Pioneer City
Encyclopedia
Pioneer City was an Old West
theme park located across the street from Flamingo Gardens
in Davie, Florida
.
The park was opened on Memorial Day
weekend 1966 by photography studio magnate Myron M. "Mike" Weiss, Sr. as a built-to-scale Dodge City, Kansas
, complete with a saloon, general store
, Pony Express
office, opera house
and casino
, undertaker
, and barber shop
, highlighted by cowboy
actors who staged gunfights at high noon.
out of the 5,000 acres he owned between Flamingo Road and U.S. 27
in what was then rural southwestern Broward County
. Architects and interior designers commissioned by Weiss worked on the park for two years before its opening, carefully examining Civil War
era photos to perfect the architecture and design of the Old West.
Weiss bought a 19th century steam locomotive
in Pennsylvania
and two paddle-wheel boats
built in Miami
for the park, as well as refurbished antique fire engines
and a Wells Fargo
stagecoach
. Gandy dancers
laid almost a half-mile of narrow gauge railroad track for a train to carry visitors around the park. Weiss also dredged a lake and a canal for the paddleboats to ferry visitors from the parking lot into the park. In addition, Weiss surrounded the town at the center of the park with an Indian
village, a gold mining
area, and a petting zoo
with pony rides.
, the nearest major highway at the time. Faced with mixed box office results and depleted cash operating reserves, the park closed in February 1968.
Most of the park was demolished to make way for a restaurant that operated on the site from 1974 to 1990.
Today, the land is the site of the county-run Long Key Natural Area and Nature Center. The dredged lake and canal remain, and the railroad right of way still exists as a horse trail. The exhibit hall at the Nature Center contains a promotional poster and several old photos of Pioneer City.
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
theme park located across the street from Flamingo Gardens
Flamingo Gardens
Flamingo Gardens is a , not-for-profit wildlife sanctuary, aviary, and botanical garden located just west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 3750 South Flamingo Road, Davie, Florida, USA. It is open to the public for a fee....
in Davie, Florida
Davie, Florida
Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The town's population was 91,992 at the 2010 census.- History :Davie was founded by Jake Tannebaum and Tamara Toussaint. The original name of the town was Zona. In 1909 R.P. Davie assisted then Governor Broward by draining the swamplands...
.
The park was opened on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend 1966 by photography studio magnate Myron M. "Mike" Weiss, Sr. as a built-to-scale Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
, complete with a saloon, general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
, Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
office, opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
and casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
, undertaker
Funeral director
A funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...
, and barber shop
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
, highlighted by cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
actors who staged gunfights at high noon.
History
Weiss invested $2 million (about $13.5 million in 2010 dollars) to build the park, carving out a 200-acre oak hammockHammock (ecology)
Hammocks are dense stands of hardwood trees that grow on natural rises of only a few inches higher than surrounding marshland that is otherwise too wet to support them. Hammocks are distinctive in that they are formed gradually over thousands of years rising in a wet area through the deposits of...
out of the 5,000 acres he owned between Flamingo Road and U.S. 27
U.S. Route 27
U.S. Route 27 is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 in Fort Wayne, Indiana...
in what was then rural southwestern Broward County
Broward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
. Architects and interior designers commissioned by Weiss worked on the park for two years before its opening, carefully examining Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era photos to perfect the architecture and design of the Old West.
Weiss bought a 19th century steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and two paddle-wheel boats
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
built in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
for the park, as well as refurbished antique fire engines
Fire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
and a Wells Fargo
History of Wells Fargo
This article outlines the history of Wells Fargo & Company from its origins to its merger with Norwest and beyond. The new company chose to retain the name of "Wells Fargo" and so this article also includes the history after the merger.-Origins:...
stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
. Gandy dancers
Gandy dancer
Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines....
laid almost a half-mile of narrow gauge railroad track for a train to carry visitors around the park. Weiss also dredged a lake and a canal for the paddleboats to ferry visitors from the parking lot into the park. In addition, Weiss surrounded the town at the center of the park with an Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
village, a gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
area, and a petting zoo
Petting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
with pony rides.
Demise
Weiss, however, had no experience managing a theme park, and was unprepared for the heavy operating costs, summer thunderstorms, and difficulties posed by managing large crowds. It rained or threatened to rain 77 of the first 90 days the park was open; the area received 21 inches of rain in June 1966, the first full month the park was open. In addition, the park was located on a two-lane country road seven miles from the Florida TurnpikeFlorida's Turnpike
Florida's Turnpike , designated as the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, and originally known as the Sunshine State Parkway is a north–south toll road that runs through 11 counties in the Florida peninsula, from U.S...
, the nearest major highway at the time. Faced with mixed box office results and depleted cash operating reserves, the park closed in February 1968.
Most of the park was demolished to make way for a restaurant that operated on the site from 1974 to 1990.
Today, the land is the site of the county-run Long Key Natural Area and Nature Center. The dredged lake and canal remain, and the railroad right of way still exists as a horse trail. The exhibit hall at the Nature Center contains a promotional poster and several old photos of Pioneer City.