In a little corner by the Rivers of America, you'll see this rickety-looking set of buildings that Walt originally dubbed, "Joe's Ditch." Retired Admiral Joe "Can Do" Fowler was one of those key people that made Disneyland possible. Without Fowler pushing construction crews, everyone's favorite theme park in Anaheim never would have opened on July 17, 1955. Today's first photo, from August 1955, shows the dry dock area and rickety buildings that Fowler had to cajole Walt into green lighting so that the Mark Twain (and eventually the Columbia) could have a place to be serviced. The key element for this area was that it could be drained of water while the boats were parked here, making it much easier to work on the ships, and thus the term "dry dock."
This next undated 1950's image shows that Fowler was being honored by having the buildings named after him: Fowler's Inn.
Flash forward to today, and the tribute still stands, still looking as if it could fall down at any minute.
In addition, you can find the nearby Harbour Galley stand with delicious seafood delights for sale.
Here are two vintage shots of the Columbia in dry dock at Fowler's during its construction phase:
And a recent one of the Twain being refurbished in 2010:
See more Fowler's Harbor at Disneyland photos on my Fowler's Harbor web page.
