Giddy up cowpokes, and Yee haw down to the rootinest tootinest 1880’s themed roadside attraction your posse has ever seen.
Pioneertown is an authentic 1940’s western movie set that is free to visit, and open to the public.
Built along either side of “Mane Street”, a dirt road wide enough for 2-way stagecoach traffic, the set includes all the facades you would expect to see in a western movie from the 1940’s - saloon, jail, bath house, stables, bank.
Pioneertown was built in 1946, and investors included Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, who filmed his weekly TV show here for over 5 years.
Throughout the 40’s and 50’s hundreds of films and TV episodes were filmed at Pioneertown. Today there is a free on-site museum to visit which houses many vintage film posters, and movie footage shot on Mane Street.
One of the Western facades disguises a real vintage wooden bowling alley, The Pioneer Bowl. Roy Rogers himself rolled the first bowling ball before the small 6 lane bowling alley was used by stars and film crews alike during their down time. The Pioneer Bowl is still operational today, and is decorated with a fascinating collection of Pioneertown related movie stills and posters
It is still used as a filming location today, and in 2020 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Pioneertown is situated right behind Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown Palace, a must visit restaurant and band venue in its own rite.
In addition to "The Gene Autry Show" being filmed at Pioneertown between 1950 and 1955, it has been a location for the “Annie Oakley” TV series from 1954 — 1957, and “The Range Rider” from 1951 - 1953 to name a few.
Films include 1949’s “Riders in the Sky”, 2016’s “Of Dust and Bones”, 1949’s “the Gay Amigo”, and 2010’s “The Oregon Trail"
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Southern California #125 - last visited October 2022
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