In 1893, the Mormon church built a state-of-the-art resort called the Saltair. It was to be a “Coney Island of the West” and a “wholesome place of recreation” for Mormons and their families. Saltair’s success peaked during the 1920’s, averaging nearly a half-million visitors per year. After multiple devastating fires, developers attempted to rebuild the Saltair bigger and better.

I discovered the story of the Saltair when my dad gave me a box of dry plate negatives that were found in my great-great aunt’s attic in the 1960’s. One of the negatives was of the original Saltair resort, taken during the late 1890’s. A second Saltair resort was built on the site of the original in 1926, but the resort’s glory days seemed to go up in smoke after the first fire in 1925. Saltair II was completely abandoned by 1958 and destroyed by arson fire on November 12, 1970.

A third Saltair was built in 1981 roughly one mile west of the original site, but it never came close to the popularity of its predecessors. It sat vacant from the 1990s to mid 2000s until being purchased by music industry investors in 2005. Saltair III has been hosting regular concerts ever since.

If you’d like to visit the original Saltair resort site for yourself, plug these coordinates into Google Maps: 40.769739, -112.154298. Park your car in the little dirt area by the green gate, or in the patch of dirt alongside N Temple Frontage Road. There’s a small hiking entrance to the left of the green gate. Once through, you will walk diagonally to the west to get to the remains of the original Saltair pier, which start at 40.770876, -112.159875.

Historical images of the Saltair Resort used in this video were used by permission, Utah State Historical Society.

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