It was 1920—one hundred years ago—when Walter and Cordelia Knott bought their first 20 acres of farmland near the little agricultural town of Buena Park, California. Little did they know what they were starting.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Walter began to cultivate and sell a new hybrid berry developed by Anaheim City Parks superintendent Rudolph Boysen. To makes ends meet, Cordelia served chicken dinners in a little tearoom they had built on their property a few years earlier. Soon, families were driving down from Los Angeles to buy fresh and preserved boysenberries and to dine at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. The farm grew and the restaurant expanded, serving thousands of dinners daily.

In 1940, 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 made 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 best.

It’s now 2020. From May 15 to August 30, Knott’s will celebrate Knott’s 100th Anniversary: A Knott’s Family Reunion, featuring “festive park décor, themed food items, unique entertainment, exclusive merchandise and special surprises along the way, all paying homage to the nostalgia that surrounds the historic theme park.”

Did someone say nostalgia? This is Yesterland. So today you’ll find historical photos of Ghost Town when it was still young—around 1958, give or take a few years.

, Curator of Yesterland, February 28, 2020

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Miner and burro by sculptor Claude Bell

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Miner and burro, with the arbor path from the Chicken Dinner Restaurant in the background

The sculpture of Seldom Seen Slim, the miner and his burro, is no longer at the entrance to Ghost Town. There’s still a similar sculpture at Knott’s at the corner of Beach Blvd. and La Palma Ave., on a high pedestal behind a wall and surrounded by large evergreen trees.

Walter Knott hired an artist named Claude Bell to create statues for Ghost Town. The statue of the miner and his burro was an icon of Ghost Town. Bell’s best known work at Knott’s is probably the bench with Handsome Brady and Whiskey Bill. After retiring from Knott’s, Bell created the giant dinosaurs off Interstate-10 in Cabazon, California.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: A real burro

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Main Street at Ghost Town

Before Disneyland opened with Main Street, U.S.A., Ghost Town already had a street called Main Street. It was home to the Ghost Town Grill, the Town Jail (Sad Eye Joe), the Ghost Town Blacksmith, the Post Office, and the Livery Stable—and that’s still the case today too.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Livery outside the Livery Stable

When these vintage photos were taken, the Livery Stable housed a collection of historical horse-drawn wagons, coaches, and hearses—with some inside and some outside the barnlike structure.

In more recent years, the Livery Stable was a craft center (called “Crafts”) and a shop selling plush toys (called “The Barn”). In 2016, it returned to being the Livery Stable, home of ”the friendliest horses in the West.” The Knott’s website invites you: “Here you can meet the horses of Calico and Brutus the burro in the new livery stable. While you’re there, chat with the Knott’s world class equestrian team to learn about the animals. Open seasonally.”

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: “Old Betsy” on Main Street

“Old Betsy,” a historical borax mine locomotive, is still there today, still adding to the Old West atmosphere of Ghost Town.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Wells Fargo & Co’s Express on Main Street

The former Wells Fargo office, next door to the Post Office, is now the Main Street entrance to the General Store, the largest and oldest shop in Ghost Town.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Schoolhouse Road (also known as School Road)

Schoolhouse Road begins at an authentic one-room schoolhouse that served the children of Mitchell County, Kansas from 1879 until some time in the 1940s. Walter Knott brought it to Knott’s Berry Farm in 1952. Heading north from the schoolhouse, the road ends at Calico Square. The schoolhouse, Schoolhouse Road, and Calico Square are all still there.

But the view beyond Calico Square is now completely different. In 1969, the Calico Logging Co. log flume ride (now Timber Mountain Log Ride) became the focal point of Schoolhouse Road. And in 1998, Supreme Scream towered into the sky above the log ride as Orange County’s tallest structure.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: The view from Boot Hill, with a Native American family

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Prospector panning for gold

The surroundings of Boot Hill cemetery originally immersed guests in an Old West setting more completely realized than any other part of Ghost Town. Once the John Wayne Theatre (Toyota Good Time Theater, Charles M. Schulz Theatre) was built in 1971, the illusion was broken, despite a mural on the back of the building.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: The Jersey Lilly

Walter Knott built a replica of “The Jersey Lilly,” the saloon/courthouse where Judge Roy Bean, “the Law West of the Pecos,” is said to have “dispensed hard liquor and harsh justice.” The original is still in Langtry, Texas, and the replica is still in Ghost Town.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: “Gold Nugget” locomotive of the Ghost Town & Calico Railway

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Water tower for steam locomotives of the Ghost Town & Calico Railway

In 1951, Walter Knott acquired authentic narrow-gauge railroad trains from the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, including two locomotives built in 1881 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. The ride opened in 1952.

The photos above show one of the locomotives as it appeared six decades ago. The name (“Gold Nugget,”), number (40), diamond smokestack, fancy lantern, and the paint scheme of coaches were changes made at Knott’s.

The historic locomotives and coaches are still at Knott’s, only they’ve been restored to their original Denver & Rio Grande appearance. The locomotive in the vintage photos is now once again number 340.

Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor

Vintage photo: Butterfield Stagecoach ride

Using five historical stagecoaches and one replica, Knott’s Berry Farm still has stagecoach rides. The vintage photo shows the Church of the Reflections in the background, where the Silver Bullet roller coaster has been since 2004.

Much has changed at Knott’s Berry Farm since these vintage photos were taken in 1958 or thereabouts. Almost 60 years have passed. Although thrill rides have become part of the DNA of Knott’s, the heart of the park remains Ghost Town.

With Knott’s Berry Farm celebrating its 100th anniversary, there’s renewed interest in the Farm’s heritage.

For more information, and to enjoy many more vintage photos of Knott’s, click on these Yesterland links:

• Knott’s Preserved – by Christopher Merritt and J. Eric Lynxwiler
• Knott’s Berry Farm: The Early Years – by Jay Jennings
• Knott’s Berry Farm Then & Now: Original Attractions That Are Still There – by Jay Jennings

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Updated February 28, 2020.