Friday, February 20, 2009

Frontierland, 1956

Today I have a neat treat for all's y'all, three Frontierland images from 1956, each one showing at least some evidence of construction.

Whoever took this photo managed to fill at least 75% of the frame with empty blue sky, so I cropped it down to the juicy filet. You can see that Rainbow Ridge is looking pretty good, but has some buildings that are just being framed with 2 X 4's, and there are stacks of lumber around. Not to mention that crane in the distance.


Here is a view of Fowler's Harbor, you can see the arched tunnel for the Disneyland Railroad in the background, while the rockwork for the tunnel to the old Indian Village is in the early stages of construction. Also, what is that platform filling most of Fowler's Harbor? If you look at another photo from around the same time, it is missing.


In this view of the west side of Frontierland, you can see that there wasn't much there! The Plantation House is out of frame to our left. The shoreline looks pretty raw, no plants or anything. To our right is Tom Sawyer Island, which I am sure was not yet open for business. There is a wheel barrow and some unfinished plywood where the rafts would eventually land, and the path is some sort of crushed stone. When the island opened, they were dirt paths.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

That platform in Fowler's looks like a barge, possibly used to move construction material and equipment back and forth to TSI.

Anonymous said...

Great images today! I just can't get enough photos of the western shore of the Rivers of America pre-New Orleans Square. Thanks Major!

Jason Schultz said...

Great image of an early Fowler's Harbor!

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

All awesome shots, love the wood framing for the Cave to Indian Village!

The crushed stones on the paths are very curious to me, did they put dirt on top of the stones and why?

Thanks Major, Have you gotten a large bite outta the Big Apple yet? Where's the Freedomland Trip report?

Thufer said...

i really appreciate these; all give a glimpse into those special days prior to opening. just really good stuff. thank you.
hope your trip is well.

Unknown said...

Great shots!

Does the sign on the building in the second shot say Relwof's?

What else does it say?

The Viewliner Limited said...

Fantastic pics. Rainbow Ridge the coolest old town of any amusement park in the world.

Nancy said...

no sky buckets in sight looks odd...appears from the angle of the sunlight that it was pretty early in the morning

these are very cool...thanks! :)

outsidetheberm said...

These are wonderful. Thanks so much.

Gravel paths in a constructuion zone are certainly very common. It helps keep the mud down. -- And that 'barge' (if that's what it is)in Fowler's Harbor is very curious. It looks like it might hold hot tar or diesel fuel, as well.

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

These are just so neat! Love that little chapel in the first shot of Rainbow Ridge--is that still around today? I don't remember ever seeing it in the BTMRR que area. The last photo is also just super, thanks for posting them! :-D

Anonymous said...

So neat is right! :)