Development expresses gratitude to Zukin for Frontier Village The park was built by Joseph Zukin Jr. of
Palo Alto, who was inspired by a family trip to
Disneyland in 1959. of which nearly 80,000 shares were sold by October 1960, helped by a "substantial, but not controlling block" purchased by
United California Theaters. The park was planned initially to be built along
El Camino Real in
Sunnyvale, California, according to plans drawn up in 1958 by the Frontier Village Corporation, founded by Zukin, Hawley Smith, and Michael Khourie. Zukin declared "it will be designed as a children's dream of the Old West, where the child (and his parents) can actually experience the thrills and excitement of the West in an atmosphere especially created for fun and relaxation." Zukin later announced in April 1959 that Frontier Village would be built in San Jose, on Hayes Ranch, part of the estate surrounding
Hayes Mansion. responsibility for the design was turned over to
Laurence Hollings, who had prior experience designing
film sets at
Columbia Pictures and
Paramount Pictures, and nature habitats at the
California Academy of Sciences. He described the park as a "sort of tongue-in-cheek approach to the
Wild West." Ground was broken for the park on August 1, 1960.
Operation The park, developed at a cost of $2 million, surrounded by a barricade of logs, and was themed to the Old West. To better retain the water in an artificial canal for the Indian Canoe ride, the canal was lined with cement. The 1964 summer season opened on Saturday, June 20, marked by a "Family Fun Day". Frontier Village was praised as "spotless, rarely jammed ... one can take in all of the rides and attractions within about four hours." Jim Bakich, a first-year student at
San Jose City College, attempted to set a world's record for the longest continuous
Ferris wheel ride in 1965, planning to spend two full weeks aboard the park's wheel. Other self-claimed world records set at the park in 1966 include the finish of the longest foot-propelled scooter journey( from
Big Sur, by Byron Jonesand largest pizza in diameter.
Dennis the Menace visited the park with his parents in the story "The Park Lark", initially published for the March 1970 issue; while there, he interacted with the marshal, an outlaw, other guests, and visited several attractions, including the Rainbow Falls trout fishing pond and the Antique Cars ride. A short film entitled
Kung-Phooey was filmed in part at Frontier Village in 1975; it was written and produced for less than $100 by a group of 29 elementary school students from San Francisco under the instruction of Darrell Sevilla. It won first prize at the
National Educational Television Young Filmmakers' Festival. In 1977,
Charles Jacques rated the park as the 45th best in the United States, behind local competitors
Marriott's Great America (#12) and
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (#30). It was also the first year of operation for the Apache Whirlwind, the park's first and only roller coaster. Jeff Block and Rena Clark set a new record for Ferris wheel endurance starting on July 1, 1978, traveling on the park's wheel in 29,744 revolutions over 37 days. Block broke the record once more in 1993 with a 38-day ride on the same Ferris wheel, The first costumed character, a bear named Theodore, was introduced to the park in July 1972;
Closure When the park opened in 1961, it was surrounded by undeveloped land. A decade later, the remainder of the substantial Hayes ranch had been sold off piecemeal and the park was surrounded by urban sprawl; Zukin lacked the necessary funds to expand and sold Frontier Village to
Rio Grande Industries for US$1.7 million in 1973, although he stayed on to manage the park through 1977. Rio Grande announced plans in 1977 to expand the park to onto the former site of the drive-in theater The park closed on September 28, 1980. The Bren Company held a
public auction in October 1980, disposing of all the rides, buildings, and lumber that made up Frontier Village. ==Legacy==