1976 Exhibit Brochure
In the 1880’s Lake Park Resort was built on the east shore of the Great Salt Lake, due west of the present Lagoon resort. When sticky muds of the Great Salt Lake replaced the sandy beach area, the resort buildings were moved to Lagoon and are still in use today.
2023 Exhibit Guide
The Lake Park Resort was opened in the summer of 1886 on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, approximately halfway between Salt Lake City and Ogden. The resort included bath houses, a restaurant and bar, galleries, a pier, and other diversions. The central feature of the resort, depicted in Stewart’s painting, was the grand pavilion, which was used for dancing and other social events.
Soon after its opening, several safety hazards arose involving the mud flats between the resort and the Great Salt Lake. The resort was eventually abandoned, and many of the buildings were sold to Simon Bamberger, who started Lagoon in 1896 and utilized many of the Lake Park Resort’s original buildings for the amusement park.
Kaysville Area Connections
Lagoon was a major entertainment site for Kaysville residents after its construction. Weddings, reunions, fairs, state and national celebrations were all conducted within the park including the pavilions. After a fire in 1954, Lagoon’s management rebuilt many of the buildings providing activities and opportunities for local teens to earn money. According to Kaysville resident Bill Sanders, “As a young man working at Lagoon, I held the after hours Tilt-A-Wheel record of 1 hour and 27 minutes in 1955.1”
Artist
LeConte Stewart (1891-1990)
LeConte Stewart, a native to Utah, began his art education in 1912 at the University of Utah and went on to study at Ricks College, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Art Students League in Woodstock, New York, under impressionist-painter John F. Carlson.
Stewart specialized in landscape painting, and his subject matter consisted mostly of rural Utah scenes, although he also created several portraits and murals. Commissions allowed Stewart to create art professionally, but he also enjoyed a career as an art instructor at several northern Utah schools including Kaysville Elementary before becoming the head of the University of Utah art department for 18 years until his retirement.
Sources
- “Bicentennial Historical Art Collection.” 1976 Exhibition Brochure, Special Collections, Weber State University.
- Eyes Toward the Past. DVD.
- Karras, Marilyn. “Lake Park a Popular Place”. The Ogden Standard Examiner, 14 Nov. 1976, Sun., page 19.
Citations
- Sanders, Bill. Interview by Fawn B. Morgan, Kaysville – Fruit Heights Museum, Fruit Heights, Aug. 2023.
Notes
The Lake Park Resort painting is no longer in the possession of the festival, requiring screen capture from the Eyes Toward the Past video.
Copyright owned by Weber State University Storytelling Festival. All rights reserved. Painting shown by Kaysville – Fruit Heights Museum with permission. Painting number 18 in the 2023 exhibit guide.
