San Jose’s long-lost amusement park: Frontier Village

Learn the story behind San Jose, CA’s Frontier Village, a Western-themed amusement park that attracted visitors to the great 408 from around the country.

It’s about time we talked about one of our city’s most beloved attractions that brought national attention to the great 408.

So saddle up, because we’re taking you back in time to San Jose’s long-lost amusement park — Frontier Village.

The happiest place in San Jose Following a family trip to Disneyland in 1959, Palo Alto entrepreneur and businessman Joseph Zukin Jr. became inspired to build his own piece of magic in the great 408.

After purchasing 60 acres from a doctor who owned Hayes Mansion, he and amusement ride designer Laurie Hollings went to work to create a Western-themed park for all ages.

In October 1961, Frontier Village opened to the public — charging visitors only 25-90 cents for admission.

Costumed employees put on a show for a crowd of children and their parents. Costumed workers would often put on shows where an outlaw was caught by Frontier Village’s Marshal Ron.

Cowboys, marshals, and miners, oh my Once inside, you’d find yourself in the middle of staged gunfights between marshals + outlaws or watching Can-Can dancers from the park’s Silver Dollar Saloon waltzing around.

If you were lucky, you might have had a celebrity encounter — stars like Bing Crosby, Lorne Greene, Nat King Cole, and former vice-presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey walked through the saloon doors.

Many visitors who saw the park in its heyday claim that its success was built off of the attention to detail and accessibility — parking was always free, ticket packages were offered for every budget, and Kodak even provided free loaner cameras for park-goers who forgot them.

The Edenvale Garden Park benches underneath a mock railroad station awning. Edenvale Garden Park’s design is inspired by Frontier Village.

The park closed in 1980 due to the emerging Great America, and the city of San Jose’s unwillingness to fund the property’s expansion.

Today, the 19.5-acre Edenvale Garden Park sits in its place, drawing its railroad theme from the beloved Western attraction.

as i recall, it was very easy to catch trout in the trout ponds

I remember going there as a small boy and fishing for my very first time. The thrill I got actually catching something led to a lifetime of fishing. So being easy to catch something there was a very good thing for me, regardless of how oppressed the fish were.

> Not roofies?

Roofies are classified as depressants. We wanted to catch the trout (as with a fishing rod, and on a hook, ideally requiring some skill), not forcibly “date” them.

> I remember going there as a small boy and fishing for my very first time. The thrill I got actually catching something led to a lifetime of fishing. So being easy to catch something there was a very good thing for me, regardless of how oppressed the fish were.

I suppose that my experience differed somewhat in that I had already been exposed to fishing, mainly in Vasona and other nearby south SC valley reservoirs— mainly catching perch and crappie (IIRC). I was therefore already somewhat familiar with the experience of catching fish in the wild, and how difficult it usually was (or at least how difficult it seemed to us to be). A half day spent fishing at Vasona would usually net one no more than about 3 small fish large enough to bring home, clean, and fry in a frying pan. That’s less than one fish per pole per hour. IIRC, the Frontier Village trout would bite within a couple of minutes. IMHO there really was no comparison and IMHO no real challenge to an experienced fisher. Of course, none of that takes anything away from your experience or anyone else’s, and I can’t say that I am much good at fishing despite all the opportunities to learn the craft well that I have had over the years. Despite my best efforts, outside of FV, I have had particularly bad luck with trout. :)

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