It was 1940. Walter and Cordelia Knott had a farm growing berries and rhubarb along Highway 39, a few miles south of the little agricultural town of Buena Park, California. Their farm had something that others in the area didn’t have: an incredibly successful restaurant selling chicken dinners to families who drove down from Los Angeles.
That year, Walter Knott began adding Ghost Town near the restaurant. He artfully arranged authentic historical buildings along with matching new construction. By mid-1941, visitors could enjoy a wild mining town of the Old West, full of delightful details. Although there was no charge for admission or parking, Ghost Town would make the farm even more of a destination.
It was the beginning of Knott’s Berry Farm as arguably the first true theme park in the United States—and still one of the greatest.
Knott’s is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Ghost Town this summer with a spruced-up Ghost Town, a restored GhostRider roller coaster, new shows, and an interactive entertainment experience, Ghost Town Alive!
But this is Yesterland. So today you’ll find 14 never-before-published historical photos of Ghost Town from an earlier time—around 1958, give or take a few years.
Read the rest at Yesterland
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