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Gold Mine Tunnel, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, circa 1952

Subjects
Amusement ParksMining & Quarrying
Card type
Chrome
Date
c. 1952 (Chrome)
Front of Gold Mine Tunnel, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, circa 1952, Ghost Town Gold Mine, USA, c. 1952 chrome postcard
Front
Back of Gold Mine Tunnel, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, circa 1952, Ghost Town Gold Mine, USA, c. 1952 chrome postcard
Back

About this postcard

The entrance to the Gold Mine Tunnel at Knott's Berry Farm's Ghost Town, with a rustic wooden mine building, headframe, and a sign reading "Ghost Town Gold Mine." A pack burro stands in front, and two costumed prospectors, one in a red plaid shirt and one in green, pose by the doorway. Visitors walked through the tunnel to learn about gold mining; on a lower level an overshot water wheel powered a rock crusher, and at a creek-side sluice box they panned "actual gold nuggets" with a kindly old prospector. Ghost Town was Walter Knott's re-creation of a California mining camp, assembled from old buildings and staffed with costumed characters, part of the roadside berry farm that grew into a family attraction.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

We walked through this tunnel and learned much about goldmining. On a lower level an ancient overshot water wheel powers a rock- crusher and there by the creek we panned actual gold nuggets over a sluice box with the help of the kindly old prospector.

PublisherLithochrome Press
GOLD MINE TUNNEL ENTRANCE, Ghost Town Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California
Addressed to

No address detected

Postcard record

PublisherLithochrome Press
ConditionVery good
Place depictedGhost Town Gold Mine
Place mentionedKnott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA
NotesChrome-era color photo postcard; no white border; glossy. Publisher line: "PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR PAUL V. KLEIBEN BY LITHOCHROME PRESS." No postmark, but the card is not unused: it bears a handwritten message about walking through the tunnel, the overshot water wheel and rock-crusher, and panning gold nuggets at a sluice box. Divided-back chrome-era glossy color card with printed 2-cent stamp box. Dealer pencil marks "#59" and "1-" at lower right. Light foxing/toning on card stock.

Cite this card

Gold Mine Tunnel, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, circa 1952, postcard, c. 1952. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/gold-mine-tunnel-knotts-berry-farm-buena-park-ca-circa-1952. Accessed November 2, 2026.