My last posting on Frontier Village, San Jose's beloved little old west theme park, we concluded our tour of the park.

You may be asking yourself what ever became of this little park and why haven't I heard about it before.  Well, Frontier Village closed in 1980 and was torn down shortly afterward.

Why did Frontier Village close?  Many factors went into the closure of Frontier Village.

First off, increased competition from a new large theme park in Santa Clara "Marriott's Great America".  Great America being at least four times the size of Frontier Village, could offer something that Frontier Village could not, size.

Great America was much closer and much more modern.  Great America made it's debut in 1976 and was backed by a huge hotel conglomerate with deep pockets. 

The Marriott corporation was going to build three identical Great America parks in different regions of the country.  Santa Clara got the West Coast Great America, Gurnee Illinois got the Midwest Great America.  The Washington D.C. area was to get the third Great America park.

Frontier Village by this time had been sold to Rio Grande Industries, a railroad company.  Rio Grande Industries also owned local roller coaster manufacturer Arrow Development Corporation.  It looked like Frontier Village could soon be the debut location for all sorts of ride & roller coaster innovations.

Frontier Village had room to expand into the Badlands as well as some additional land adjacent to the park proper.

Behind Frontier Village was the Hayes mansion, which could be seen from the stagecoach ride.  It always looked like an old haunted house.  It was just a historic property in a state of disrepair.   Frontier Village was actually built on the gardens of the Hayes estate, known as Edenvale.  The large Eucalyptus trees that graced frontier village were part of that much older estate gardens.  

http://www.dolce-hayes-mansion-hotel.com/

San Jose was also experiencing explosive growth due to the emergence of Silicon Valley.  Whereas frontier village was all alone in the orchards in the southern part of town.  By 1980 frontier village was in the middle of a neighborhood of single family homes.

Frontier Village wanted to expand however, between Great America, the historic Hayes property and the approaching neighborhoods, the city declined frontier village's application to expand.

It was the end of the trail for Frontier Village!   The park was auctioned off piece by piece until there was nothing left.

In my next posting we will examine the legacy of Frontier Village.

Part 1 http://activerain.com/blogsview/717285/Frontier-Village-Part-1

Part 2 http://activerain.com/blogsview/718430/Frontier-Village-Part-2

Part 3 http://activerain.com/blogsview/718484/Frontier-Village-Part-3

Part 4 http://activerain.com/blogsview/721314/Frontier-Village-Memories-Part

Part 5 http://activerain.com/blogsview/721431/Frontier-Village-Memories-Part

Part 6 http://activerain.com/blogsview/723682/Frontier-Village-Memories-Part

Part 7 http://activerain.com/blogsview/732184/Frontier-Village-Part-7  

Part 8