Pioneer City
Qith its doors swinging open in 1966, Pioneer City was a mumlitmillion-dollar park that was located on this property and closed less than two years later. Five years before Disney World, and during the heyday of TV westerns, the park was a built-to-scale Dodge City Kansas, with a saloon, trading post, and general store. Actors and stunt performers staged gunfights at high noon, along with bar brawls and hangings. Native American culture was represented with authentic dances performed by Chief Joe Shuntona. Can-can dancers performed in the saloon and throughout tht city. A horse concession led patrons through oak-shaded trails peppered with themed scenes.
The park was the dream of Myron M. "Mike" Weiss Sr., a multimillionaire who had made his fortune on photography studios. Weiss hired architects and interior designers who re-created Dodge City after two years of research that included carefully examining Civil War-era photos. Once the theme park opened, it included a fully operational locomotive, along with two 42-foot riverboats that ferried customers from the parking lot.
Pioneer City was fraught with problems from the beginning, however. In June 1966, its first full month of operations, the park endured 21 inches of rain. Its location, seven miles from *-95, became a liability when the more successful Pirates World theme park opened the following year in Dania. And ultimately, the payroll for such a large staff of actors and stunt players proved to be an expense too large to overcome.
Weiss, lacking any experience with amusement parks, was unprepared for the heavy operating costs, the summer thunderstorms, and the logistics of managing large crowds. After the first year, he had to turn the park over to its criditors, who reinvested $100,000 to attract more patrons, but to no avail. Lawsuits among concessionaires, stuntmen, and an advertising agency added to the general chaos. Pioneer City was dismantled and auctioned off. Its signature steam locomotive was acquired by one amusement park after another until, like the park itself, it was no longer operational.