The Utah State Fairpark and event center offers a modern event facility in a historical setting since 1856.
Utah State Fairpark
155 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84116
(801) 538-8400
The West…just as it was! Step back in time with a visit to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The non-profit This Is The Place Foundation manages Utah’s premier living history attraction, our historic 450-acre Utah State Park. Our mission is to preserve and promote the heritage and history of Utah. You’ll find it alive in storied accounts of the settlement of the West, told by our knowledgeable interpreters in a setting of original and replica historic homes. You’ll also see artisans and interpreters demonstrate 19th Century frontier life in a working environment. While you look on, the blacksmith explains his trade while he creates items used elsewhere in the Village, and the furniture maker turns ordinary wood into a masterpiece!
A lively variety of domestic skills are demonstrated in Village homes. You can watch wool being carded and spun into yarn that will be colored with a kaleidoscope of dyes made from native plants, many grown right here at the Park. At another historic building, candles are being dipped layer-by-layer over a small open fire in the backyard, and quilting demonstrations are sure to leave you warm at heart!
A visit to the Park is not a tour of historic artifacts behind velvet ropes and glass, but a true experience of life as it was in the early days of the West. The Native American Village offers a window to a world long since gone, where members of Utah’s indigenous tribes interpret the history of their native people. You can also enjoy the Park from the comfort of one of our three replica trains and see and hear the history of the settlement, or simply spend the day walking the quiet streets on your own.
Elsewhere in the 450-acre Park is our Visitors’ Center, the welcome center of the Park. There you’ll find one of our newest attractions, the Heritage Park Preview exhibition, along with one of Utah’s finest gift and souvenir shops. The ZCMI Mercantile inside the Park is filled with old-fashioned gifts and candy and is sure to be one of your most memorable shopping experiences during your visit.
This Is The Place Heritage Park
2610 East Sunnyside Ave
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Wheeler Historical Farm is open every day during daylight hours to walk the grounds and visit the animals as a public park and part of the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation Department.
There is NO ADMISSION FEE to enter the grounds. No fees are charged for activities such as wagon rides, milking the cow, and special events.
Wheeler Historic Farm is a working farm, and the animals serve an agricultural purpose. They have cows, horses, chickens, pigs, sheep, turkeys, goats, and rabbits. They are not trained, or domesticated but may be petted with caution.
Wheeler Farm
6351 S 900 E, Murray
Golden Spike National Historic Site is a U.S. National Historic Site located at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It commemorates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad, where the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met on May 10, 1869.
The fee waiver includes entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees.
Golden Spike Historical Site
6450 N 22000 W Howell, UT
Intended from the beginning as the Western counterpart to Coney Island, Saltair was one of the first amusement parks, and for a time was the most popular family destination west of New York. The first Saltair pavilion and a few other buildings were destroyed by fire on April 22, 1925. A new pavilion was built and the resort was expanded at the same location by new investors, but several factors prevented the second Saltair from achieving the success of its ancestor.
The advent of motion pictures and radio, the Great Depression, and the interruption of the “go to Saltair” routine kept people closer to home. With a huge new dance floor – the world’s largest at the time – Saltair became more known as a dance palace, the amusement park becoming secondary to the great traveling bands of the day, such as Glenn Miller.
The Great SaltAir
12408 W Saltair Dr. Magna, UT 84044
This video discusses the Fremont people and their culture. Learn about the rock art, artifacts, and mysteries they left behind. You will also discover the many recreational resources and outdoor opportunities available to the entire family.
Fremont Indian State Park & Museum
3820 W Clear Creek Canyon Road
Sevier, UT 84766
Located in the grand lobby of the old Rio Grande Depot, the Rio Gallery was established as a service to Utah artists, providing a free venue for emerging as well as established artists to gather and educate the community through their artwork.
It was a busy place – with the huffing of locomotives pulling in and out, the echoing hubbub of the grand lobby, steps hurrying across the marble floor, the calls of baggage handlers, passengers at the ticket counter, people chatting in the coffee shop.
Built for $750,000, the depot was the main jewel of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad—and a worthy challenge to new Union Pacific Depot, which cost a mere $300,000. Railroads were big business in those days. And a fierce competition raged between the D&RGW’s George Gould and UP’s E. H. Harriman.
The main Rio Grande line ran to Denver through Carbon County and Grand Junction. Spur lines ran to several mining areas and to Ogden. But the Union Pacific controlled the rail traffic to the Pacific. So George Gould decided to build his own line to San Francisco. He succeeded, but the line cost twice as much as he had planned–$75 million—and sucked his family’s fortune dry. He lost his railroad empire shortly after.
Utah Division of Arts & Museums Website
Gallery Event Calendar
Rio Grande Depot History
300 South Rio Grande Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
The eleven acres of Fullmer property lay astraddle the common boundary of West Jordan and South Jordan. The children went to school in West Jordan and to church in South Jordan, never making much of a distinction between them. They lived in a tiny one-bedroom home with no indoor plumbing or electricity, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was boxing.
This family’s famous journey began when the Fullmer boys noticed an outdoor boxing ring at Marv Jensen’s house on the way home from school. Gene began training at six, and all of the boys trained daily. This display demonstrates the work ethic, close family ties, training, and positive philosophy of a great family.
Gale Center of History & Culture Museum
10300 Beckstead Lane, South Jordan, UT
This video discusses the Fremont people and their culture. Learn about the rock art, artifacts, and mysteries they left behind. You will also discover the many recreational resources and outdoor opportunities available to the entire family.
A short (26-minute) documentary on the geological and cultural history of the state of Utah by the Utah Travel Council filmed in the 1980s (Laughable Poor & Dated Quality).
