Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm
In 1940, Walter Knott decided to go big with his efforts to give waiting diners something to do and began construction of Ghost Town. Over the years, he added real and replicas of historic buildings, trains and more. Knott dismantled, transported and rebuilt a hotel from a real ghost town near Prescott, Arizona. He relocated two 1-room schoolhouses, one from Kansas, another from Pico Rivera. He recreated the entrance of the Bird Cage Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona, and a full replica of Judge Roy Bean’s Jersey Lilly in Langtry, Texas. He repurposed a Red Car depot and brought in engines and cars from the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Rio Grande Southern Railroads for his Calico Railroad. And he hired sculptor Claude Bell (of Cabazon Dinosaurs fame) to “populate” the town with Handsome Brady, Whiskey Bill and the charming dancers Marilyn and Cecelia. The park he was building would not be named Knott’s Berry Farm until 1947.
Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt