The Story of Farmington
From a lone pioneer wintering cattle in 1847, to a Victorian railroad resort, to the fastest-growing corridor in Davis County — this is the history of the place you call home.
Hector C. Haight Arrives
The First Settler
In the autumn of 1847 — just months after the first Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley — a man named Hector C. Haight drove 5,000 head of cattle into the grassy lowlands at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. He wintered them there, becoming the first documented settler of what would become Farmington, Utah. The land was lush, the creek ran clear, and the mountains stood as a wall against the world. He saw something here that others hadn't yet.
"The land was so rich with grass that cattle could winter without supplemental feed."
The Old Rock Grist Mill
The Richards Family Legacy
Willard Richards — one of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church and personal secretary to Joseph Smith — built the first grist mill in Farmington in 1851. His nephews continued the work, and by the early 1860s, Franklin D. Richards had completed the iconic Old Rock Grist Mill on Farmington Creek. Built from hand-quarried stone, it ground grain for the entire region for decades. The Richards family would go on to farm this land for five generations, running the famous Richards Jersey Farm until the land was eventually developed into Station Park. In 2023, Farmington City purchased the Old Rock Grist Mill to preserve it forever.
"The Richards Jersey Farm operated for five generations — a true Farmington legacy."
The Primary Is Born Here
Aurelia Spencer Rogers
On August 11, 1878, a Farmington woman named Aurelia Spencer Rogers stood up in a meeting and proposed an organization for the children of the LDS Church. Her idea was approved, and the first Primary meeting was held in Farmington on August 25, 1878 — with 224 children in attendance. That small meeting in a pioneer town on the Wasatch Front became one of the largest children's organizations in the world, with millions of members today. Farmington is where it all started.
"What began in a small Farmington meetinghouse now reaches millions of children worldwide."
Lagoon Amusement Park
From Lake to Legend
In 1886, a resort called Lake Park opened on the shores of the Great Salt Lake — a Victorian pleasure ground with a bathhouse, pavilion, and dancing. It was the first incarnation of what would become Lagoon. When the lake receded and the railroad shifted, the resort moved to Farmington in 1896, settling along a 9-acre lagoon (giving the park its name). The Bamberger Electric Railroad brought riders directly to the park gates. In 1921, the iconic wooden Roller Coaster opened — one of the oldest still operating in the world. Lagoon now covers 100 acres and has been entertaining families for nearly 140 years.
"One of the oldest amusement parks in the western United States — and it's right here in your backyard."
The Bamberger Railroad
Connecting the Wasatch Front
In 1891, Simon Bamberger — a German immigrant who would later become Utah's first non-Mormon governor — launched the Great Salt Lake & Hot Springs Railway. It was soon renamed the Bamberger Electric Railroad, running 38 miles from Salt Lake City through Farmington to Ogden. For 61 years, it was the lifeblood of the Wasatch Front — carrying workers, families, and day-trippers to Lagoon, the resorts, and the cities. The line ran through the exact corridor where the FrontRunner commuter rail runs today. When the Bamberger shut down in 1952, the land sat quiet for decades — until Station Park broke ground in 2008 on the same corridor.
"The same corridor that carried the Bamberger Railroad now carries the FrontRunner — 130 years later."
Farmington Incorporated
1,180 Residents Strong
On January 21, 1892, Farmington was officially incorporated as a city with 1,180 residents — making it one of Utah's oldest municipalities. The city had grown from Hector Haight's cattle camp into a thriving agricultural community with a grist mill, meetinghouse, school, and railroad connection. The name 'Farmington' reflected the community's identity: a place of farms, families, and hard work at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains.
"From a cattle camp in 1847 to an incorporated city in 1892 — 45 years of building something real."
Station Park & FrontRunner
The Corridor Reborn
On August 13, 2008 — the same year the FrontRunner commuter rail launched service — CenterCal Properties broke ground on the 62-acre Station Park site on the former Richards family farm and Bamberger Railroad corridor. The same land where pioneers grazed cattle, where the Richards family made cheese for five generations, where the Bamberger Electric Railroad carried riders to Lagoon — that land is now home to Station Park, the FrontRunner station, Western Sports Park, and the emerging North Farmington Station master-planned community. History doesn't end. It just keeps building.
"The same land where Hector Haight wintered cattle in 1847 is now the fastest-growing corridor in Davis County."
