Epting - Orange County

This image shows the cast of the show The Streets of New York from the introductory season of the Bird Cage Theatre at Knotts Berry Farm in 1954. The theater, which still stands but is only used sporadically, was created as a replica of the historic Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. (Then photograph courtesy of the Orange County Archives.)

In the 1920s, Walter Knott sold berries and pies with his family from a roadside stand on Highway 39 (today Beach Boulevard) in Buena Park. In 1934, to make ends meet, Knotts wife, Cordelia, starting serving her soon-to-be-famous fried chicken to hungry travelers. As time progressed, attractions were put in to accommodate the guests who waited for a seat at the chicken dinner restaurant. Those attractions were the beginning of the popular Knotts Berry Farm amusement park. Today coasters tower over the site of the original restaurant, which has been incorporated into an expanded structure. (Then photograph courtesy of the Orange County Archives.)

This is the old California Alligator Farm as it looked in 1955. It started as the Los Angeles Alligator Farm, next door to the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm in Lincoln Heights, and was a wildly popular tourist attraction from 1907 to 1953. Then it moved to Buena Park and was renamed the California Alligator Farm and also featured snakes, tortoises, and other reptiles. The attraction remained there until 1984, at which point it closed and the critters were shipped to a private estate in Florida. Today the Beach Boulevard location is a Claim Jumper restaurant and this adjacent open field.

On October 31, 1924, Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson played a barnstorming game here that became a solid part of the areas folklore. Sponsored by the Anaheim Elks Club, it was a homecoming for Johnson of sorts, in that he grew up in the neighboring oil town of Olinda. Nearly 5,000 people turned out for the event at the Brea Bowl field to see Ruths team win, 121. Today the Brea Bowl site is a residential neighborhood, though the natural bowl of the area is still intact.

The Japanese Gardens and Deer Park opened in Buena Park in the 1960s and lasted until the mid-1970s. It featured Japanese pearl divers, cultural Japanese shows, many deer roaming the property, koi ponds, and many more elements relating to Japanese culture. Several years before closing, it morphed into the Enchanted Village theme park, thanks to new ownership. Today the site, located off Knott Avenue, is a corporate park and no trace of the attraction remains.

This is near the intersection of Jacaranda Place and Highland Avenue, a charming residential street in Fullerton. The then image shows the area in 1938, and today the houses and even the old-fashioned streetlamps remain just as they did back then, a rarity in Orange County, where many residential streets have been redeveloped. (Then photograph courtesy of the Orange County Archives.)

The famed Knotts Berry Farm Chicken Dinner restaurant is shown as it looked in 1965. Today, while the physical structure of the restaurant has not changed, the environment around the restaurant has, as roller coasters loom overhead. The restaurant now seats more than 900 guests at a time, serves more than one-and-a-half million guests each year, and is the largest full-service restaurant in California that serves chicken as its main course. (Then photograph courtesy of the Orange County Archives.)

This is 100 East Central Avenue in La Habra as it looked in 1965 and how it looks today. Back then it was a local pharmacy, and today it is the site of an office building. And the location plays an important part in La Habra history. This is the original site of the town of La Habras store and post office. La Habra was founded in 1896. The site is now marked with a plaque, which contains the bell of the first Catholic church in the area. (Then photograph courtesy of the Orange County Archives.)