Editing Walter Knott (section)

== Career ==

=== Early efforts ===
Knott was adept at growing produce, and would rent vacant lots around Pomona to grow produce to contribute to his family's income.<ref name=":0" /> At the time he married Cordelia Hornaday in 1911, Knott was working for a cement contractor.<ref name=":0" />

In 1913, Knott homesteaded on 160 acres in the [[Mojave Desert]] near [[Newberry Springs, California|Newberry Springs]] and made his first effort at farming, which was unsuccessful.<ref name=":0" /> Knott tried farming again in 1917 near [[Shandon, California]]—growing produce to feed the employees of a cattle ranch and selling the excess supply for his own profit. This enterprise proved to be more successful, as Knott and Cordelia made enough money to pay off all his debts and had become a major supplier of produce for the area.<ref name=":0" />

=== Arrival in Buena Park ===
[[File:WalterKnott1948.jpg|thumb|Walter Knott tending to his berry plants, 1948]]
In 1920, Knott went into a partnership with one of his cousins, berry grower Jim Preston, to farm 20 acres of land in Buena Park, California.<ref name=":0" /> In 1923, Knott set up a small berry stand on the property, facing Grand Avenue (now [[California State Route 39|Beach Boulevard]]) to sell their produce to locals and tourists on their way to the beach.<ref name=":0" /> At the end of their original lease in 1927, Parsons decided to go off on his own and Knott purchased the Buena Park farm from his landlord, William H. Coughran.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ellis |first=Janey |date=March 31, 2020 |title=The History of Knott's Berry Farm |url=https://www.knotts.com/blog/2020/april/the-history-of-knotts-berry-farm |website=Knott's Berry Farm}}</ref>

The next year, in addition to a new house for his family, Knott built an 80-foot-long stucco building on the farm to house a new berry market, a nursery, and a tea room for Cordelia to sell hamburgers, sandwiches, and pies (Cordelia cooked the food in the Knott family kitchen).<ref name=":0" /> When the [[Great Depression]] began in 1929, Knott started buying parcels around the farm as the price of land dropped.<ref name=":1" />

In 1934, Knott introduced the [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] [[boysenberry]], named after its creator, [[Rudolph Boysen]].<ref name=":1" /> The previous year, Knott had secured cuttings from Boysen's dilapidated berry plant—which was a cross between a blackberry, red raspberry and [[loganberry]]—and planted and cultivated it at his own farm.<ref name=":1" /> The plant produced huge berries, and Knott integrated the boysenberry into all of his products as well as Cordelia's tea room menu.<ref name=":1" />

The same year, Cordelia had an idea to serve fried chicken dinners at her tea room.<ref name=":0" /> The chicken was a huge hit and the tea room was expanded into a full restaurant over the next six years. Lines outside the restaurant were often several hours long.<ref name=":2">Merritt, Christopher and Lynxwiler, J. Eric, ''Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm,'' pp. 20–31, Angel City Press, Santa Monica, CA, 2010.</ref>

=== Building an amusement park ===
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To entertain the waiting chicken restaurant crowds, Knott built several roadside attractions, exhibits and shops, culminating in the building of a western [[ghost town]] on the property in 1940.<ref name=":2" /> Knott had an interest in American history, particularly the Old West, and purchased buildings from many old ghost towns around the west (California, Arizona, Nevada and other states). <ref>{{cite book | last1=Holmes|first1= Roger |last2=Bailey|first2= Paul | title=Fabulous Farmer: The Story of Walter Knott and his Berry Farm|pages= 125–52|publisher= Westernlore Press, Los Angeles, CA|year= 1956}}</ref> The buildings were dismantled, trucked down to Buena Park, and reassembled on the farm. Knott gradually added to the ghost town over the next few years—including a saloon show, melodrama theater, and a full-scale railroad.

Other attractions came in later years: a [[San Francisco]] [[cable car (railway)|cable car]], a pan-for-gold experience, a stagecoach ride, the [[Calico Mine Train]] [[dark ride]], the [[Timber Mountain Log Ride]] [[log flume (ride)|log flume]] ride, and a Mexican-themed area. In 1968, the Knott family fenced the farm, charged gate admission for the first time, and [[Knott's Berry Farm]] officially became an amusement park.<ref>Holmes, Roger and Bailey, Paul, ''Fabulous Farmer: The Story of Walter Knott and his Berry Farm,'' pp. 125–52, Westernlore Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1956.</ref>

Even after [[Disneyland]] Park opened in 1955 only eight miles away in [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], Knott's Berry Farm continued to thrive. [[Walt Disney]] and Walter Knott had a cordial relationship. Knott and Cordelia attended the opening of Disneyland in July of 1955 and Walt Disney visited Knott's on several occasions both before and after Disneyland opened.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Caramanna |first=Carly |date=June 24, 2022 |title=How the surprising friendship between Walt Disney and Knott's Berry Farm's Walter Knott helped make Disneyland |work=[[SFGate]]}}</ref> The Knotts and the Disneys even dined at a local Chinese restaurant not far from Knott's Berry Farm.<ref name=":3" /> They were both members of the original planning council for [[Children's Hospital of Orange County]].

[[File:RonaldReaganWalterCorinaKnott1971.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ronald Reagan]] speaking at the Knotts' 60th wedding anniversary in 1971]]

=== Semi-retirement ===
Walter Knott remained active in the operation of Knott's Berry Farm until Cordelia's death in 1974, at which point he left day-to-day park operations to his children and focused on political causes.<ref>Salts, Christiane Victoria, ''Cordelia Knott: Pioneering Business Woman,'' pp. 75–78, The Literature Connection Books, Buena Park, CA, 2009.</ref><ref>Kooiman, Helen, ''Walter Knott: Keeper of the Flame,'' pp. 171–84, Plycon Press, Fullerton, CA, 1973.</ref>