Situated on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake, the Saltair Beach Resort opened on June 8, 1893. The resort was jointly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railroad Company, later renamed the Salt Lake, Garfield and Western Railway. The railroad company constructed a special line to the resort. The church sold its share of the resort in 1906. Open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Saltair was dubbed the "Coney Island of the West," and was a popular destination for tourists and locals.
The pavilion burned down in April 1925, and was rebuilt in just four months; the rebuilt resort was called Saltair II. However, after this fire Saltair was never able to regain its popularity, in part due to the Great Depression of the 1930s and to the shrinking water levels of the Great Salt Lake. The resort had a number of other accidents, including a fire in 1931 and a windstorm in the 1950s that blew down a rollercoaster. Saltair closed during World War II; after reopening, it continued to face low attendance, and both the resort and the railroad shut down in 1958. Attempts to refurbish and reopen the resort were halted by a 1970 arson fire which destroyed what remained of Saltair II. In 1981, Saltair III was built out of a salvaged aircraft hanger. Despite a flood in the year that it opened, the receding waters of the Great Salt Lake have prevented Saltair III from functioning as a beach resort. Instead, the third incarnation of Saltair has been used primarily as a concert and special event venue.
The Saltair Resort photograph collection contains 5 albumen prints of Saltair Resort, located on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. A caption on one photograph reads: "East Front Pavillion at Saltair Pavillion in its early days, circa 1890s. The verso has the imprint of E. Mehesy, Practical Furrier and Taxidermist in Salt Lake City, noting a 'Branch Store at Saltair Beach Pavillion during the bathing season.' Under the caption on the photo is the credit 'S. +J. Photo.'"
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Purchased in 2018.
Processed by Special Collections staff.