Pixieland

Greetings family and friends! Jerry and Lu Parks had a dream of creating a fantasy themed amusement park on the Oregon coast. Today's rambling is about their story....Bill

Theme Park Vignettes

PIXIELAND - “Fairytale Story of Oregon”

Jerry and Lu Parks were doing well. Their popular Oregon Coast seafood restaurant, Crab Broiler, had been in operation since 1930 with several owners before they purchased the property in 1953. The Parks renamed the family style restaurant Pixie Kitchen, and with the help of a local illustrator Mo Martindale created a kid friendly fantasy theme. Small fries received complementary pixie hats, tokens for salt water taffy and were encouraged to play in front of silly carnival mirrors, be captivated by pixie themed picture box tables and seek out goodies at the restaurants gift shop. The most popular attraction however, was Pixie Grotto, a display of animated wooden cutout characters created by Martindale located behind the restaurant and visible through large dining room windows. 

Encouraged by the success of Pixie Kitchen in 1957, concerns about the potential re-routing of the highway 101 bypassing town and influenced by the success of Disneyland and trips to Knott’s Berry Farm, Jerry and Lu announced plans for Pixieland, a fairytale themed amusement park on the Oregon Coast near Lincoln City. Fifty seven acres of marshy wetlands on the nearby Salmon River Estuary were purchased for the site and after an investment of nearly a million dollars, phase one of Pixieland was finally opened to the public for a brief two month 1969 summer season. The fledgling park featured several rides and exhibits including a two foot gauge miniature steam locomotive with open passenger cars that circled the park on a dike constructed to hold back seasonal flows of the estuary. A raised wooden trestle passed through a two story train station and gift shop. Arrow Development installed the first Log Flume ride on the west coast at Pixieland a few months before completing the Knott’s Berry Farm version of the popular ride. Several off-the-shelf “flat” kiddie rides rounded out the parks initial attractions.

In following seasons the park slowly grew to include a modest fantasy themed dark ride featuring Martindale’s pixie characters, an Opera House where college students performed melodramas. Main Street attractions included an Arcade, Print Shop, and locally sponsored Darigold Cheese Barn, Fisher Scones, and Franz Bread Rest Hut.

Jerry and Lu’s dream of a multimillion dollar fantasy theme park unfortunately came to an end after four brief years, the victim of Oregon Coasts cool and rainy weather and short summer seasons, Other factors included the long distance to the coast from heavily populated areas, the high cost and availability of gas, and The National Forest Service’s persistent effort to return the Salmon River Estuary to it’s original natural state. The parks buildings were demolished and the rides dismantled and sold. The steam train and log flume rides were purchased by Lagoon Amusement Park in Colorado where the train continues to delight new generations of passengers. Most visitors to Oregon’s Central Coast these days have no idea that a fantasy land of merry pixies could be found in these woods and along the Salmon River Estuary.....once upon a time.

-Bill  8/23 

https://oldpixieland.blogspot.com/