Thursday, June 09, 2011

Traveling Thursdays: Knott's Berry Farm, Sept. 1955



Just traveling down-a-ways from Anaheim we come to Buena Park, home of Knott's Berry Farm. This collection of black-and-white images are from September 1955. Even though Disneyland was still in its infancy at that time, Knott's had already been around for almost 30 years.

Despite having gone through a number of changes over the years, many of the quaint structures from Ghost Town still remain. Judge Roy Bean's is one of them:





The thrill of panning for gold; the cause for much excitement back in ol' Cal-i-forn-eye-ay!







The current view behind Boot Hill makes me cringe. Talk about a thematic disaster!





The volcano...one of those original kitschy pleasures at Knott's that is missed even to this day.



These buildings still remain...



although it would appear that only The Bottle House retained its name/signage:



The Wagon Camp:



Knott-heads can correct me here, but I believe this area is where The Wagon Camp used to be. Guests can sit inside of Wagons today and watch the stunt show:



Sometimes, simple can be better. Just sayin'...

See more vintage & current Knott's Berry Farm photos at my main website.

3 comments:

  1. I think the Wagon Camp is still in the same location. It was under construction when I went the other day. (I will be posting those Knott's pics in a couple of days.)

    It's sad that those damn roller coasters have invaded almost every area of the Park and destroyed the ambiance.

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  2. WOW, I have NEVER seen that Knott's sign before, Dave! That might be a pretty rare shot.

    Yep, that's the Wagon Camp and it's still in the same location, but they cut down that giant tree that was growing in front of the stage. They also reduced the number of Covered Wagons around the perimeter.

    The shop inside The Bottle House expanded into the Music Hall a while back. Some of the antique machines that were on display in the Music Hall were moved to the museum behind the Calico Saloon, but I was sad to see recently that most of them no longer work.

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  3. The cemetary was one of my favorite places. I was there in June and they haven't even kept the tombstones paint up. Most are so faded you can hardly read them. I made similar wooden tombstones for Halloween and I have to touch them up yearly.

    1313elpotro.blogspot.com

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