In 1886, The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad built a resort on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It was called Lake Park. Several other resorts popped up along the vast beaches of the lake throughout the late 1800s.

Through the years, the lake level receded drastically until Lake Park was far from the lake and it closed after the 1895 season. Simon A. Bamberger, who was building a railroad line from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah, was Vice President of Lake Park. He wanted more passenger traffic on his line so he bought most of the original Lake Park buildings and moved them about 3 miles west near Farmington, Utah. It was named Lagoon for the body of water located on the original 40 acres.

Lagoon opened in 1896 and included "Bowling, Elegant Dancing Pavilion, Fine Music, A Shady Bowery and Good Restaurants". In 1899, Shoot-The-Chutes, the park's first thrill ride, was added. In 1900 guests began row boating and swimming in Lagoon Lake. Slowly more rides were added such as the authentic Herschell-Spillman Carousel and the Roller Coaster. In 1927 a Swimming Pool was built north of the Lake. The first Fun House was built in 1929. The park closed for 2 seasons during World War II. In 1946, the park reopened and it was leased from the Bamberger Family by the Utah Amusement Corporation. President of the Utah Amusement Corp. was Ranch S. Kimball with Robert E. Freed as secretary and assistant manager. (The Freed Family's Lagoon Corporation bought the resort in the 1970s.)

After the end of the 1953 season a fire broke out and destroyed much of the park. It was quickly rebuilt the next year and began to surpass the popularity of its main rival, Saltair. Many rides were restored, rebuilt or replaced along with a few new rides. In 1956, Mother Gooseland, featuring rides just for kids, was added between the Midway and the Swimming Pool.

The turn-of-the-century style Opera House Square opened in 1968 and featured several plays. In 1972, Lagoon expanded east with an old west town complete with old-fashioned buildings and a miniature railroad that circled the town. Later, Lagoon acquired a collection of historic buildings and artifacts which were added to the town. They also built a Log Flume and the town became Pioneer Village in 1976.

The famous million-gallon Swimming Pool with "water fit to drink" closed after its 50th year in 1987. It made way for the $5.5 Million Lagoon-A-Beach which was completed in 1989. In 1995, the Sky Coaster towered over the North Midway and marked the beginning of what would become the X-Venture Zone (named in 2000). Later the Top Eliminator Dragsters, Peak Exposure, Double Thunder Raceway and The Catapult were added to the list of rides (known as X-Venture Zone attractions) which are not included in the price of a Ride Passport. In 2004, Kiddieland (formerly Mother Gooseland) was redecorated and 2 new rides were added.

Scores of activites have been available to the Lagoon guest. At some point since 1896, "Lagoon has offered hot-air balloon rides, boxing and wrestling matches, great names in entertainment, horse racing and pari-mutuel betting, roller-skating, baseball games, dancing, swimming, bicycle racing, a zoo, motion pictures, live theater, blackface minstrel shows, rodeos, a midway, rowboating, marching bands, wild West shows, fireworks, and mechanical rides."

This Brief History was based on information found in the Utah Collections Multimedia Encyclopedia.