Pioneertown, California - An Old West Experience
A couple of days after Christmas
We took a drive to 29 Palms, California to visit my Great Aunt and family. While we were there, it was suggested that we all drive out to Pioneertown for a day out. I had never heard of it, but was certainly down for some local entertainment.
We filled up a few cars and headed down there. To start with, I thought that Pioneertown was some kind of shop or something, but it is an actual small town here in California.
The bizarre thing about it is that the whole of the town seems to be a street with mostly tourist shops made out like the 1800s and then some random houses right there on the tourist strip. Here is the Wikipedia entry for it.
Check out this sign that was posted along the road which pretty much explains it all:
Apparently this mock old west town was used in the filming of quite a few Western movies back in the old days. It certainly does feel like you are going back in time!
I mean, let's be honest. How many of you can honestly say that you knew that cactuses wore sunglasses back then. Not I!
I must be pretty gullible because I actually expected to see snakes inside of this barrel. But to be fair, the sign was not lying:
They have some animals that you can feed as well as pet. They were super cute and friendly. The kids were having a great time. This one particular kid was really making me laugh because he kept calling this one goat a weird dog.
I love how he just hangs out on the chair. He never moved a muscle the entire time I was there. Great acting skills, I suppose.
I especially love that little guy above. He was super sweet. He would stand on his hind legs and take a piece of food from your hand.
They have a pretty good sense of humor at this place. The Town Haul is always occupied, though.
I had the guy in here cracking up. I was complaining because they advertise used cows but didn't have any in stock. His excuse for leaving the sign up was that if they take it down, it leaves an empty space on the wall.
There are a lot of random old timey items decorating the landscape such as this coal car.
Bonus: 100% up-vote to the first person who can tell me very specifically what the below object is:
We looked at it for a while but couldn't work it out. It seems to be some kind of press, but I have no idea for what! That platform on top was throwing me off.
My father-in-law was sure having a great time. I love that he has pretty much zero inhibition.
The above photo is me with my Great Aunt. She is 89 years old and still very active! She was having a great time.
There are so many bizarre looking mechanical contraptions in this place. This looks like some kind of ancient drill press. I've never seen anything like it.
Oh, there are also selling really old rusted metal things for like $5 apiece. I don't know why I didn't buy the whole stock.
At the end of the road is the old Sheriff's station. You couldn't go inside but you could peak through the window. I couldn't really get a good picture, but it was kind of silly inside anyway. They had a tiny little caged area made of re-bar that could apparently fit one prisoner. It was mas more prop looking that some of the other stuff.
At the very end of the road, which you can see behind the Sheriff sign, is the famous OK Corral.
The sign is quite faded but you can still just make out the letters OK CORRAL:
The writing is also on the building next to the sign. The names of lots of famous people are stamped into the fence inside of the corral.
It seems that you can't really make out the names from the photos that I took, but there are a lot of them.
One day I'd like to go back on a Saturday. Apparently they do shows; like shootouts or something. Looks like fun! Overall I'd say if ever passing through the area it is a great place to stop for a break and look around.
Also, the restaurant there is fantastic! In fact, I keep meaning to do a separate review post about it. Sadly, I was so busy enjoying the food that I didn't get many photos in there.
It's easy to miss this place if you're driving down the highway, but worth a stop even if just to visit the restaurant and have a nice walk up and down the road to check out the scene.
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Ohhhh! That's so cooooool Rick , I really love the old Clint Eastwood westerns ~ Awesome movies, even when badly dubbed 😂
!bro
When I was a kid I used to hate the westerns because we had a tiny TV, and the westerns would show up with a black stripe on the top and the bottom of the screen (because they were shot in wide screen). The TV was too small to make everything out!
Once widescreen televisions came out, I came to appreciate them a lot more! Even the Italian ones. haha
Now you are really showing your age, LOL but I agree Rick 💯%
Wow that Cactus with Sunglasses looks so cool.
haha for sure.
haha, that is pretty funny about the baby rattlers. I have been to places similar to this in the past. I think there is one near Mammoth Cave that we went to. Rifle City or Shot Gun City or something like that. That seems familiar to me. I think we had to ride a chair lift to get to it. Nice photos!
You know, I think we drove by that when we went to Mammoth Cave a few years back. I will have to check it out next time I'm in Kentucky. There is a lot of cool places to visit.
The rattlers gave me a good laugh as well...
Fantastic Report, Rick! The very last photo "Y'all come back now, ya hear? We'll keep them lights on fer ya!" sort of reminds me of a old Railway lantern I used to have - I worked for Canadian Pacific from 1969 onward, and once found one very similar in a storage compartment in an old caboose.
mine had a clear glass lens
While by then we used battery-powered lanterns for signalling (or in the yard, shunting boxcars, before we had radios), they were basically the same shape as the old kerosene lanterns. Until Cabooses were eliminated, we still had tail-end lanterns fueled with kerosene, displaying red and green lights.
Can't believe I am that old, lol
hehe, well we are all getting older all the time. I have to say, I love older machines and equipment. There is a certain quality that is missing from most things nowadays! I sometimes wonder if we'll eventually turn around and go back to the old ways of owning fewer, more high quality things.
That first lantern you posted reminds me of one my family had when I was a kid that we'd use when we would go camping. Great memories!
Woww...this is very beautiful Photography 👌
Thank you!