Just when I thought I was done with Knott's, something else really cool turns up. Knott's Berry Farm historian Christopher Merritt writes,"I finally got my website - KnottsPreserved.com - up and running. It's ostensibly to promote the book, which is coming out this March - but even more, to show many of the images that were cut from the book due to size limitations. Trying to fit 90 years of history into a 144-page book will do that! ...I will be adding more [to the site] as time allows...To go along with Chris' news, I posted a photo of Knott's old Church of Reflections at the top of today's post. The image below is a close-up from the same photo, showing the Christmas decor (circa the 1960s) in more detail.
"I also have a blog,... The first entry tells you the background on how this project came to be... This is the page to bookmark and check on every so often to learn what is going on with the book.
"Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of [each] page. At the bottom, I am trying to include excerpts from many of the interviews I have done over the years, and some of the recordings in my collection."
To add a little color to today's post, I'm also tacking on this 1966 image, (below), of the Chicken Dinner Restaurant/shopping area of Knott's. Notice the guys on ladders in the background, putting up Christmas decorations.
On very interesting but unrelated note, Kathy Hall recently wrote to let us know about her "website dedicated to the history and architecture of the Broadmoor Homes tract in central Tustin. ...A grass roots effort has formed among some of the residents to encourage the restoration and preservation of these classic midcentury modern houses. Our community was featured in Atomic Ranch Magazine last spring.".
These homes were built in the late sixties and reflect that era in California Modernism. Thanks for sharing this with us, Kathy!
You're going to have to face it, Chris, you will never be done with Knott's! There's just too much history there! May it ever be so.
ReplyDeleteLet's cross our fingers with the new owners...
Nice post.
My friends live in one of the Broadmoor houses in Tustin. They really are uniquely beautiful. The surrounding neighborhoods have backslid a bit in the past 10 years, but I'm hoping (for them) that they pick up again and become a little more charming. These houses are so fantastic that it's a shame that they're sort of an island of interestingness in a sea of blandness and low-rent apartments.
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