Lagoon is one of the United State’s oldest amusement parks. It was founded in 1886 by railroad magnate Simon Bamberger, who would later serve as Utah’s fourth governor. The park was originally constructed about 6 km west of present-day Lagoon, on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, but fell out of favour when the lake receded.

In 1974, the Freeds purchased the ‘pioneer village’ collection of buildings and Utah artefacts, then located near the east bench of Salt Lake City, and brought it all to Lagoon. Visitors to Pioneer Village get a sense of what it was like to be an early Utah settler. On view, in on e of the best gun museums in the United States are several of gun inventor John Browning’s early prototypes, as well as his tools and workbench.

Lagoon is open from April through October, and considerably more than one million visitors annually come to enjoy the rides and the water park, play games, listen to live music, and view the gardens, exhibits, and fountains.