I'm not sure what it is about my brain, but I seem to become fixated on topics or ideas and in some instances places. I'm rarely fixated for a short amount of time and the feelings tend to resurface pretty regularly. What I'm going to talk to you about today is one of those topics. The Great Saltair along the Great Salt Lake is one of my favorite places to go. When my family first moved out to Tooele, I remember driving past this strange building that looked like it was from another land and another time and being so confused! It's so strange to see this building along a barren beach. It always seemed a little haunting to me.
This is a view from behind the building.
From the first day I saw it I fantasized and speculated about it. I heard that people went to concerts and raves there, but that couldn't be the whole story, right? By the time I was a senior in high school I was pretty enraptured. I would drive out to the building and sit on the rocks and just look at it and the waves of the Salt Lake behind it. I'm not sure why the idea to research it hadn't occurred to me earlier (truth be told, I'm sure making up stories about it was probably more fun for me... until I started looking into it.) So here is what I know... with plenty of pictures so that you can get a good visual :)
The first Saltair was finished in 1893, about a mile up the beach from the Saltair we know today. It was built by some wealthy LDS investors and Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad company. The Railroad company was in charge of installing a trolley train to bring patrons from Salt Lake City to the resort.
People embarking the trolley.
The Saltair was just that, a resort, an amusement park, located at the end of a long pier. It was made to be a family friendly place, where your teenagers could go on dates and you wouldn't have to worry about them getting in trouble. Parents and children could go and enjoy floating on the lake or you could go dance in the main ballroom. There were live bands most nights and it was the largest dance floor west of the Mississippi.
couples dancing in the ballroom
On the East Coast, Coney Island was being built. Saltair seemed to be the West's response.
ladies enjoying the beach at Saltair in the 1920s
ladies enjoying the beach in the 1900's
Post card 1901
Inside the current incarnation of the Saltair there is a gift shop. If you are ever at the venue I beg of you to stop by. They have several photographs of the original and in the center of the shop they have a huge replica of the original. It's incredible to see in person. Here are some photos I got at my last visit.
I've always thought that the detail was incredible and it must have been a massive undertaking to build. This was Saltair in its heyday. I wish it could have just stayed this way... frozen in time. I would have loved a place to go dance with my friends, to break hearts and maybe get mine broken. It's absolutely crazy to me that it's right in my backyard and most of the people in the region have no idea what it was.
So now we are in the 1920s, and Saltair gets to change (for the first but not last time). In April 1925 a fire consumes several of the buildings. The resort was then rebuilt and expanded by a different group of investors. This incarnation of Saltair is most often known as Saltair II.
This Saltair has a rollercoaster, a carousel, a ferris wheel etc. Swimming in the lake is still a big attraction.
a brochure from the late 1920s
Unfortunately soon after they got it up and running, the Great Depression devastated America. Tragedy struck again in 1931, in the form of another fire that caused about $100,000 worth of damages and a drought in 1933 made the lake recede enough that they had to build a train system to get guests out to the water. The costs kept building up, but they limped through. The resort had to close during WWII mostly due to fuel rationing. When they opened up after the war they still had problems. There were more entertainment options closer to Salt Lake City and no one wanted to go "way out there".
bathers in the 1950's
Saltair trolley and store front
funhouse
The resort finally closed in 1958. At that same time the train car also stopped taking people out to the lake. Over the next 12 years there were attempts to revive the resort but they were pushed to a halt when an arson fire was started in November 1970. The fire was started in the dance floor and destroyed what was left of the pavilion.
My friend, Madeline, and I decided last summer to find the original pilings of the lost building. Here are some photos of what we found.
It's so strange to think that this is all that is left. I sometimes picture myself as one of it's lucky patrons, going with Parker to dance late at night. I imagine us looking out over the lake and seeing the stars and the silhouette of the pavilion reflected in the water. In my mind there is just a picture of that moment and it seems so real.
ANYWAYS, I should probably stop dreaming and get us back on track! Now we are finally to the end... SALTAIR III. This is what most of us are familiar with today. It was constructed from a recycled airplane hanger in 1981 and is located a mile west of the original. It's been flooded al least once and now is a venue for concerts and raves. My close friends and I went to see Mumford and Sons perform there last August.
Alright, I have a couple more fun facts for you, before I go! Not long ago, while driving west on I-80 you could see 2 local landmarks on the side of the road. 1) being the train car that me and my girlfriends took advantage of on many a photo shoot... predominantly our decades photo shoot. Here we are looking very 1920's
This was actually the 502 train car that would take patrons out to Saltair, crazy right? The 2nd landmark was right next to the train car. from the inside it looked like this...
This was an original generator building for the resort. It helped power the rollercoaster among other things. Unfortunately this and the railroad car were torn down by the owner for safety reasons. I remember being absolutely devastated.
One last fun fact for my dear friends in Tooele.... What about this looks familiar:
Apparently Black Rock was a beach. Pretty cool, yeah?
Thank you guys for being apart of my history lesson. I think it is super important for us to appreciate the history of what is around us... and in this case at least be a teensy nostalgic for what we missed, and take advantage of what we are blessed to have.
Much Love from Baton Rouge!
-Sydney L
