Earlier this week, I had another appointment at Stanford. A friend from Orange County (Eric) had come up to go with me (to check out the Bay Area's tiki bars). Instead of heading home the usual way, through Livermore Valley and over Altamont Pass, Eric had asked if we could stop at Casa De Fruta (a huge, old roadside fruit stand) on the way home. Sure, but to get there, we'd have to take the 880 to the 101 and cross over to the 152. As I mulled these directions over in my head, I realized that we'd be driving right past the location of where Frontier Village had been. Maybe we could find it and stop?
Frontier Village, the old San Jose amusement park, had been on my mind a lot lately. I had recently sold a souvenir plate from the place on eBay and that had opened the floodgates on my memories of the park. But Frontier Village is gone now. There is a public park where the amusement park once stood. Would visiting it be worth my time? We were going to be heading that way. Why not just stop and see?
Google Maps directed us to turn on Blossom Hill Road, which made sense to me and was nostalgic as we used to live off of it when I was a kid. We then went through a residential area for a long ways. In days past, I remember we entered the park from the old 101, which is now Monterey Road. We'd have to cross some train tracks and we'd find ourselves in the Frontier Village parking lot. (I also vaguely seem to remember there was an old drive in near the far end of the parking lot...Whether it truly existed or not, I do not know for sure.)
Signs directing us to the Hayes Mansion made sense, as Frontier Village had been on some of the acreage that had once been part of the Hayes Estate. And, before you knew it, we had arrived at Edenvale Garden Park, the former site of Frontier Village.
Before parking, we drove around the perimeter of the park. I saw that Branham Lane had now gone through and exited onto Monterey Road where the old Frontier Village entrance had been. (As a kid, every time we drove down the old 101/Monterey Road, I was forever hoping to see the Frontier Village entrance...)
On the back end of the park, where the parking lot was, there was nothing but condos. Each cluster of condos has a specific name, but collectively they are known as Frontier Village. Sad...
Once we parked and entered the park (from the back end--so weird), there was, of course, nothing recognizable. There was an amphitheater to the left. I wondered if it was a remnant of the old one that looked off to a stage area on a small island across the water from the seating area--or totally new construction. I guessed it was the latter, but who knew? It could have been where I'd seen the Banana Splits perform as a kid.
A playground area in the distance featured a shade structure with benches beneath it. It seemed as if it was made to emulate--somewhat, but not really--the old train station in the park, so we naturally wandered towards it.
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And there actually was a playground-version of a train that looked as if it were just leaving the station.
Maybe this was where the train station had stood? I seemed to remember reading something about some birdhouses being erected in the park and that were placed where old attractions had once stood. I looked for a birdhouse shaped like the old train station...and there it was across a field!
I hobbled over to get a better look. How bizarre to think that in that spot more than 40 years ago, the Frontier Village train station had once stood. There was nothing recognizable to me at all.
The birdhouse at the top was a pretty amazing recreation, but you could tell it had been sitting there for a long while and had started to show wear and weathering.
I naturally gravitated to the right of the birdhouse, towards the east side of the park. From my earliest years at the park, I remembered going that way more than anything else as that was where the attractions that were more "little kid-friendly" were located, things like the old school house walk-thru museum (which I found lame and kind of annoying, but also fascinating), the merry-go-round, the Antique Autos car ride, and the Old 99--which was a small train engine built for kids to drive on a track. (Where are the photos online of that attraction?) I looked, but saw no indication of where any of that might have once been.
Back the other direction, I saw an information box near a pedestrian entrance at the rear (formerly front) entrance to the park. Inside I did see some info on Frontier Village. Graffiti and other vandalism had left it unreadable in sections.
Just when I was thinking the park had shown all of its old secrets it had left to share, I spied another birdhouse in the distance, not too far from the train station birdhouse. I went to investigate.
This was the birdhouse dedicated to the location of the former Main Street in Frontier Village.
The birdhouse was well done, but in total disrepair. Half of it was gone. Still, the amount of love for the former park was evident. How much work it must have taken to create these miniatures.
Just beyond the birdhouse, I spotted what looked like a cool kids' fort or--more likely--a small shelter for a homeless individual.
Checking it out helped me find yet another of the bird houses. Sadly, this birdhouse had either rotted away altogether and was no longer existent or (my guess) it had somehow been stolen.
However, the information plaque was still attached. I looked and was amazed to find that this had been the site of my favorite ride, the Lost Dutchman's Mine Ride.
Seeing where I was standing made me take a second look at the rocks that were being used as a little fort. Could it be? I turned and looked. Yep, it looked to be the remnants of Rainbow Falls, where the trout fishing pond had been.
I took one more quick tour of the park. I didn't see any other birdhouses or anything else familiar. I had no idea where the little lakes were or where the islands might have been. I realize some of the actual park grounds had been shaved off for housing, but I was amazed at how much smaller the park was from what I remembered as a little kid.
I did spy a Frontier Trail, which looked to be a picnic area and not an actual trail...but it was a nice nod to the former park just the same.
In my last-minute meanderings about the park, I came across some kiddie rocking horses on the playground.
Although not the same, I couldn't help but wonder if they might have been placed in or around the same area of the similar ones I had ridden on my first visit to Frontier Village back in 1967.
I had no way of knowing. It was time to say giddyap, say goodbye to Frontier Village, mosey on back to the car and ride off into the sunset (or at least towards Casa De Fruta).
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