Knott's Berry Farm Historic Timeline
Knott's Berry Farm
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1920 The Knott family arrives in the sleepy community of Buena Park
and begins farming 20 acres of land on Highway 39 (now Beach Blvd).
1928 The first permanent building is erected to house Cordelia Knott’s tea room and berry market. The farm is christened Knott’s Berry Place.
1932 Walter Knott begins propagating the new boysenberry plant, a curious
cross between the red raspberry, blackberry and loganberry.
1934 To make ends meet during the Great Depression, Cordelia serves her
first chicken dinners on her wedding china for 65 cents each.
1937 Walter and Cordelia expand their tea room into a genuine restaurant
complete with separate kitchen, dining rooms and parking lots. Despite serving 1,774 dinners on Thanksgiving Day, Cordelia insists she’s still not in the restaurant business.
1939 Daughter Virginia sets up a souvenir table in the Chicken Dinner
Restaurant, founding the country’s first theme park souvenir shop.
1940 In an attempt to entertain the thousands of restaurant customers
lining up each day, Walter relocates the Gold Trails Hotel to the Farm
from Prescott, Ariz. To the hotel’s lobby Walter adds the Farm’s
first attraction: “The Covered Wagon Show,” a cyclorama depicting
the Knott family’s journey West. The hotel and cyclorama form the
basis for Ghost Town, the first themed area of Knott’s Berry Farm.
1947 Knott’s Berry Place is officially renamed Knott’s Berry Farm.
1951 The Calico Saloon, incorporating many of the most popular elements
of old saloons throughout the West, opens serving sarsaparilla and
boysenberry punch on Calico Square.
1952 Walter buys America’s last operating narrow-gauge railroad, the
Denver and Rio Grande, and moves it in its entirety to Knott’s Berry
Farm. The steam-powered train is christened the Ghost Town &
Calico Railroad, proving a perfect addition to growing Ghost Town.
1954 The Bird Cage Theatre opens in Ghost Town as the home of the
Country’s only daily acting melodrama troupe. A replica of the Bird
Cage in Tombstone, Ariz., the Theatre goes on to serve as the
training ground for Steve Martin and countless other actors and
actresses.
1955 Walter and Cordelia attend the July 18 opening ceremonies of
Disneyland, and return to find the Farm parking lot filled to capacity.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Knott’s Berry Farm continues to
thrive, enjoying its best year ever.
1960 The Calico Mine Ride, an ingenious trip into the depths of an Old
West mine, opens to rave reviews. Its creative use of theming and
special effects sets a new standard for future Knott’s attractions.
1966 Walter completes construction on a brick-by-brick replica of
Independence Hall, complete with cracked, 2,075-pound Liberty Bell.
1968 The amusement park is enclosed and a general admission fee is
charged for the first time ($1.00).
1969 The Calico Logging Co. (later the Timber Mountain Log Ride) opens
as one of the first log flume rides in the U.S. Fiesta Village also debuts.
1971 The 2,100-seat John Wayne Theatre (now the Charles M. Schulz Theatre) opens on June 19. California Governor Ronald Reagan and John Wayne himself
preside over the celebrity-filled opening
ceremonies, which The Knotty Post employee newsletter describes
as “the biggest event ever held on the Farm.”
1973 Knott’s transforms itself into Knott’s Scary Farm for its first-ever
Halloween Haunt® the world’s first amusement park Halloween
promotion. The event remains the industry standard, breaking
attendance records every year.
1974 Cordelia Knott dies on April 23 at the age of 84.
1975 The Corkscrew, the world’s first 360-degree roller coaster, opens as
the centerpiece of the Roaring 20’s themed area. Another highlight of Roaring 20’s is Knott’s Bear-y Tales, a fantasy dark ride featuring the Bear-y family.
1976 The 20-story Sky Jump and Sky Cabin – patterned after an attraction
at New York’s Coney Island – provide a breathtaking new addition to
Roaring 20’s. The new attraction helps make July 4, 1976 the
biggest attendance day in Knott’s history to that point.
1978 Knott’s opens its second roller coaster, Montezooma’s Revenge, in
Fiesta Village. The ride takes riders from 0 to 55 mph in five
seconds.
1981 Walter Knott dies on Dec. 3 – one week before his 92nd birthday.
Amusement park veteran Terry E. Van Gorder takes the helm as
Knott’s first non-family president and CEO.
1983 Camp Snoopy, the park’s six-acre wonderland for kids, opens July 1
as the official home of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. It is the first
area of any amusement park designed solely for kids under 12.
1985 Knott’s Berry Farm is magically transformed into Knott’s Merry Farm
as the park hosts its first Ghost Town Christmas Crafts Festival.
1986 Another dimension to Roaring 20’s is added with the opening of Pacific Pavilion, home of education-oriented marine mammal shows.
1987 Knott’s foreshadows the dinosaur craze by replacing Knott’s Bear-y
Tales with Kingdom of the Dinosaurs, a trek into prehistory complete
with 21 fully animated creatures and environmental special effects.
The expertly timed new attraction helps make the year one of the best on record.
1988 Knott’s Berry Farm becomes only the fourth park in the world to
receive the coveted Amusement Business/Liseberg Applause Award,
awarded biannually to the amusement park whose management,
operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry
with its foresight, originality and sound business development.
Bigfoot Rapids, an untamed journey down the longest man-made river
in the West, opens in the new Wild Water Wilderness themed area.
Knott’s introduces its “Adventures in Education” program, making
learning “come alive” for Southern California students of all ages
through in-park educational tours and school assemblies.
1990 The Corkscrew is replaced by Boomerang, a European-designed roller
coaster that takes guests upside down six times in less than a minute.
Ghost Town celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
1991 Knott’s opens its first off-site restaurant, Mrs. Knott’s Restaurant and Bakery, in the Southern California communities of Irvine and Moreno Valley. A third
restaurant in Mission Viejo opens a year later.
1992 Indian Trails, Knott’s two-acre Native American interpretive center,
debuts on the outskirts of Ghost Town.
Knott’s Camp Snoopy is unveiled as the six-acre centerpiece of
Minneapolis’ Mall of America, the country’s largest shopping center.
Boasting rides, live shows, family attractions, shops and restaurants,
it remains the world’s largest indoor themed amusement park.
1993 Knott’s serves as the host park for the International Association of
Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) convention in Los
Angeles.
1994 Knott’s dazzles audiences with Mystery Lodge™, a magical journey
into the Native North American West and the park’s most technically
advanced project ever.
1995 Knott’s Berry Farm celebrates its 75th Anniversary with a year of
festivities and special events highlighted by the summer debut of
Jaguar!™, The Streaking Big Cat of Roller Coasters!
1996 Knott’s re-energizes the Roaring 20’s, incorporating a score of rousing new entertainment concepts. The Boardwalk salutes the vigor, vitality and variety of
Southern California’s legendary seaside culture.
1997 Windjammer Surf Racers blows onto The Boardwalk. The nation’s
first major outdoor dual-track steel racing roller coaster pits jammer
against jammer through side-by-side vertical loops, six story drops,
dives and a spiraling finale.
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company of Sandusky, Ohio acquires Knott’s Berry Farm. The acquisition puts Knott’s on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time.
1998 GhostRider, the longest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the west opens.
Supreme Scream, the world’s tallest descending thrill ride debuts as
Orange County’s tallest structure. Knott’s acquires the adjacent Buena Park Hotel.
2000 Upon completion of a $24 million renovation the former Buena Park Hotel is unveiled as the Radisson Resort Knott’s Berry Farm featuring 320 elegant
rooms including a PEANUTS themed wing. Knott’s Southern California Resort evolves as Soak City, a separately gated water adventure park opens on a former parking lot. The 2,100 seat Good Time Theatre is renamed the Charles M. Schulz Theatre dedicated to the legacy of Charles Schulz, the creator of Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang.
Perilous PlungeSM, the tallest, steepest and wettest water ride, opens in The Boardwalk Area.
Replacing Windjammer, XceleratorSM, a high-octane thrill ride launching riders 0-82 mph in just 2.3 seconds straight up 205 feet at a 90-degree ascent and an immediate 90-degree descent, opens in The Boardwalk Area.
Russell Knott, the second eldest child of Walter and Cordelia Knott, dies at the age of 86.
Knott's Berry Farm’s alter ego, Knott’s Scary Farm, celebrates the 30th anniversary of Halloween Haunt®, the amusement industry’s first ever and longest running Halloween themed event.
2003 Camp Snoopy, home of Charles Schulz’s lovable beagle, Snoopy, and the rest of the PEANUTS gang, celebrates its 20th Anniversary at Knott’s Berry Farm. In
honor of this anniversary, the all-new Camp Snoopy Theatre opens as the new home of the Peanuts gang’s musical variety shows. Snoopy’s alter ego, Joe Cool, gets his own new ride, Joe Cool’s GR8 SK8, the fifteenth attraction in the six-acre children’s area.
Rachel (Toni) Knott Oliphant, the third child of Walter and Cordelia Knott, dies at the age of 86.
Virginia Knott-Bender, the oldest child of Walter and Cordelia Knott, dies at the age of 90.
2004 Four new attractions make their debut at Knott’s in 2004. RipTide - a soaring, spinning thrill ride with 720° of attitude makes waves in The Boardwalk; Lucy’s
Tugboat sets sail in Camp Snoopy; and Screamin’ Swing pushes riders higher than mom or dad ever could. And on December 7, Silver Bullet® streaks into Knott’s. The $16 million suspended coaster sends its riders upside down six times through a cobra roll, outside vertical loop, corkscrews, and flat spins all while travelling under 3,125 feet of steel track!
America’s oldest themed amusement park proves once again its commitment to enhancing the guest experience by announcing plans to add a new water attraction and restaurant.
Pacific Spin, already the most popular tube slide at Knott’s Soak City San Diego, will soon be added to both Knott’s Soak City Palm Springs and Knott’s Soak City Orange County. This highly anticipated water slide includes a 132-foot long tunnel that drops riders 75 feet into a six-story funnel. After pitching riders back and forth through 5,500 gallons of swirling water, the ride culminates in a waterfall splash into a waiting catch pool. This action-packed adventure carries 700 passengers per hour at a maximum speed of 35 feet per second!
Recently ranked as one of the top family-friendly restaurants in markets across the United States by Citysearch, Johnny Rocketsâ takes up residence at America’s most family-friendly theme park, Knott’s Berry Farm. Known for its all-American diner look and feel, Johnny Rocketsâ offers delicious food, swinging servers and great jukebox music.
Knott’s debuts its first spinning coaster, Sierra Sidewinder which take guests through banks, turns and dips all while rotating on its axis! Located at the entrance of Camp Snoopy, this coaster put a whole new spin on fun.
Knott's Berry Farm sets out on a mission to deliver “First Class” thrills with the opening of their coaster, Pony Express, which arrives in Ghost Town on Memorial Day Weekend. Named after the famous Pony Express which promised a faster mail service on the North American continent, Knott’s Pony Express sends guests on a horseback relay at speeds never imagined in the Old West!
Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant, a Southern California dining institution celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2009. This world-famous restaurant offers the same legendary multi-course meals and warm neighborly atmosphere that have kept tourists, locals and celebrities coming back since 1934. Today, Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant serves an average of 1,000 chickens daily, making it the world’s largest, full service, single location chicken restaurant in the world with seating for 1,000 in eight separate dining rooms.
Continuing the tradition of offering fantastic food at affordable prices, Knott’s welcomes the world famous Pink’s Hot Dogs to the Marketplace shopping and dining area. A part of LA culture for over 70 years, Pink’s has long been a destination for hot dog lovers everywhere.
To celebrate the PEANUTS 60th Anniversary, Knott’s Berry Farm debuts a new nighttime light show that showcases the Peanuts Gang and reminds us why our heart still belongs to good ol’ Charlie Brown. Camp Snoopy comes alive with a continuous light show filled with Peanuts’ three dimensional figures, themed music, sound effects, voice-overs and colorful projections of the Peanuts’ characters. In “Snoopy’s Starlight Spectacular” guests will see their favorite characters in scenes that personify them – Lucy’s dream of being a Hollywood starlet, Schroeder’s musical genius, even Woodstock gets into the act as he and Snoopy go on a camping adventure.
2011 Knott’s takes to the sky with the addition of WindSeeker in Fiesta Village. WindSeeker features 32, 2-person gondolas that ascend to a height of 301 feet.
Once it has reached the top of the tower, WindSeeker spreads its metal arms spinning riders for a 60 second flight at a 45 degree angle at a speed of 8 rotations a minute.
2012 Knott's celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Ghost Town and Calico Railroad with a Golden Spike Ceremony and the re-naming of engine 41 to the
"Walter K." after Knott's founder Walter Knott. Walter and Cordelia's only living offspring, Marion Knott, is in attendance and christens the engine with boysenberry juice.
2013 Knott’s Berry Farm debuts new family attractions to the theme park’s Boardwalk section during the summer of 2013. This multi-million dollar project
included three attractions designed for families including Coast Rider, Surfside Gliders, and Pacific Scrambler.
Timber Mountain Log Ride, one of the oldest log flume rides in the country, re-opens after a multi-million dollar refurbishment and restoration project. The classic attraction, which opened at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1969, remains as one of the most elaborate log flume rides in the U.S.
2014 In celebration of 30 years of Camp Snoopy, Knott’s Berry Farm revitalizes the entire land of the High Sierra fun and adds three new attractions: Charlie
Brown’s Kite Flyer, Pig Pen’s Mud Buggies, and Linus Launcher.
The Calico Mine Ride – Knott’s Berry Farm’s first major ride was restored with over 50 new animatronics figurines, new audio, themed lighting system, plus a few startling new special effects. The enhancements breathed new life into the park’s landmark attraction.
Marion Knott, the youngest child of Walter and Cordelia Knott, dies at the age of 92.
2015 Voyage to the Iron Reef™, a spectacular new interactive 4-D ride opens on May 15, 2015. Guests who have what it takes to become brave deep sea
navigators climb aboard submarine-inspired ride vehicles and embark on an adventure into the Iron Reef that combines the fun of a theme park ride with the interactivity of high tech video games. Riders aim their freeze rays at the Kraken Queen’s army of menacing sea creatures and compete against each other to blast the highest score and save Knott’s from a watery doom.
2016 In honor of Ghost Town’s 75th Anniversary, Knott’s Berry Farm debuted Ghost Town Alive!, the new, interactive, limited-time celebration that allowed guest
to live the Old West and become a main character in this unique experience. Guests play an active role in shaping the events of the day were different adventures will unfold through the familiar town of Calico.
GhostRider, the longest, fastest and tallest wooden rollercoaster on the West Coast, returns from a major restoration project with all-new trains that gallop
along over 4,500 feet of new track.
2017 Knott’s Berry Farm debuts Sol Spin a brand new hair-raising thrill to the Fiesta Village area of the park. Sol Spin sends brave guests on a thrilling topsy-turvy
adventure over 6 stories high as they rotate in all directions on one of six spinning arms.
Knott’s Soak City expands to include 2 new water slide towers geared for families and thrill seekers. Shore Break towers over seven stories and offer six different thrilling water slide experiences. Four of the slides on the tower will feature an Aqua-Launch chamber which innovatively launches guests as the floor under their feet drops them into an almost vertical free fall through a series of flat loops and S-curves in a translucent flume. The Wedge slide tower is an open air family raft ride. Up to six guests at a time will descend down navigating twists and turns and unexpected drops.
2018 Knott’s Berry Farm welcomed HangTime, the first dive coaster in California. The brand new coaster towers 150 feet over the Boardwalk area, showcasing
gravity-defying inversions, mid-air suspensions and a beyond vertical drop- the steepest in California.
2019 A new expedition in an uncharted territory awaits eager explorers with the debut of Calico River Rapids. Replacing Bigfoot Rapids, Calico River Rapids takes
voyagers on a search for new land through the outskirts of Calico. With the help of frontiersmen Potts and Colter, who have plotted the path for settlers to explore, rafters will encounter a variety of wild surprises along the way, such as roaring rapids, indigenous wildlife, and peculiar homesteaders. The circular raft ride, which seats six passengers, traverses through unexpected twists and turns, rushing waters and rapid currents as it navigates the unexplored river path.
2020 Knott’s hosted a variety special events including “Taste of Calico”, “Taste of Knott’s”, “Taste of Fall-O-Ween”, and “Taste of Merry Farm”. These events offered a
fun and safe environment for Guests to enjoy unique food, festive décor and more while the theme park remained closed.
2021 The grand reopening of the park after a year-long closure featured a summer-long, Knott’s 100th Anniversary Celebration. "The Knott's Family Reunion"
brought family and friends together in a safe and fun environment. New and unforgettable experiences honored the park's 100 years of history and family fun for all.
During the 100th anniversary celebration, Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair premiered. This 4-D interactive dark ride pays tribute to the classic attraction from 35 years ago. Guests were introduced to new park characters including Boysen Bear and Coyote Pups, plus the return of the friendly prospector, Whittles. The celebration also included a nightly ceremony featuring multiple attractions lighting up the evening and culminating in a special moment with the redesigned illuminated K-tower.
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