Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Frontier Town, July 1961

I recently found a small bunch of photos of a western-themed amusement park called "Frontier Town". Where was it? Well, I had to do a little detective work. And while the term "Frontier Town" brings up a lot of options, I believe that these are from a campground/amusement park in Ocean City, Maryland. It's still there, too. However, if anybody out there sees that I am clearly wrong, let me know!

Mom, Dad, and Junior are heading into the dance hall. I wonder if there was some kind of cleaned up burlesque show to see, or if the dance hall was just a place to get a root beer and a hot dog?


This is a great little steam train... if you look at the photos in the link that I posted earlier, you can see that it is still running (with a new paint scheme). Any park with a genuine steam locomotive is aces in my book!


More train fun. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.


It's the world's tiniest stockade! Now I see where Disney got the idea for the House of the Future. The design is just the same, only this one is logs instead of plastic.


I'll have a few more photos of Frontier Town comin' up!
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7 comments:

  1. Chiana_Chat1:22 AM

    We have to admit it: that stockade actually does look more like a frontier fort than what Disney Corp calls Fort Wilderness today.

    The entry on parks with trains in your book agrees with the entry in my book. That train is adorable. :)

    A c.1960 fam all right, how 'bout those striped shorts (?) on Junior? Yet, better than a lot of what was to come in the 70s IMH...

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  2. Andrew7:36 AM

    Fun find, Major. Sometimes it's neat to see other parks that are still there!

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  3. JG10:11 AM

    These are fun.

    JG

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  4. Major Pepperidge10:55 AM

    Yes, there is a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in these old amusement parks. They're small and intimate, and the fun they provide is of a more old fashioned sort.

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  5. GD8:50 AM

    The pictures you have from'61 are Frontier town in Hudson NY. near Lake placid. Gone now

    http://www.frontiertown.net/

    The train lives on though
    http://www.ucsvroute.com/frontier_town_train.htm

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  6. Major Pepperidge9:38 AM

    Thank you GD, I hate that I was mistaken, but at least readers out there keep me honest!

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  7. Anonymous11:52 AM

    I just stumbled upon this blog-- many, many years late. I am presently 30 years old and grew up going to this amusement park. I loved this place, truly, one of my most beloved childhood locations. I had the honor to take my nephew for his very first trip last summer when he was 6. I am planning another visit for him this summer (how I stumbled upon your blog!). It's a tiny place, that most people in the surrounding areas and states have never even heard of. It's very family friendly and has been further spruced up with the addition to 'Go Ape!'-- a zip line course, and a very large water park.

    If you have not already discovered, the Dance Hall is indeed a place where you could buy lunch, snacks, sodas, or bring your own food. You can sit at the tables they have set up on either the 1st or 2nd foor and watch a very clean cut can-can show.

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