIONEERS and early settlers were fanatically attracted to the Great Salt Lake, a vastly salty body of water with no outlet -- and where bathers could "float like a cork."
Bathing resorts along the GSL sprang up starting in 1870, with 8 different locations in its heyday, but none have survived the decades.
The lake's fickle habit of greatly shrinking and then enlarging played havoc on the beach fronts of the resorts over the years.
The public also soon favored fresh water swimming, or hot springs over a briny experience. 
And, the popularity of the automobile also meant that Utahns could drive to the mountains, out of state -- basically to places not rigidly set by railroad travel only. (Most GSL lake resorts had railroad access and were even created to drive passenger traffic to the rails.)
One key confusing element of the former Great Salt Lake resorts was the overuse of the term "Lake" in resort titles. This led to plenty of historical confusion over the years and some resorts had their histories incorrectly mixed-up with other resorts.
For example, Lake Side in Kaysville is sometimes confused with Lake Park in Farmington. The local history book, "Layton, Utah," by the Kaysville-Layton Historical Society (1985) somehow managed to confused Lake Side with Lake Park. This is significant because Lake Park eventually moved eastward and became Lagoon Amusement Park, the largest such establishment in the Intermountain West.

(In addition, if you were to believe some of these mixed-up histories, you would surmise wrongly that Lagoon started in 1870 and not 16 years later in 1886.)

Note also that the Lake Shore resort is also sometimes confused with the Syracuse resort.

      Davis County 4th graders playing in the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island, reminiscent of yesteryear.

One big void in the 8 lake resorts' geography was a lack of any GSL resort that Ogden, Utah's second largest city at the time, could lay claim to. However, Ogden had plans for such a resort to be built in the Promonory Point/Little Mountain area, directly west of today's 12th Street in Ogden. However, that dream never became a reality, though it was promoted heavily from 1912-1923.

-Here are some capsule historical glances at all 8 of the former Great Salt Lake resorts of yesteryear:


1. Lake Side was located southwest of Kaysville (but close to the Farmington border) and opened in June of 1870. It was probably the first-ever standard attraction along the lake's shore.

It monopolized the resort trade for several years with numerous church and family outings. John W. Young, third son of Brigham Young, built it. This Young had part ownership in the Utah Central Railroad.

A key highlight of the resort was that it eventually featured a 25-cent ride on the City of Corinne, a steamboat, going to Lake Point on the south shore. This former commercial ship on the lake took tourists during the 1872 season only on excursions. The boat could carry 100 passengers and even boasted its own live band.
In the 1882 season, Lake Side provided some 30,000 "baths" in the Great Salt Lake.

It is unclear exactly when this resort vanished, but it's certain the low lake level of the early 1890s would have closed it. More likely, the popularity of the much larger Lake Park, which opened to the south 16 years later, in 1886, would have killed it.

2. Lake Point was started during 1870 - about the same time as Lake Side. It was built by Dr. Jeter Clinton and offered sandy beaches. By 1874, it had a dining hall and dancing room, plus 40 hotel rooms.

On July 4, 1876, some 1,500 people visited the resort.

Today's Lake Point Junction, along I-80, is the only ghost left of the resort. It likely fell victim to Saltair's popularity by or before 1890.

3. Black Rock was opened by H.J. Faust in 1876, but this resort didn't catch on either. It soon fell into disrepair, something quickly possible along the lake's shores, given the corrosive salt water, winds and storms.

Alonzo Hyde, son-in-law of LDS Church President John Taylor, and David John Taylor, the president's son, took over Black Rock in 1880. It was located a few miles northeast of Lake Point. The resort was named for the large black rock monolith that's in or along the lake, depending on its level.

Heber C. Kimball's old ranch house was turned into a hotel, and the resort had swings and a merry-go-round, pulled by a horse.

But a much larger and grander resort, Saltair, opened in 1893 and put Black Rock out of business by the mid-1890s.

Black Rock was resurrected in 1933, but that didn't last either.

At Sunset Beach in 1934, still another small report was operating for a short time on the lake's south shore, but couldn't compete with Saltair either.

4. Lake Shore was described as a modest little resort. It opened in 1879 and was located a few miles southwest of where Lake Park (Lagoon's forerunner) would be. George O. Chase was one of the owners.

Like Lake Side, little is known about Lake Shore. It had some dressing rooms, but that apparently was it. Lake Shore was described as being 15 miles north of Salt Lake City and reached by the Central Railroad system.

Again, the establishment of the larger Lake Park in 1886 and the receding lake level would have doomed Lake Shore by 1890 or sooner.

5. Garfield Beach began in 1881, two miles southwest of Black Rock. It capitalized on service via the steamboat from Lake Side. The boat was renamed "General Garfield," in honor of James A. Garfield taking a ride on it. The boat was anchored semi-permanently offshore of the resort.

In 1887, Garfield resort was purchased by the Utah and Nevada Railroad. Some $100,000 in improvements were added, including 200 bathhouses with showers, a restaurant, race track and bowling alley. It was then called "Utah's great sanitarium resort," and 84,000 total people visited Garfield that year.

Five years later, it was still going strong, and the Union Pacific Railroad purchased it and spent another $150,000 in upgrades. It was the lake's first resort to have an electric generator and lights.

A fire destroyed it (the steamboat too) in 1904, and despite rumors it would be rebuilt, it never was.

6. Lake Park started on July 15, 1886, between Lake Side and Lake Shore. Railroad magnate Simon Bamberger (later Utah's first-ever Democratic governor) built the resort with a $100,00 investment, as a proven way to increase passenger traffic on his trains.

It was promoted as one of the "most attractive watering places in the West." Some 53,000 people visited Lake Park in its first season.

Based on 1886 lake levels, it was probably located 1.7 miles west of today's Lagoon. It boasted an open-air dancing pavilion, a small Victorian-style hotel and a string of cabanas along the beach -- some 120 acres in all.

A sailboat racing and rowing club also had headquarters at Lake Park.

           A view of where Lake Park resort was, just grass and salt today.

By 1895, the resort was suffering from low water levels. What once was lake shore was now blue-colored mud. Guests had to walk a third of a mile or more to reach the water.

Bamberger decided to move the resort inland to a swampy area. Five of the resort's original buildings were moved.

     Another view of where Lake Park used to be, just a bird mecca and horse ranch today. 

The park reopened as "Lagoon" on July 12, 1896. That relocation, away from fickle lake levels, to another lake - a small fresh-water one - proved wise. The result is today's Lagoon - the largest amusement park between the Midwest and California.

                     The old Syracuse Resort in a Utah Historical Society photograph.
7. Syracuse Resort opened on July 4, 1887, when 13 train cars of bathers and a total of 2,000 people turned out. A train line from Ogden ended at the 93-acre resort.

It was built by Daniel C. Adams and Fred Kiesel right where today's causeway to Antelope Island begins along 1700 South, west of the Syracuse city limits.

It was described as "an oasis in the desert." Unique among lake resorts, it had a grove of trees, transplanted from Weber Canyon, and boweries. Boat excursions were also offered to nearby lake islands. It had 70 bathhouses.

       The train access to the Syracuse Resort ion a Utah Historical Society photograph.
A picnic area in the shade of the trees was 400 yards from the lake shore. That area was also used for outdoor LDS Church conferences in the area. A horse-driven streetcar traveled between the picnic area and bathhouses.

Syracuse Resort even staged bicycle races on a nearby dirt track. Artesian wells and water tanks served the resort.

                   A view today of where the Syracuse resort used to be.

It had a dance pavilion, suspended on pilings, but later some slipped and the dance floor warped.

Trains were known to sometimes strand people at the resort. For example, on July 8, 1889, a group from Ogden had to spend the night there when the night's only train left early.

This LDS Chapel, on 4500 West, near the gate to Antelope Island State Park, was where the east end of the Syracuse bathing resort used to be.

Syracuse Resort closed in 1892 from a twofold problem - a dispute over ownership of the land and the receding waters of the lake that left it mired in mud.
Area industries used the railroad tracks for some decades, but they are now also long since removed and there is no trace of the old resort to be found today.

8. Saltair, the lake's last legendary resort, was also its most elegant and popular. Only it was grand enough to have the magic to survive past the early 1900s.

It opened on Memorial Day 1893 at a cost of $350,000. It was built over the lake itself on 2,500 10-inch wooden pilings. It originally had 1,000 bathhouses.

Some 10,000 people came out for its official June 8, 1893, dedication. Its main hall was similar in size and shape to the Mormon Tabernacle. It boasted a 50-cent train ride from Salt Lake and the ticket also included Saltair admission.

Saltair eventually became a world-class resort and wanted to be the "Coney Island of the West."

In the early 1900s, this was a popular place for church groups, though the resort struggled with whether or not to sell alcohol on site. (The LDS Church owned half of the Saltair Beach Co.'s original shares.)

By 1906, the resort was sold to a group of private investors.

Its overall annual attendance went from 250,000 in 1906 to 450,000 in 1919.

The resort seemed a magnet for natural disasters, too. Two windstorms in 1910 destroyed 200 bathhouses and other structures.

                                      The south end of Saltair III today.

A large fire in 1925 caused $500,000 damage, with insurance only covering $100,000 of it. However, 21/2 months after the fire, Saltair was open again. Another fire struck in 1931, damaging its coaster and amusement rides.

By then, Saltair had a tunnel of love, six bowling alleys, a Ferris wheel, fish pond, fun house, pool halls, penny arcade, photo gallery, shooting gallery and roller skating rink. It was described as the "biggest amusement value in the world" during the 1930s.

Saltair was also billed as having the world's largest dance floor, where 5,000 people could fox trot at once in the open-air hall.

However, Saltair continued to be plagued by disasters. In 1932, a windstorm killed two construction workers. In 1939, a fire destroyed its pier.

The resort closed from 1944 to 1945, during World War II, because of gas rationing and other problems. Yet another fire damaged it in 1955 and destroyed many bathhouses. A freak wind gust destroyed its roller coaster in 1957. By 1959, the state of Utah had taken possession of the crumbling resort and closed it.

The abandoned resort burned to the ground in November 1970.

In 1983, Wally Wright spent $3 million to build a new Saltair resort about a mile west of the original resort site.

However, within a year the lake level was rising and the new Saltair was struggling to survive. Saltair III is still there, but only as a specter of the old "Lady of the Lake" that existed there in the early part of the century.

-From a Deseret News article by Lynn Arave on March 29, 1998.

What might have been – A Great Salt Lake resort at Promontory Point

                              Promontory Point as viewed from Fremont Island.

THE early 20^th Century featured numerous beach-side resorts around the Great Salt Lake, including the Saltair, Lakeside and Syracuse resorts. However, Ogden never had its own such resort.

“A resort on the lake” was a Nov. 17, 1923 headline in the Standard-Examiner. “Ogden has no lake resort. A few years ago the Southern Pacific Company made a preliminary survey, with the object of establishing a resort at Promontory Point, but met with no encouragement from this end,” the story stated.

“The most attractive beach on the entire shore line of the lake is on Promontory Point, where the rocky point enters the lake and a sandy floor makes for ideal conditions for bathing,” the story continued.

“While waiting for this resort to materialize, Ogden should have a boulevard from the city to the lake shore near Little Mountain, so that among the attractions would be an automobile drive to the Great Salt Lake,” the story concluded.

(As early as April 4, 1912, a Standard editorial had urged, “Ogden should have a lake resort” at Promontory Point.)

Of course this resort never happened, but it was proposed and studied. (And, there was a temporary lake resort, or sorts, for the Ogden area, used in 1905, after the completion of the Lucin Cutoff, also near Promonotory Point.)

Compass Minerals (formerly Great Salt Lake Minerals) has dominated the Little Mountain area (straight west of Ogden’s 12^th Street and near the Lucin Cutoff railroad line) for more than four decades, yet there could have been a popular recreational predecessor in the area.

-Little Mountain was in the news a lot in 1923. “Alpine Club visits famous spot on Little Mountain; Flag hoisted at place where Lieut. Fremont and Kit Carson stood 80 years ago to view lake,” was a Sept. 9, 1923 headline in the Standard.

The Alpine Club erected a mound of stone on the historic site of the lake’s first recorded government exploration in 1843 and hosted what was believed to be the first flag seen there in eight decades. A box containing a record book that listed the names of those at the 80^th anniversary gathering was also placed there. There was also a proposal for an auto road to the top of Little Mountain.

More historical tidbits:

-Taylor Canyon is famous today as the access to Malan’s Peak and Malan’s Basin. It was also at one time proposed to be an established campground. However, in the summer of 1925 it was also the site of a musical production in what was described as a natural amphitheater at the mouth of the canyon.

Weber College and the Ogden Tabernacle Choir apparently presented an outdoor performance of Joseph Haydn’s “The Creation” there, according to an announcement in the Standard on March 15, 1925. The audience was to be seated in their cars and in a limited number of seats provided, with natural acoustic properties carrying the music for long distances in the area.

-The telephone was a big part of the Ogden area by 1925, according to a Standard story on Feb. 22 of that year. The Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company switchboard was handling some 60,000 local calls a day in Ogden then. Another 600 to 700 long distance calls were also being handled back then.

Ogden, with an estimated population of 40,000 then, was believed to have about 7,000 telephones, with 130 persons employed at Mountain States.

 (-Originally published on Aug. 2-21, 2015 on-line and in print in the Ogden Standard-Examiner by Lynn Arave.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net