In the 1920s, Walter Knott and his family sold berries, berry plants and pies from a roadside stand beside State Route 39, near the small town of Buena Park. In the 1930s, Walter Knott was introduced to a new berry which had been cultivated by Rudolph Boysen. The plant was a combination of the red raspberry, blackberry, and loganberry. Walter planted a few plants he had received on a visit to Boysen's farm, and later started to sell them at their roadside stand. When people asked him what they were called he said "boysenberries".
In 1934, to make ends meet, Knott's wife Cordelia reluctantly began serving fried chicken dinners on their wedding china. For dessert, Knott's trademark boysenberry pie was also served to guests dining in the small tea room. As Southern California developed, Highway 39 became the major north-south connection between Los Angeles County and the beaches of Orange County, and the restaurant's location was a popular stopping point for drivers making what at the time was a two-hour trip. Until the development of the 605 and 57 freeways in the late 1960s, Highway 39 (now known in Orange County as Beach Boulevard) continued to carry the bulk of the traffic between eastern Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Within a few years, lines outside the restaurant were often several hours long. To entertain the waiting crowds, Walter began to build a ghost town in 1940, using buildings relocated from real old west towns such as Calico, California and Prescott, Arizona. They added attractions such as a narrow-gauge train ride, a pan-for-gold area, and the Calico Mine Ride. Frequent activities at what Knott called a "summer-long county fair" included -- naturally -- boysenberry pie eating contests. When Disneyland was built in nearby Anaheim, the two attractions were not seen as direct competitors, due to the different nature of each. Walt Disney visited Knott's Berry Farm on a number of occasions, and hosted the Knotts at his own park (including inviting the Knotts to Disneyland's opening day). The two Walters had a cordial relationship, and worked together on a number of community causes.
In 1968, the Knott family fenced in the property and charged an admission fee for the first time. In the 1970s the park included three theme areas: Old West Ghost Town, Fiesta Village (portraying Spanish California) and the Roaring Twenties, a nostalgic traditional amusement area with a 1920s-era airfield. In 1975 the Corkscrew debuted as the first modern-day roller coaster to perform a 360-degree inverting element. It was designed by Arrow Dynamics of Utah.
In the 1980s, Knott's built the "Barn Dance" featured Bobbi & Clyde as the house band. It was during the height of the "Urban Cowboy" era. The "Barn Dance" was featured in Knott's TV Commercials. Also during the 1980s, Knott's met the competition in Southern California theme parks by building two massive attractions: Kingdom of the Dinosaurs and Wild Water Wilderness, a whitewater raft ride. In 1990 the Boomerang roller coaster was introduced.
In 1995, the Knott family sold the food specialty business to ConAgra, which later re-sold the brand to The J. M. Smucker Co. in 2008. In 1997, the Knott family sold the amusement park operations to Cedar Fair. Initially, the Knotts were given an opportunity to sell the park to The Walt Disney Company. The park would have been amalgamated into the Disneyland Resort and converted into Disney's America, which had previously failed to be built near Washington, D.C. The Knotts refused to sell the park to Disney out of fear that most of what Walter had built would be eliminated.
Since being acquired by Cedar Fair, the park has seen an aggressive shift towards thrill rides, with the construction of a number of large roller coasters and the addition of a high-performance Shoot-the-Chutes ride.
