Friday, November 30, 2007
Souvenir Friday- Adventure Town New York Brochure
A vibrantly colored brochure for The Real Old West Adventure Town located in Alexandria Bay, New York. The site is in a major summer tourist location in the 1000 Islands area on the St. Lawrence seaway. I do not think the park lasted long as there is no mention of it any where on the web. The town of Alexandria Bay is the home to the Boldt Castle, an unfinished millionare's mansion that was being built in the early 1900s as well as the site of a large Pirates Day festival. The brochure itself extols the attractions of the park, especially the hold ups of the train and the stagecoaches. During this time period there were a large number of roadside attractions in New York state. The park even had an authentic brand. I would love to hear more about this park if any one has any memories.
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Really wonderful...I am endlessly fascinated with the many small western towns, fairytale villages, North Poles, etc. They remind us of a more innocent time, and give us a glimpse of the way our grandparents (or even great grandparents) had fun.
I'd love to see more stuff like this!
Don't get me wrong, I love all the Disneyland pictures you post. But this stuff is really cool. Never heard of the place, but I definitely want to no more now. Thanks matterhorn.
A quick newspaper search reveals it opened in the summer of 1955 and closed on Labor Day, 1961. The project was done by Bud Hebert and George Clark, owners of the Edgewood Resort Hotel and international speedway.
This sounds a lot like "Frontier Town" which my family visited returning to the NYC area from a trip to Montreal in 1980...could it possibly be the same place? The location seems right.
Frontier Town was in the Catskills located further south than this roadside attraction.
W0w - no wonder it didn't last long. Look at those "sub-Randall Duell" looking buildings!
Fascinating - I've never heard of this place.
In Colton, Calif. there was a place called 'Movieland Frontier Town' (think that's right, correct if wrong please). There was also a 'Frontier Town' in El Cajon California. Believe it was off Harbison Canyon. We have some slides that we think are from both of these places. We'll add them to the list of future posts!
-- Ken
Ken- Growing up in San Diego I used to go to the Frontier Town in Harbison Canyon. It was a fun little western themed park. I believe I went there as part of Pop Warner picnics. I will have to ask my parents if they have any photos of the family there.
Great! Hope you find those photos. Would love to verify that the shots we have are actually of that park. We are currently looking for something even more obscure... Having grown up in San Diego, maybe you once visited 'Bibleland' in Temecula? We have only postcards and few actual pictures.
Lots of folks are talking about this place on www.abay.com.
http://www.adventuretown.net/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzpRK9jG5N8
http://www.cardcow.com/200318/adventure-town-alexandria-bay-new-york-alexandria-bay/
I am pretty sure this is the place my parents took me to. I think I was around five or six. I remember the jail, inside a small building, and my sister and I squeezed through the bars and LOVED IT! Also a train ride, and there was a train robber who made every passenger take off their badge (I think the badges were given out at admission). I don't remember much else, though.
"Frontier Town" in New York was not in the Catskill Mountains,but rather in the more northern Adirondack Mountains, at North Hudson, NY. It was developed by Art Benson and partners. http://www.frontiertown.net/frontiertown/history.html
I have two clear black and white photos of Adventure Town in 1957. Is there a way to upload them?
Alexandria Bay is my parents home town and we went there as kids. I remember the cowboys shoot out. Also the train ride. I was really young at the time. My mother said that one of our relatives work there as a teenager. I just remember being so sad when they tore it down.
I was four or five when I visited. My father knew the owner somehow. They sent me to the bunkhouse to talk to the cowboys. (I now realize they were teenagers dressed up in costume.) Later I saw them in a shootout. I think the owner was "Red" Winters? I could be wrong about that, I was a little squirt.
Hi Tom. The owner of Adventure Town was George Clark, who also owned The Edgewood Resort. Adventure Town was built to attract guests to the resort. George was my mom's cousin.
Thanks, I’m not sure why the name Red Winter is in my memory, but it was 64 years ago.
I uploaded a black and white photo to my facebook account. Tom Eisenman
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