“The American, by nature is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor, and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.”
John F. Kennedy
From March 19th to April 3rd, Knott’s Berry Farm will feature their Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. The Festival will offer live entertainment from the Peanuts Party in the Park to Crazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. Delectable Boysenberry Bites will be plentiful while Interactive Pie Making will most definitely be curious to engage in. The ride portion of the park will of course be open as well.
The Knott’s Boysenberry Festival is a fitting tribute to the founders of Knott’s Berry Farm, Walter and Cordelia Knott. We hope you will join the celebration while we encourage you to proudly immerse yourselves in the rich American tradition the Knott’s exemplified. As a family, they dared to dream. This positive synergy ultimately has afforded each of our families decades of enjoyment as we stroll through the park, perhaps as they did on their farm, sharing a moment in time together.
Walter Knott was the first to produce the boysenberry. In 1932, Anaheim Parks Superintendent Rudolph Boysen approached his friend Walter Knott. Mr. Boysen had experimented with crossing the loganberry, red raspberry, and blackberry. He shared his knowledge and ingenuity with Walter in the hope that Walter could make the fruit thrive where Mr. Boysen had been unable to. As it stands today, all boysenberries in the world trace their roots back to Knott’s Berry Farm. Nurturing the hybrid berry to a thriving vine, Walter Knott deemed it a “Boysenberry” after his friend Rudolph Boysen.
Walter Knott resided in Pomona as a child. He and Cordelia Hornaday attended high school together. After high school, they married. In 1920, Walter, Cordelia and their 4 children moved, leasing a plot of land spanning 10 acres in nearby Buena Park within the neighboring county of Orange. L.A. County’s loss was truly Orange County’s gain.
The initial year of the Knott family farming was difficult however, their American spirit of entrepreneurship filled them with the sense that they would overcome and ultimately succeed. Indeed, they did. Within the second year,
their harvest was plentiful to the point that they began selling rhubarb, asparagus, and berries at a roadside stand. Their dreams and aspirations were fed by their success. In 1928, Cordelia opened a tearoom and berry market which quickly evolved into a restaurant featuring her fried chicken, homemade biscuits, and boysenberry pies. Eventually an amusement park and a mining ghost town were added. Go figure.
The Knott family transitioned their berry farm to Modesto in 1960 while the
amusement park entity of their humble beginnings continued to grow spanning to an impressive 165 acres as we know it today. The American spirit is most assuredly unique. O.C.’s Hair Police is grateful for the Knott Family and their embodiment of this American Perseverance so that we may all continue to be so encouraged to dare to dream. https://www.knotts.com/boysenberry
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