Editing Walter Knott (section)

=== 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]]