A Piece of the New Old West Fades Away

COLTON, Calif. —  One by one, the businesses left the old West town.

First the saloon-style theater closed. Then the feed store packed it in and moved on. Finally the jail was boarded up.

This month, Movieland Frontier Town, a once-thriving western theme attraction in San Bernardino County, becomes a ghost town when the last two businesses pull out of town.

“There’s not much left to hold onto,” said Larry Lee, owner of Larry’s Smokehouse, one of the last businesses. “It’s too bad. It really was something in its day.”

For more than 26 years, the town’s western facade, saloons and stunt shows drew crowds with a taste for the American West. The site, visible from Interstate 10, was advertised in travel brochures and became a stop for many families driving across the desert.

The town was originally built as a film set in the early 1960s. But when it failed to take off as a production site, it was advertised as a tourist attraction.

The town’s legacy also was enhanced by the proximity to the grave of Morgan Earp, who along with his brothers, Virgil and Wyatt, was involved in the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. He was buried in Colton in 1882 after being killed in Arizona.

When profits and attendance drastically dropped off three years ago, property owners Harry and Janet Vickers began to look to alternative ventures.

The Colton City Council has given approval for the old West town to be razed. Longtime plans for the site include a Ford car dealership showroom.

Larry’s Smokehouse and Nickelodeon Pizza have accepted buyout offers and will close on April 30.