Milton & Margaret Hess were probably the only people to ever live AT Lagoon. Milton Hess built most of Lagoon's original buildings and even some attractions including the original Fun House and Shoot-The-Chutes. Margaret Hess wrote a history about Farmington, Utah entitled My Farmington. In it, there is much information about Lagoon. Here is what she had to say about the time they lived at Lagoon:
In the year 1928 my husband, Milton M. Hess, was working north of Lagoon on the County road when Julian M. Bamberger came looking for him to return to Lagoon. He had left Lagoon because he wanted a change, but Mr. Bamberger changed his mind again. When he came home from work that day he told me he had been asked to move into an old house that had been moved from Lake Park to Lagoon. It had three bedrooms, a large living room, a little bathroom, a long hall and a small kitchen. Well, I was heartsick to think of leaving our little home and lovely neighborhood that we enjoyed so much, but we rented our little home to another family and moved to Lagoon with our daughter Claire (age 18), and sons, Milton (age 13), Wallace (age 10) and Max (age 6). Some of our friends said it was a bad place to raise children and we would be sorry. The three boys worked all the time we lived there and were good boys...
We lived right on the Lagoon property for 19 years, with busy summers (and noisy ones when the park was open) but the winters were lonely. While living at the Lagoon Park we met and made so many wonderful and lasting friends.
Some sad things happened while we lived at Lagoon. Max's close buddy, James Hess, son of Grover and Alice Hess, was accidently killed on the big coaster. We had a few people drowned in the lake, some killed on rides, and we went through depression and the worries of wars. I remember one summer during the second World War when gasoline was rationed, and Lagoon couldn't open because people couldn't get gas to come out there with. The place was like a graveyard - so lonely and quiet. During the earlier years we had such wonderful bands and orchestras coming each week to Lagoon, and they brought huge crowds which kept the park alive.
In 1953 a terrible fire destroyed a lot of the things Milton had built at Lagoon. He would not even go down to see it that night. He was heartsick to know so much or so many things, that had taken years to build, had been destroyed in such a short time.
The fire broke out in the Roller Coaster on the evening of November 14, 1953. The fire spread rapidly because of a south wind, and burned the entire west section of the park: the Fun House, the Dance Pavilion, Shooting Gallery, the Prize Center, the Cafe, and many little buildings. Also destroyed were many rides, benches, chairs, and tables, etc., that were stored on the dance pavilion for the winter. All the beautiful shade trees were destroyed. Some had been planted since 1896. As soon as all the debris was cleared away, a new Lagoon was built which has been an asset to Farmington, Davis County, and all of Utah. Lagoon is a beautiful resort and its lovely flowers, trees and lawns are admired by many Utahns and tourists every summer.
