Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park officially opened as Knott's Berry Farm in 1947. Since 2016, it has averaged more than 4 million visitors per year, ranking it among the most-visited amusement parks in North America. The park features over 40 rides and attractions, including ten roller coasters.
Walter Knott and family first settled in Buena Park in December 15, 1920. The park began as a roadside berry stand along State Route 39 in California and with Jim Preston as a partner. The partnership broke up in 1927. Walter Knott built a permanent 80-foot stucco building in 1928 which houses a plant nursery, a berry market and a small tea room (later Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant). A replica ghost town opened in July 17, 1941, as the site began to transition toward becoming an amusement park, later featuring a restaurant, several shops, and other attractions to accommodate a growing number of visitors. The park officially renamed as Knott's Berry Farm in August 28, 1947. The site continued its transformation into a modern amusement park over the next two decades, and an admission charge was added in 1968. In 1997, the park was sold for $300 million to Cedar Fair, which later merged with Six Flags in 2024.
History
Origin
The park sits on the site of a former berry farm established by Walter Knott and his family who moved to Buena Park in December 15, 1920. In 1923, the Knott family and Jim Preston began selling berries, berry preserves, and pies from a roadside stand along State Route 39. In 1928, Walter Knott built a permanent 80-foot stucco building which housed a plant nursery, a berry market, a tea room and named it Knott's Berry Place. In June 13, 1934, the Knotts began selling fried chicken dinners at the 20-seat tea room, later named "Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant." The dinners soon became a major tourist draw, and the Knotts built several shops and other attractions to entertain visitors waiting for a seat in the restaurant. In 1940, Walter Knott began constructing a replica Ghost Town on the property, the beginning of the present-day theme park, opening it following year. Ghost Town was Walter Knott's tribute to the pioneers, which included his own grandparents who came to California in a covered wagon from Texas in 1868 (when his mother was two years old).Holmes, Roger and Bailey, Paul. Fabulous Farmer: The Story of Water Knott and his Berry Farm, pp. 20–21, 125–6, Westernlore Publishers, Los Angeles, California, 1956.Nygaard, Norman E. Walter Knott: Twentieth Century Pioneer, pp. 16–17, 93–94, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1965.Kooiman, Helen. Walter Knott: Keeper of the Flame, pp. 3–4, 100–1, Plycon Press, Fullerton, California, 1973.Merritt, Christopher and Lynxwiler, Eric. Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm, Knott's 100th Anniversary Edition, p. 39, Angel City Press, 2015. . The idea of an amusement park picked up in the 1950s when Walter Knott opened a "summer-long county fair."Brigandi, Phil. Orange County Chronicles, pp. 117–132, The History Press, Charleston, South Carolina, 2013. .
Paul von Klieben was Walter Knott's key employee in the creation of the Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm and the restoration of the ghost town of Calico, California. In 1941, he joined Knott's as a staff artist, then served as art director there from 1943 to 1953. He traveled to ghost towns in the West, conducted research, and designed most of the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm. He created concept art for most of the buildings that were built there. He also drew up floor plans, oversaw the construction of buildings, and even spent some time painting concrete to look like natural rock. His Old West paintings and murals adorned the walls of many structures in the park, and a number of them still do. His art was also used extensively in Knott's newspapers, menus, brochures, catalogs and other publications.Merritt, Christopher and Lynxwiler, J. Eric. Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm, pp. 48–61, Angel City Press, 2015. .Woodson, Weldon D. "Saga of a Ghost Town Artist", Design magazine, pp. 24–7, Vol. 73, Issue 6, 1972.Stack, Ken. Stack's Liberty Ranch Collection, Volume Two, pp. 84–5, Stack's Liberty Ranch, 2020.Kooiman, Helen. Walter Knott: Keeper of the Flame, p. 103, Plycon Press, Fullerton, California, 1973.
In 1956, Walter Knott arranged with Marion Speer to bring his Western Trails Museum collection to Knott's Berry Farm. Speer had been an enthusiastic supporter of Walter Knott's efforts to create Ghost Town, and had written articles for Knott's newspaper, the Ghost Town News. In 1956, twenty years after creating his museum, Marion Speer (at age 72) donated the carefully cataloged collection of 30,000 items to Knott's in return for Knott's housing it, displaying it and naming Speer as curator. Speer continued in that position until he retired in 1969 at the age of 84."Western Trails Museum Opens to Public", The Knotty Post, p. 8, November 1956, Knotts Berry Farm, Buena Park, California.Merritt, Christopher and Lynxwiler, J. Eric. Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm, pp. 98–99, Angel City Press, Santa Monica, California. .Heywood, Mike. Walter Knott and Family: Knott's Berry Farm, p. 112-3, Mike Heywood, 2021.Epting, Chris. "In the Pipeline: House of history under our noses", Daily Pilot, January 5, 2011, Los Angeles, California.Lewis, Jack. "Guns that Also Won the West", Gun World, p. 17, May 1962, Gallant Publishing Company, Covina, California.
The museum was once housed in a building (which has since been razed) at Knott's Berry Farm between Jeffries Barn (now known as the Wilderness Dance Hall) and the schoolhouse. The Western Trails Museum at Knott's is now just south of the saloon in Ghost Town.Western Trails Museum Now Open!, The Berry Vine, 1993, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California.Jennings, Jay. Knott's Berry Farm: The Early Years, pp. 106–7, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2009. .
The park became a popular destination for conservative college students in the 1960s, especially as conservative organizations like the California Free Enterprise Association, the Libres Foundation, and the Americanism Educational League were based there. Its conservative appeal was so great that the final rally Barry Goldwater held prior to the 1964 Republican primary election in California, which boasted speakers including Goldwater himself and future president Ronald Reagan, was held at Knott's. According to Assistant Professor Caroline Rolland-Diamond of the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense:
In the late 1960s, a brick wall with barbed wire embedded into the top was constructed around "Ghost Town" and for the first time, in 1968, an admission price was required to get into that section of the park (ostensibly to keep out the "hippies" and local long-haired youth from freely "hanging out" in the park that were, on occasion, causing problems and degrading the Knott's "family" image). The entrance price originally being set at $1 for adults and 25¢ for children. Previous to this, entry was free and the cost was based on purchasing a ticket for each ride, using the A-E ticketing system similar to that of Disneyland. The Calico Log Ride (the original name of the Timber Mountain Log Ride) opened in 1969. Also during this period, an attempt to create a monorail system between Knott's and Disneyland was reportedly in the works for many years, however, project construction never began due to costs and legal issues obtaining needed property and gaining necessary right-of-way access.
When Cordelia Knott died on April 12, 1974, Walter turned his attention toward political causes.Kooiman, Helen, Walter Knott: Keeper of the Flame, pp. 171–84, Plycon Press, Fullerton, CA, 1973.Salts, Christiane Victoria, Cordelia Knott: Pioneering Business Woman, pp. 75–78, The Literature Connection Books, Buena Park, CA, 2009. The Roaring Twenties rethemed Gypsy Camp in the 1970s with the addition of a nostalgic traditional amusement area, Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars, and Knott's Bear-y Tales. Then with the northward expansion of a 1920s-era Knott's Airfield-themed area featuring the Cloud 9 Dance Hall, Sky Cabin/Sky Jump and Motorcycle Chase steeplechase roller coaster above the electric guided rail Gasoline Alley car ride."Motorcycle Chase, Knott's Berry Farm, 1976" photograph of steeplechase-style roller coaster lift hill
The Sky Tower with the illuminated "K" in logo script at the top was built to support two attractions, the Sky Jump, operated from 1976 to 1999, and the Sky Cabin. The Sky Jump boarded one or two standing riders anticipating the thrill of the drop into baskets beneath a faux parachute canopy. From the top, twelve arms supported the vertical cable tracks of wire rope which lifted the baskets. The Sky Cabin ringed the support pole with a single floor of seats that are enclosed behind windows. Its ring revolves slowly as it rises to the top and back offering a pleasantly changing vista. It is very sensitive to weather and passenger motion, such as walking, which is prohibited during the trip. During winds 25+ mph or rain it is closed. When built, the tower was the tallest structure in Orange County (a distinction briefly held by WindSeeker before its relocation to Worlds of Fun in 2012.)
Motorcycle Chase, a modernized steeplechase rollercoaster built in 1976 by Arrow Development, featured single motorbike-themed vehicles racing side-by-side, each on one of four parallel tracks, launched together. One or two riders straddled each "Indian motorcycle" attraction vehicle. The tubular steel monorail track closely followed dips and bumps in "the road" and tilted to lean riders about the curves. Gasoline Alley, an electric steel-guide rail car ride below, was built together and intimately intertwined, which enhanced ride-to-ride interaction thrill value."Motorcycle Chase, Knott's Berry Farm, 1976" photograph of a steeplechase-style roller coaster with car ride combination. Rider safety concerns of the high center of gravity coupled with the method of rider restraints caused it to be rethemed Wacky Soap Box Racers with vehicles themed to look like soap box racers, each seating two riders, strapped in low (nearly straddling the track), surrounded by the close-fitting car sides, and the dips and bumps of the track were straightened flat in 1980. Motorcycle Chase/Wacky Soap Box Racers was removed in 1996 for a dueling loop coaster Windjammer Surf Racers and now Xcelerator, a vertical launch coaster, takes its place.
On December 3, 1981, Walter Knott died, survived by his children who would continue to operate Knott's as a family business for sixteen years.
In the 1980s, Knott's built the Calico Barn Dance featured Bobbi & Clyde as the house band. It was during the height of the "Urban Cowboy" era. The "Calico Barn Dance" was featured in Knott's TV commercials.
During the 1980s, Knott's met the competition in Southern California theme parks by theming a new land and building two massive attractions: Kingdom of the Dinosaurs, a primeval retheme of Knott's Bear-y Tales), in 1987 and Bigfoot Rapids in 1988, a whitewater river rafting ride as the centerpiece of the new themed area Wild Water Wilderness.
The Boomerang roller coaster replaced Corkscrew in 1990 with a lift shuttle train passing to and fro through a cobra roll and a vertical loop for six inversions each trip.