The History of Knott's Berry Farm - "Calico"

[@roxanneonthemove4187]

I remember going to Knott’s Berry Farm as a kid, loved old western theme of the place, my favorites were the panning for gold (still have it 50 years later) and the guys in the jail, loved how they knew your name! This was in the mid 1960’s though, they had the John Wayne Theater then I saw my first “concert” there, Ricky Nelson. I was ten years old and he must have not had his crazy following at the time because I don’t remember girls doing any crying or screaming then. Good times!

[@ThemeParchive]

Our next episode, coming out Friday, covers the building and opening of the John Wayne Theater. So cool that you saw your first concert there!

[@DanaParker-f1i]

Great video - thanks so much for making it! Walter Knott was always quick to point out that Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm is not a replica of Calico, California. It is a composite of various ghost towns in the West. He always referred to it as "Ghost Town," not "Calico."

[@MyNameIsChristBringsASword]

I spent a few years in Garden Grove and can say that Buena Park faired better than Anaheim

[@AlexandriatheRed]

5:16 My mother-in-law was educated in that very school house back in Kansas!

[@fatalynn7]

I love learning about how individual people help shape the history of a place. Paul Avon Klieben was obviously such a big part of the Knott’s story and I’m glad I get to know it. It’s also awesome to see the call backs to the Disneyland story from earlier videos. Another great installment!

[@ThemeParchive]

PvK was probably the biggest unsung hero of shaping the park. Lots of people familiar with the park know Bud Hurlbut’s name, and rightfully so. But most of the Ghost Town and Calico sections of the park are extremely close to the original PvK designs. Not to mention the Birdcage. I just wish they’d make his mine cart and covered wagon themed rooms as a restaurant. As it is, that space is empty, afaik, with no plans to put anything new in there. It’s just used as a catering area for large groups, last I saw. I’d love them to gut that building and try to bring those concepts to life.

[@yousaysilver]

I didn't have the time to watch this one when it was up on the patreon so I'm finally getting to it now- great video as always! I was looking forward to seeing how Disney opening would affect Knott's both crowd wise and attraction wise. Every time I see another episode on Knott's it makes me want to go down and visit the park more since I've never been there

[@CharleneCTX]

We had a trip planned for Disneyland and after seeing videos we added Knott's Berry Farm to our trip. Going in about two weeks.

[@yousaysilver]

@@CharleneCTX thats awesome! i hope you have a great time

[@ThemeParchive]

I'm glad you finally got to see it. This one was super fun to make, since I got to sneak in some of the references to the Disneyland series. It's so interesting to see how worried people were that Disney would put Knott's out of business. Today, with how much the whole Anaheim area exploded because of Disneyland, it's hard to imagine feeling that way. And it makes sense Knott's survived: they had a legacy in the area. They had an edge over all the newer businesses that tried to cash in on the popularity of Disneyland. And you should definitely go, if you can! Before making this series, Knott's was a place I was somewhat interested in visiting; now it's a bucket list item.

[@ThemeParchive]

@@CharleneCTX That sounds amazing. Come back an let us know how it goes! We'll definitely be interested to see what stuff from this series you got to see in park now.

[@rosaspanjol673]

So fascinating story 😘… thank you 🙏💕🙏

[@jimbla9921]

will there be another installment of this series?

[@ThemeParchive]

We're going to cover the rest of the history of the park in another 5-part series in the near future. Episodes are in production now.