Date: 9/19/2007   Time: 11:49:02 AM

Comments: AS LEGEND WOULD HAVE IT? I think is the correct answere
Kim J

Date: 9/19/2007   Time: 11:45:21 AM

Comments: Who can tell me what the black market legend City employee T-shirts said? I worked there for Rodney Lemmon as a Carnie around 74, 75 I think,.. kinda cloudy. What great after work party's. JERRY GANT wear are you. I can be contacted at kegger43hotmail.com Kim Johnson

Date: 9/15/2007   Time: 1:03:30 PM

Comments: great website! brings back so many memories. wish we still had a place like this to take our kids to.

Date: 9/11/2007   Time: 6:02:29 PM

Comments: Great site, thanks!!!!

Date: 9/1/2007   Time: 7:13:00 AM

Comments: I enjoyed going as a child in the 60's, but my most fond memories was when I was
a teenager in the 70's. I got a job as lot sweeper. I remember my fellow
sweepers would complain about the work and the job was not fun. I would take my
pan and broom and run, cleaning up as fast as I could. This way I would have
time to jump on a ride or two before the area would get dirty again. One day the
supervisor caught me on a ride. After he talked to me about the the rules, he
said because I did a superior job I could continue to ride but not to let others
know.  In the spare moments I got to know the ride operators and the stunt
guy's. I would ride the Iron Horse to get to the different areas that had to be
worked. I remember the afterhours get togethers with the ride operators and
stunt guy's. What a Wild Bunch! - Kim

Date: 8/28/2007   Time: 7:24:00 AM

Comments: I'm not sure what
prompted me to to Google Legend City, but I am most glad that I did, A lot of
memories came back to me as I poured over the web site. The first is a picture
that I have of my brother and me taken at the AZ State Fair. Where you stuck
your head through a backdrop painted with a stagecoach. The next is when our
cousins from St Louis stopped to visit us on their way to Disneyland. (summer of
'63) I tried to convince them that there was an amusement park right here that
was every bit as good. But they wouldn't bite. Actually, I hadn't been to
Disneyland or Legend City yet, but I felt I had to stick up for the home town
team. Anyway, when my mother finally took us to Legend City, I was enthralled ! 
Growing up, I was always putting on spookhouses and carnivals at our house and
at the neighbors. I always liked to build things for people to amuse themselves.
From fake computers to miniature golf courses, to automatic shoeshine machines
that would drop a brick on your foot. ..At the park at last, I couldn't wait to
get from one attraction to another. I think my favorite was the Lost Dutchman's
mine, although the Dutchman's shack came in a close second. Plus I had to like
the Iron Horse train that went around the park, as I always was into trains, and
still am. I'm sorry to say that we didn't visit the park as much as I would have
liked. We lived what seemed like so far away (near Encanto Park) and I had to
convince my mom to take us.  Anyway, I was proud that we had our own Themed
Park, and was happy to see a segment on national TV. I don't remember the
program, but they went all around the country showcasing different areas....It
was a dark day for me when I learned that the park was closing. If only I had
the money to make a go of it- I would have. On the otherhand, I was happy to
hear a few years later that investors were going to re-open the park. Now that I
could drive myself, I went down to see what progress had been made. I was
astounded to see that nothing had been done yet and the park looked abandoned. I
decided to hop the fence and take a tour of the place on my own. I walked
through the mine ( still no privacy around here) and through the shack.  I was
better at standing upright now. It looked like it would be a long time before
they could fix up the place. Just then, security found me and I was ushered out
of the park. Too bad, I still hadn't seen everything.... Awhile later, the park
was getting ready to re-open and they were hiring talent to perform. I sang in a
barbershop quartet at the time. We auditioned and got the job! Finally- an
employee of Legend City!    The newspaper people were there taking pictures, and
when the story came out, there we were, the most prominent picture on the page.
I don't think the guy who hired us was pleased that our picture was run more
prominent instead of his duo- that's showbiz!  That is probably why we didn't
get to sing in the saloon, instead we were relagated to the gazeebo and other
outside locations- boy was it hot outside (I think it was July- it was so hot
thet they couldn't get the hot air baloon to go up) and if we kept our mouthes
open too long, you might swallow a grasshopper.... That opening didn't go well,
as the park was I'll prepared. Rides broke down and the ones that did work had
long lines. Trashcans overflowed and there was not enough help or food at the
various concession stands. We took pity on the staff in the icecream parlor and
bussed tables for them while we sang. When we went to the front gate to sing,
there was a man there with his family, preaching to the folks waiting in line to
get in, to go away. He claimed had spent upteen bucks to get his family in and
that the park was a mess inside. I don't think he appreciated our seranade too
much. I found out later that my high school teacher, Serge Huff was in charge of
talent when the park first opened. Later he would lament that the park spent
lavishly on entertainment at first, but it just didn't last.... Finally, I built
my own piece of Legend City in the way of a replica of the Railroad Station
tower, Just before it was to be demolised, I came down and took pictures of the
tower, drew up my plans, and built a 20' tall replica which I used at my house
as part of my outdoor Christmas display. I stll have it, but am not sure for how
long. It takes a lot of space to store it and it takes a forklift to set it up.
The last time I put it up was 2003... Thanks for maintaining the Legend City
website. Do you know of any gatherings of folks that like to remenice about the
park? I'd love to join in...Thanks again...John Michael Sanders.

Date: 8/20/2007   Time: 5:24:00 PM

Comments: Thanks for the memories.  I grew up
in Scottsdale and enjoyed going to Legend City.  The pics on the website
brought back good memories

Date: 7/26/2007   Time: 4:21:00 PM

Comments: What a beautiful tribute to a great
park. Thank you so much for bringing back a glimpse of the wonderful place that
Phoenix was in the '60s and '70s. This is truly a treasure.

Date: 7/23/2007   Time: 5:49:00 PM

Comments: Unlike many of my contemporaries that
washed their memories of Legend City away with drugs... I REMEMBER THE PARK LIKE
I HAD BEEN THERE JUST YESTERDAY. Does that mean that I was just an attentive
little boy? Does that mean I was just easily manipulated by hype? Or... does
that mean that Legend City WAS A REALLY UNIQUE PLACE? Yeah. I remember much more
than most about being a kid. Maybe seeing one toddling playmate die in the
cave-in of a ditch on the Justine Spitalny schoolyard contributed to that. Maybe
it was the Stephen King like horror of watching another little boy pulled-out of
the pipe in the neighborhood canal. You can read one of those memories at
another icon of that era... The Wallace & Ladmo website:
http://www.wallaceladmogerald.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=35
Those
sad but important lessons in care and mortality pale by comparison to the
happiness Legend City & Ladmo brought into my childhood. Oh. Then there was
getting in on the ground floor of the Hang Glider craze of the early 70's (was
so enthralled by hang gliding that I actually built one as a high school physics
project: with the caveat from Mr. Perez... that I not actually fly it UNTIL
AFTER I HAD GRADUATED) Got distracted by Human Powered Vehicles (recumbents)
after returning to Phoenix and in just a few weeks made the front page of the
Arizona Republic's Living Section. But man. L E G E N D   C I T Y ! I knew of no
hype about it around the time it was being built and then opened. It was just...
one day Dad told me and my sister to get into the new Mercury Meteor for a trip
to see Uncle Pete (not really an uncle, just a fellow carpenter like Dad).Most
of all. I REMEMBER EVERYTHING BEING SOOO NEW! THE SMELL OF FRESH CUT WOOD ON THE
WIND. THE SWEET HINT OF FRESH PAINT... AND ALL THAT JET BLACK ASPHALT THAT WAS
THE SIDEWALK AND COURTYARD TO LEGEND CITY Two specific attractions formed a
memory in my mind, like concrete setting in the sun. The, what I thought at the
time, HUGE water fountain softening the early summer heat with its cool breeze.
But most of all... THE MINE TRAIN RIDE! My 6 year-old jaw must have hit the
bottom of the ore car and stayed there until we we just barely escaped from the
old miners, cowboys, dance hall girls, and GHOSTS of the Journey to the Center
of the Earth. (Apologies to Jules Verne...LOL!). A couple dozen memorable but
probably now all long gone childhood friends and enemies later. A half-dozen
buddies lost to a war like today's, drugs, and hang gliding... ALL THAT'S LEFT
NOW ARE THE MEMORIES. Like a trip on H.G. Well's amazing "TIME MACHINE", I get
off the machine at yet another stop.They say that our rather poor sense of smell
is the most keyed into calling up memories of our past. Very personal memories
for most. I write this because the smell... no AROMA (smell is something more
associated with dirty sneakers and socks) I remember the most: THE COOL,
DAMP, SWEET PERFUME OF WET LUMBER AND SUBTERRANEAN SOIL. INSIDE LEGEND CITY'S
MINE RIDE. INSIDE KNOTT'S BERRY FARM'S MINE RIDE, INSIDE WALT DISNEY'S MATERHORN
AND NOT SURPRISINGLY THE LONG ABANDONED,
MEMORY HAUNTED MINES AND GHOST TOWNS OF THE WEST. OH. AND FRANKIE MARGIOTTI'S
 BASEMENT. Yeah. I'll share a little bit about Uncle Pete's and Mr. Crandall's
amazing place. But you'll have to use YOUR IMAGINATION TO FILL IN THE BLANK
SPOTS.

My email address ( jerryfoisel@yahoo.com ), and my obligatory
MyFace Page ( http://www.myspace.com/jerryfoisel ). I'm
curious to see if ANYONE IS LEFT TO WRITE ME.
I also remember Phoenix's "NEW TIMES
WEEKLY". The periodical that introduced me to "other opinions and strange
lifestyles". Fascinating." (my
apologies now to Spock and Gene Roddenberry). Jerry Foisel

Date: 7/22/2007   Time: 8:48:00 AM

Comments: Thanks so much for the memories! I spent many years with family and friends
hanging at Legend City. This is so cool!! Scott Baxter

Date: 7/4/2007   Time: 7:00:00 PM

Comments: Hi Reavis..I enjoyed your memories of LC/W&L,and
of Sandra Derickson.There's a couple images of her when she appeared on
Dialing For Dollars with Sandy Gibbons at:www.WallaceLadmoGerald.com .See the
story I wrote in the TOP 10 (articles)..it's called "Dialing For Sandy".I too
wish that there was a magic wand,we could wave and to go back in time when the
world,and our Valley was truly a joy to live in.For the Wallace and Ladmo
fans..at the Mesa Historical Museum on Sept.15th,Wallace and Pat McMahon
(pretty sure on Mr. Gerald Springer)along with many other people who were part
of the show will be there signing autographs..and the unveiling of a special
exhibit of Wallace & Ladmo show artifacts.Thanks! Rob Cook

Date: 7/4/2007   Time: 4:37:01 PM

Comments: I remember my first time at Legend
City was around late 1968 at age 6, I went there about a dozen times over the
years since then 'till about 1975, wish I would have gone a few more times but I
do have fond memories with my brothers and cousins. Thanks for a great nostalgic
website!!

Date: 6/28/2007   Time: 6:35:01 PM

Comments: This is a great website on Legend
City.  So many of us who grew up in Phoenix remember going to the park on a
regular basis.  In fact, the
company I work for, Honeywell, had spring picnics at Legend City before the park
closed.  My brother and his friends used to play in a band
there on the weekends.  It was such a great place -- I'd love to see a new
Legend City built somewhere on the outskirts of the valley.  It was
a great hangout for high school kids! -- Mary Fidler -- 1971 West Phoenix High
School graduate

Date: 6/27/2007   Time: 7:35:01 AM

Comments: CALLING JOHN HUTSON!!! I can't believe I haven't seen you since '83 and I miss
your post by a month! How about an email address so Gilligan and I can grab
you for a couple beers? Seen Bob Nelson around? I have Taryn's email.
My green LC shirt finally melted away in the wash. We looked sooo cool in
those shirts...Dave Williams aka

screaminremo303@aol.com

 p.s. You won't believe what I've
been doing for the last 17 years..

Date: 6/22/2007   Time: 5:35:01 AM

Comments: While watching channel 8 the
other night on a show featuring places and people in Arizona, I saw a small
history blurb about Legend City.  Wow.
Having been born and raised
in Arizona, about 55 miles east of Tempe, I spent five long years at Arizona
State University. During those years, 1961 to 1966, Legend City was built.
Unfortunately for me I only went there twice. The first time because I had a
crush on a beautiful blue eyed blond named Patty Russnak, and I had been told
she worked there late in the school year of 1963 and during that summer.  My
friend, Bobby Tang, and I found her.  She said she loved working there.  And she
looked even more beautiful in her pink and white striped uniform. But what
really floored me was when I started looking at pictures on the website and I
encountered a couple of pictures of Sandy Dirickson. What a gorgeous, happy,
friendly, talented girl. I dated Sandy during that time and was her date when
she vied for the crown of Miss Maricopa County at Legend City. I remember only
bits and pieces of that night, but I thought Sandy was a knockout. I believe she
got married not long after and became Sandy D Anai, but then I lost track of
her, as I did Patty Russnak. I also remember my first experience with the
Wallace and Ladmo show. Actually, when I first started watching Wallace on
channel 5 back in 1957 the show was called "Its Wallace?"  Laddy Boy was still
trying to become a major leaguer and probably working the cameras at Bill's
show. What memories. I'd been up and down the coast of California after my stint
as a US Navy Seabee, and when I returned to Arizona in the late 1980s, time and
time again I'd drive by Phoenix Municipal Stadium or on Washington west of Mill
and wonder where, oh where, was Legend City?  Now, with your website, I know
exactly where it was. I'm in my 60s now, but websites like this remind me of
what a wonderful time we had in the late 50s and early 60s. If I could wave a
magic wand and bring them back, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Nostalgia... it gets
us ALL in the end.
Reavis J
Franklin...Superior, Arizona, now Gilbert, Arizona with stops in Oxnard, CA
Midway Island DaNang and An Hoa, Vietnam San Gabriel, CA Glendora, CA Ventura,
CA and San Ramon, CA.

Date: 6/14/2007   Time: 5:35:01 PM

Comments: Thanks for the memories!

Date: 6/14/2007   Time: 4:35:57 AM

Comments: What a great site and tribute to a great park! How I loved it as a kid. It inspired my a lot. Since that time, I have created many "haunted houses" for the neighborhood kids, and my favorite effect to create - which I first "mastered" in my early teens - is the fire-behind-a-window effect, which I must have absorbed from all those Lost Dutchman rides. Now, to learn who invented that effect is amazing! Thanks again for a great site! -- Adam, Phoenix native

Date: 6/13/2007   Time: 5:34:55 PM

Comments: I remember going to Legend City at least several times. I remember the swamp coolers blowing down on us as we waited in line for the rides! Whew! A great idea! Thanks to your website I learned many things that I hadn't known about before, and many other memories were revived.
Thanks!

Date: 6/12/2007   Time: 11:19:00 PM

Comments: A huge thank you for this site!!!
when i was a munchkin, our parents would congratulate us for a good school year with a day at Legend City.
Then I was lucky enough to get a job working at Legend City, I was a log head, for 4 years during high school and into college.... up to the year before it closed... sniff, sniff
What memories.
Kind regards and keep up the great work!!!
John Hutson

Date: 6/12/2007   Time: 10:40:32 PM

Comments: cool site ,i grew up here,i rode my bike with a friend from metro center to legend city in the early 80s,when we got there they were closed,the summer bummer temps,the web site makes me feel like a teen ager again ,,great job thankyou leonard,trump.dob4,1,64

Date: 6/12/2007   Time: 8:11:15 PM

Comments: What a wonderful site! I am a Phoenix native and it is so hard to find local history about the city i love. Thanks for preserving our history in such a wonderful and accessible way.

Date: 6/9/2007   Time: 1:39:00 PM

Comments: I've been here 11 years and this is the first I've heard of this place. Of course it's because it will be part of PBS Arizona Stories starting up. This is a wonderful site! Thank you for a unique part of Arizona history.

Date: 6/9/2007   Time: 12:13:24 PM

Comments: How fun to find this site. My parents purchased shares in 1961. I also acquired some other memorabilia
old stock certificates dated Nov and Dec. 1961.
large colored map of the park 25in by 21 in.
an arial photo of the land size 8 x 11 of Papago Park area with "Legend City" blocked off on the photo.
original copy of Prospectus and Offering Circular dated June 21, 1961.
Feb. 1962 Progress Report pamphlet.
letters to shareholders.
a blueprint of the locomotive for the train ride.

Too bad the park did not make it.Way too ahead of its time, I suppose. Anyone else find memorabilia?

Date: 6/1/2007   Time: 10:32:43 PM

Comments: Great work

Date: 5/28/2007   Time: 5:10:51 PM

Comments: I used to go to LC as often as possible with my friends. Especially Emily passed on now. But we would go ride the wooly Bully ride whatever it was called just to flirt with the guy that ran it. He was SO cute and let us ride for nothing most of the time. It was great going down memory lane, once more. I left Phx area in 72 and returned several times after that but it was SO sad to see how it died a very slow death. Just seeing it sitting there rotting away was horrible. We could go there and have a great time on very little money and our parents could feel safe knowing we were in a safelike environment. Not like today. As the person spoke earlier it would be called Immigrantville. Sad that we can't all just get along like we used to. I remember when the ferris wheel came over from the dead POP in CA. Funny. I know there have been talks of building another Disneyland type place around the valley for many years. Where is it. It will never happen so don't count on it. LC was a once in a lifetime chance for us kids to have a piece of our own HISTORY to play at. Some of us never got to go to Disneyland or anywhere else. We were mosly the same poor folks and LC soothed the savage beast in the Valley of the Sun. Thanks for such a wonderful fun memory. Ruth O'Toole, Florida

Date: 5/27/2007   Time: 7:51:35 PM

Comments: Thanks for this site. I have such fond memories of going to Legend City with my parents. They have passed away and it is nice to think back to those times again.

Date: 5/24/2007   Time: 4:18:50 PM

Comments: Thank You

Date: 5/23/2007   Time: 10:24:36 AM

Comments: Oh I miss Legend City! My worst Birthday ever was when my mom took me and my friends all the way to Legend City just to find out it was SHUT DOWN! I loved going there on Saturday nights with my family...what a fun place. I wish they would do it again!

Date: 5/18/2007   Time: 1:22:57 PM

Comments: Great site that brings back many memories for this 40-something. Wallace and Ladmo, the Phoenix Zoo, the paddleboats at Encanto Park, the Phoenix Roadrunners and the Phoenix Giants. Great memories of the 60's and 70's.

Date: 5/13/2007   Time: 10:32:23 AM

Comments: Brings back lots of really great memories. Almost as great as going to Disneyland. My parents and I went there first. Then my friends and I drove up many times, from Tucson, to enjoy the day, and evening time !!! The log flume ride was great to cool us off, and Lost Dutchamns ride was "scarry" as ever. Great times Fred Francis

Date: 5/4/2007   Time: 7:07:32 PM

Comments: Hello, very nice site! Please also visit my homepages.Thanks!

Date: 4/28/2007   Time: 10:52:22 PM

Comments: Thank you for the great web site dedicated to Legend City! I went there with my family in the late 1970's. Also learned to drive in the parking lot with my dad in the early 80s. As a valley native, is really nice to relive a great piece history since so much has changed around the Phoenix area.

Date: 4/28/2007   Time: 9:07:33 PM

Comments: OMG! What a trip down nostalgia lane. I remember our family trip to PHX in 1972. Legend City was a part of that. Ahhh, the memories! To me, Legend City lives on. Thanks.

AZBoy4Ever

Date: 4/28/2007   Time: 12:32:08 AM

Comments: Looking back at all of these pictures brought back many, many wonderful memories of my childhood spent growing up at Legend City. This was the place to go with your friends on a hot summer night. I remember when the log ride was built, and we could get wet, cool down and enjoy long evenings with my childhood boyfriends. Thank you for the look back into my past.
Mary Helein
class of 1977
Alhambra High School
Phoenix, Arizona

Date: 4/23/2007   Time: 11:44:04 AM

Comments: Legend City was the best. I was born and raised here in Phoenix and remember going to Legend city. I have pictures of me and my family at Legend city. My how Phoenix has changed. I miss it all. Enjoyed the website it brought back lots of memories

Date: 4/19/2007   Time: 10:29:45 AM

Comments: what a shame, I remember going there in 1979,1980. great memories of the forgotton past.

Date: 4/17/2007   Time: 12:11:13 PM

Comments: I loved Legend City!! What great memories. Thanks for putting this site together so other generations can share in our memories of this park.

Lynda

Date: 4/14/2007   Time: 8:42:23 PM

Comments: I loved Legend City!!! My friend and I would save our allowance and paper route money and go every weekend. We always went straight for the skyride first and plotted our ride schedule from there. This site brought back some great memories. Thanks!

Date: 4/14/2007   Time: 10:01:03 AM

Comments: The gr8 memories of past birthday parties my mom gave me and my sister as a child and the sport she was riding The Mill Run and getting her hairdo wet.

Date: 4/12/2007   Time: 10:52:18 AM

Comments: Fantastic site. I phoned my brother in Ohio to check it out. We talked over an hour about all the fun we use to have there.
I grew up in South Scottsdale and Legend City was one of my best memories growing up. My first kiss took place in front of the sky ride Roy Dunkelburger sp. Another memeory as I got a bit older was all of the concerts there at Compton Terrace. My favorite concert was Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and I think Nazareth. It rained but didn't spoil any of the fun. Great memories! Diane B

Date: 4/11/2007   Time: 4:37:21 PM

Comments: Keep up the great work!

Date: 4/4/2007   Time: 1:50:57 AM

Comments: Wow! I haven't thought about this place in years! I remember my parents taking me there when I was about 10, so it was probably sometime in 1982. Sadly, the only thing I really remember about the trip was waiting on a park bench while my family went through a fun house, or something like that... I was too chicken to go in

Date: 3/30/2007   Time: 10:21:08 PM

Comments: Visited Legend CIty often as a young teen living in Phx. Guess I should have saved some of the memorabilia! But I do have some good memories of good times - especially watching Vonda Kay Van Dyke and her puppets.

Date: 3/30/2007   Time: 1:49:12 PM

Comments: I forget how much Phoenix has changed from my childhood until I look at those old photos! And everyday when I hear Pat McMahon talking about current events and politics on KTAR I still imagine him looking like Gerald!

Thank you for a great site!

Date: 3/30/2007   Time: 7:27:49 AM

Comments: If you refer to the picture of the Butternut Coffee House porch, there's a couple sitting at the table. That's me in the yellow coat and skimmer, and my future wife Linda Warner. She was one of the Can Can girls. That was the first time we had met and we were staged to sit together at the table. It's a story we've had fun telling our kids. -- Jack Hanf

Date: 3/23/2007   Time: 2:42:21 PM

Comments: I just purchased the neatest sign ever...Legend City Queen River Boat...and was told it came from an old amusement park in Arizona. So when I looked it up and found this web site I was thrilled. It is a large wood sign that looks like the one on the river boat but I think it was probably the sign that hung over the entrance to the ride. What a great find! It has a home now here in Norco, California, the horse capitol of U.S.A. I just love my sign and now know the history behind it.
Jon and Jody

Date: 3/23/2007   Time: 2:39:14 PM

Comments: Thank you for your web site on Legend City. I walked into an antique store in Pomona CA last weekend and spotted a large, old fancy sign that said....Legend City Queen Riverboat! The store owner said that the guy that he got it from said that it came from an old amusement park in AZ. So, I bought it and just today got around to doing a search on the Internet. Imagine my surprise when I found your website. Now the sign has much more meaning for me.
Thanks again.

Date: 3/23/2007   Time: 5:09:50 AM

Comments: thanks for the pictures and the memories i guess we can't ever go back but it sure was nice to remeber thanks guys the site is wonderful make this old native az boy happy if not for just a minute

Date: 3/20/2007   Time: 12:21:10 PM

Comments: Great site. It brought back many memories. Thanks

Date: 3/1/2007   Time: 7:59:44 AM

Comments: looking for Jackie L. Swartz, died April 3, 2005

Date: 2/28/2007   Time: 2:41:48 PM

Comments: I was only about 5 years old when legend city was here, but I still remember going to it. I was just talking to some friends about Castles and Coasters and I mentioned Legend City, and they looked at me like I was crazy. They never heard of it. I immediately Googled LC, and this great site of a time gone by popped up. I love the internet!! Could only imagine how business would be booming if LC was still here today!!

Date: 2/26/2007   Time: 6:00:25 PM

Comments: AWESOME CHILDHHOD MEMORIES THANKS
www.prestonsmith.com

Date: 2/24/2007   Time: 6:39:15 PM

Comments: Cool website! Good work. Good resources here. Best regards!

Date: 2/22/2007   Time: 10:39:48 PM

Comments: Thank you for providing a way to remember a great past growing up in the 1960's and 1970's in the Valley of the Sun. Legend City and Wallace and Ladmo were a great place to go and wonderful role models for all of us. Sure wish our kids today could have that type of role model. Thanks again for a great site. Patty from the Lone Star State

Date: 2/19/2007   Time: 9:29:54 AM

Comments: This is such a wonderful tribute to the history of Arizona. I grew up in Winslow, AZ and many Winslow families spent time at Legend City. One of the highlights of my youth, in the 60's, was visiting the park, shopping at Park Central or Chris Town Malls and eating at the Big Apple on Van Buren. We grew up watching the "Wallace and Ladmo" show and we wanted to go to Legend City to see them. Legend City was an important part of many of our lives and this website provides us with the ability to view it once again. Thanks so much! K.M. in Gilbert.

Date: 2/16/2007   Time: 10:35:30 PM

Comments: Great Site!
I always loved Legend City as a child growing up in the 60's and 70's! Thanks for taking the time to put together all this great history and nostalgia! Your efforts are much appreciated.
CL Andrews
Tempe, AZ

Date: 2/7/2007   Time: 2:35:13 PM

Comments: What a great tribute to Legend City! I am a AZ native and an only child who used to go to Legend city with my 6 first cousins in the 70's. I loved the Log Ride and the Lost Dutchman Mine ride the best. All of us kids used to run wild through the park! We loved going at night the best since somehow to us it was always spookier then. Another wonderful part of the Valley's history. I sure miss it! From Sunny, in Glendale

Date: 2/7/2007   Time: 1:20:12 PM

Comments: I grew up in Legend City. I was there on the closing day when they had stoppe drepairing the rides and most of them were closed down....I remember how fun it was getting stuck on the Ferris Wheel, at the top, with my best friend. I always felt safe there, it was like my second home really. The concerts at Compton Terrace as the train would go rolling by....the paddleboats...the log ride! Ow how fun it was to look at this site. Thank you for the memories.

Date: 1/25/2007   Time: 5:46:48 PM

Comments: Many fond memories at Legend City, Compton Terrace and the Wallace and Ladmo Shows. Thanks.

AG Knox - Chandler, AZ

Date: 1/21/2007   Time: 7:02:18 PM

Comments: This was fun touring the old place once again. We were disappointed when Legend City closed down. We always missed it. nancy and C.A.

Date: 1/20/2007   Time: 11:40:34 PM

Comments: I was born in Mesa in 1980. I worked at SRP credit union from 2002-2005. This whole time I had no idea this place even existed until reading a recent article in a local newspaper. It blows my mind that I've driven by there thousands of times. I worked on the same plot of land for three years, and I'm only hearing about it for the first time today. Too crazy.

Date: 1/20/2007   Time: 9:18:34 PM

Comments: I went there a lot with my brothers as a kid.The place just seemed so big and like our own Disney land. Many great memories.

Thank you
Randy Adams

Date: 1/20/2007   Time: 8:29:30 PM

Comments: I was the first baby born in Scottsdale Memorial Hospital May 19 1962...I lived in Scottsdale untill 1969 when we moved to Mesa. Some of my fondest childhood memories were at Legend City and Big Surf. Ive been married for 25 yrs now and have 4 beautiful daughters and 2 grandsons. For the life of me I don't understand why someone hasn't built a theme park in the 5th largest city in America! Someone should ressurect a new Legend City! It would make millions and put a smile on alot of faces....Mike Adams, Mesa Az

Date: 1/20/2007   Time: 8:21:39 PM

Comments: I was born in 1983 so never knew about Legend City. Now I live at 54th street and van buren, so close to it! I found the site through wikipedia's wallace and lladmo entry. great to see, thank you.

Date: 1/19/2007   Time: 4:44:36 AM

Comments: I remember LC very well. In the early days of the park there was a concrete skateboard track that was there for perhaps a year or two. Cochise Stronghold was a big time ride for all of us Mesa public School kid brats! Thanks a million for this great website!

Date: 1/18/2007   Time: 2:24:19 AM

Comments: My father was going to be transferred from Colorado to Phoenix, the company flew my whole family out here in 1979. My first memory of Phoenix will always be of flying in on a Braniff flight to terminal one and looking out my window seeing those mamoth Green Neon towers that looked like centurians guarding a treasure in desert. That was the first of many times of seeing the green towers. Over the next few years I made friends and hung out at my home away from home. I was sadend when they shut down. My family took a real Vacation out of state in 83. I had a chnace to go with a friend before we left but I told him, I'll go when we get back..... It shut down while we were away. I've heard Six Flaggs has bought 200 acres near the San Tans and might possibly do a salute to L.C.! They're suppose to open by 09. Thanks for the memories.

Date: 1/12/2007   Time: 3:15:19 PM

Comments: I just want to thank you for putting up a site on the internet that we can go back in time to see the Great Legend City! I was just a small girl when you closed this park... I have pictures of some rides that I was on - and until now, was unable to identify where those were taken. Thank you for bringing the memories back! I would really like to suggest another park to be opened up! Living in Arizona my whole life knowing that there are a limited amount of things to do... It would be something that would bring back a sense of fun, adventure, family and so on...Please consider! Thanks again!

Date: 1/12/2007   Time: 12:27:49 PM

Comments: This was the place of my first high school crush when our seminary opening social was held in 1973!We all had such a fun time, and after going on the rides with the boy I was crushing on, he won a big stuffed lion for me at the arcade!
Legend City was one of my first experiences to see what Arizona was all about, after moving here. I was fascinated seeing everything historical and legendary!
I wish it was still around to take my kids there!

Date: 1/11/2007   Time: 6:15:51 PM

Comments: This brings back many wonderful memories. I still recall the first time I went on the Lost Dutchmans Mine ride...scared to death...then laughed when the mine cart came to the OutHouse and the ghost inside says, 'Can't a ghost have any privacy around here?'
Barry Bunzell

Date: 1/10/2007   Time: 7:21:31 PM

Comments: Also, if anyone has a Legend City patch like the one on the "Memorabilia" page and wants to sell it or if you happen to be the person that posted your patch on the page and would like to sell it please contact me. Thanks. martin at priorityoneinfo.com

Date: 1/9/2007   Time: 10:11:52 PM

Comments: Great site! I'm attempting to purchase both of the 45s released on the Legend City label "The Ghost of Legend City" with "Desert Silhouette" performed by Dolan Ellis and "Legend City" with "Ballad of Legend City" performed by the Legend City Singers. Please contact me at martin "at sign" priorityoneinfo.com. Thanks.

Date: 1/9/2007   Time: 5:36:27 PM

Comments: Legend City brings back fun and exciting memories as a child and a teenager. I remember my father brought my brother and I many times to Legend City. I really think that my father loved it as much as us kids did. Your never too old to feel young again!!!! Many thanks for this site.....from the Lone Star State.

Date: 1/8/2007   Time: 4:33:09 PM

Comments: AMAZING. Simply AMAZING!!!

Mark Rosales, Phoenix.

Date: 1/7/2007   Time: 10:04:49 PM

Comments: I remember going to Legend City as a kid. My parents bought a few shares of stock in it and one weekend when it was struggling, we all worked there to help it out financially.

Bill Thompson - Wallace - was the invited guest speaker when I was inducted into the National Honor Society in high school. We were a bunch of teenagers who were deeply thrilled to have him there. I went to thank him afterwards and had to stand in line to talk to him. He ws very humble and seemd genuinely surprised that high school kids thought he was cool. We always will, Wall - and thanks so much that we COULD tune in. Peggy O, Jan. 07

Date: 1/7/2007   Time: 1:57:40 PM

Comments: WOW! I so remember Legend City. I have lived in Scottsdale all my life and would spend many weekends and school breaks at Legend City, with friends and siblings. My memories are of the later years, approx 1978 to the end. My older siblings remember the earlier years. Those were some great times. So glad I found the website.

Date: 12/29/2006   Time: 1:56:23 PM

Comments: I was born at Good Samaritan Hospital on McDowell Rd. and grew up in Phoenix until I moved with my husband and family to Forney TX in 1993. Legend City was a great place to go on weekends growing up in the Valley of the Sun! Wallace and Ladmo were "family" in those days coming home and watching them on the TV after school, then seeing them at Legend City from time to time. What a great web site and thanks for stirring up great memories from the past. I miss those days and am thankful for all the ones apart of a "legend" to make it come true for so many fans of Legend City. No one has ever held a candle to Wallace, Ladmo, Gerald, Hub Cap and the Wheels....again....thanks!
Patty

Date: 12/26/2006   Time: 6:14:18 AM

Comments: I won my Ladmo Bag at Chris-Town Mall when I was 12 it was the greatest day of my life. Terry Bowland Phoenix Az

Date: 12/21/2006   Time: 8:34:50 PM

Comments: Wow! I still remember going to Legend City when I was just a boy. My wife is from New Jersey and it is finally great to show her pictures of the park that I went to long ago! I still live in Phoenix and once in a while I pass the area where the park once was and those old memories come right back. I was still pretty young when they closed the park, but I will never forget it! Thanks again for the memories.

Date: 12/16/2006   Time: 3:32:43 PM

Comments: Oh, my gosh! I can't believe the memories this site conjured up! I am 52 years old now and lived in Phoenix from 1962 to 1967 but some of my memories of Legend City were having my picture taken with Jay Silverheels, Tonto, when he visited. I remember the river ride and my youngest brother literally "hitting the deck" when the ride announcer said to do just that. And I still have a photo from either a newspaper or magazine that shows my mom, my youngest brother and I walking out the gates of Legend City. And I hadn't thought about Wallace and Ladmo and Gerald until I saw it on your site. Thank you for the memories!

God bless you and Merry Christmas.

Julia Reser - Oklahoma City

Date: 12/15/2006   Time: 2:32:22 PM

Comments: A lot of beautiful memories. Especially those of my wife and our young family enjoying every ride from its opening until we were transferred by the USAF in 1966. I remember our youngest on the river ride when the navigator hollered "hit the deck" and he did. Thanks for the memories.

Date: 12/11/2006   Time: 11:43:33 PM

Comments: I'm so glad my brother found this website and sent it to me. The "City" was a fun part of my youth and I will always remember it and miss it. Also all the great people that went there. Thanks so much for being a part of my life Legend City - until later, Cecilia from Phoenix and now Goodyear -- 54 great years in the Valley

Date: 12/8/2006   Time: 12:13:27 PM

Comments: Thanks for the memories! I went there often as a child, and later a teenager, and always had good times.

Date: 12/3/2006   Time: 8:13:57 AM

Comments: Excellent site, added to favorites!!

Date: 12/3/2006   Time: 5:36:41 AM

Comments: This site has brought back a flood of childhood memories. I'm a Mesa-Tempe native who was 9 when LC opened. I remember all the great attractions, the Lost Dutchman Mine was always my favorite. That was a great time to grow up in the Valley. Wallace and Ladmo everyday after school. I'm a Ladmo bag winner also. Great site thanks for the memories............
moonlightpc.cox.net

Date: 11/29/2006   Time: 8:01:09 AM

Comments: Wonderful pages! Keep up the grat work.

Date: 11/28/2006   Time: 8:05:36 AM

Comments: Very cool design! Useful information. Go on!

Date: 11/27/2006   Time: 1:40:00 PM

Comments: my girlfriend went to legand city twice as a little girl she loved legand city verrryyy much!!!she says it was one of the best in the world even better than cedar point is this true?

Date: 11/25/2006   Time: 7:36:19 PM

Comments: The first time I visted was in '65, as an Air Force Brat from Williams AFB. I had a chance in the mid 70's to visit again. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Date: 11/20/2006   Time: 8:12:11 PM

Comments: I have many very special memories of Legend City. I had the pleasure of being part of the first stage show held in the Golden Palace Saloon in 1963, when I was 18 years old. I was lead tenor in The Copper Tones barbershop quartet, along with Dave Zorn, bass, Jack Hanf, baritone, and Pat Lebs, tenor. We did 477 shows on that stage and enjoyed every moment. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Among the others in the show were the emcee, Sandy Gibbons, dancers Linda Warner, Printy Crandall and Donna Cafferty, as well as singer and ventriloquist Vonda Kay Van Dyke, who became Miss America 1965.

Having read all the other Comments, I now realize how significant Legend City was, and still is, in the lives and memories of so many people. I was especially moved by the comments of one of Louis Crandall's daughters, who wrote in 2003 that she still sang to her children the songs that The Copper Tones sang in 1963! She specifically mentioned "Bill Grogan's Goat" and "Goodbye My Legend City Baby." That is truly amazing, and incredibly heartwarming.

Thank you so much, John, for your work on, and dedication to, this web site, and for rekindling so many fond memories for those of us who were fortunate enough to have experienced Legend City. I shall be very pleased to do whatever I can to contribute to your efforts.

Rick Mitchell

Date: 11/12/2006   Time: 5:46:24 PM

Comments:
10.13.2006
Thank you for your web! Great memories. I'm trying to find out if anyone remembers when Johnny Weismuller came to Legend City. I believe it was at the opening day or about that time. I was working at the Phoenix Zoo in the then Animal Nursery. I brought over Vickie the chimp to Legend City to have lunch with Johnny Weismuller. We sat at a huge table with other people. Does anyone remember that or have any info on it? After working at the zoo I worked at Legend City while attending ASU. Wonderful times-we always said it was a little Disneyland! Could have been.Joy Guyer

To Joy Guyer

HI JOY,
ROB COOK HERE FROM THE WL and G FANSITE.
I was unaware that Johnny Weissmueller made an appearance at LEGEND CITY?
Louis Crandall should know I imagine.
It makes sense though,because his film amd TV career was already over by the time Legend City opened, and before retiring for good to Florida in 1965.
He was making many public appearances for various businesses at the time.
And he was hurting for money due to a recent divorce,and had some bad people that mishandled his finances.
He appeared on It's Wallace? around 1963 or 64,
so that coincides with the time frame of meeting
you at Legend City.
There's a photo of him dressed in his Jungle Jimish outfit,with a girl as Jane and a young Boy both clad in animal print swim Jungle outfits.
My friend Johnny Franklin took the picture
he thought they were there in town to promote his latest B film, at the PHOENIX DRIVE IN on 35th avenue and Van Buren.But Johnny Weismueller didn't make anymore movies past the 1950's minus a couple cameo's in the 1970's.
It's possible he was there being paid for some movie promotion at the Drive In and also appeared at LEGEND CITY at the same time.
You can see that picture of him on page 91 in the Wallace and Ladmo Ho ho Ha ha Hee hee Ha ha book.
He did attempt a television show on swimming about that time.I found this in his biography

Johnny tried several ways of earning money. He tried to begin a television series on swimming in 1963,he did personal appearances. He even tried to coax his former celluloid son, Johnny Sheffield, into joining him, but this did not pan out either.

That's the best I can do.

Rob

Date: 11/7/2006   Time: 8:53:31 PM

Comments: SURE WOULD BE GREAT TO BRING BACK THE PARK. I GREW UP WITH LEGEND CITY STARTING WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG. I REMEMBER TEEN DANCES THEY HAD ON FRIDAY NIGHTS! MANY GREAT MEMORIES. MY FATHER WENT TO SCHOOL WITH LADDY AS HE WAS CALLED UP IN GLOBE.

Date: 10/31/2006   Time: 6:51:00 PM

Comments: haha my tube top fell down around my waist at legend city riding the tiltawhirl--one of my more titillating moments--ah the good old days!

Date: 10/28/2006   Time: 3:01:18 PM

Comments: Cartoons were so cool back in the day. there was he-man voltron gi joe bugsbunny well you get the idea now they are all gone. they got replaced with bullshit cartoons. it makes me so mad everytime something good comes around it gets replaced with something lame

Date: 10/24/2006   Time: 7:54:18 PM

Comments: this is great!!!! I loved going to Legend City as a kid. whether it was riding Mighty Mouse or the antique cars, what memories!!!

Eric V., Chandler

Date: 10/23/2006   Time: 3:46:56 PM

Comments: If I could decorate one room in my house with pictures and memorobilia from Legend City I would have the happiest place on earth. Disneyland is good but Legend city was ours. I remember getting in free with Wallace and Ladmo as I was friends with Shari, Ladmo's daughter. I will remember it till the day I die, at least I hope I will. Thanks to Mr Crandall for a wonderful memory. I now work across the street from where it use to be and as I look out my third floor window I find myself dreaming of days gone by. Dianne

Date: 10/22/2006   Time: 6:41:49 PM

Comments: Yes indeed. Thanks for the fond memories. The fun was over far too soon. My children and grandchildren will never know the joys of Legend CIty, Wallace and Ladmo.. and booing and hissing Gerald. Such an innocent time, and such great innocent fun. Thanks again...

Date: 10/19/2006   Time: 9:56:48 AM

Comments: I remember visiting Legend City every summer when I was a kid! Your site brought back all of those great memories. Thanks!

Shari Skipper
Richmond, VA

Date: 10/13/2006   Time: 7:10:00 PM

Comments: Thank you for your web! Great memories. I'm trying to find out if anyone remembers when Johnny Weismuller came to Legend City. I believe it was at the opening day or about that time. I was working at the Phoenix Zoo in the then Animal Nursery. I brought over Vickie the chimp to Legend City to have lunch with Johnny Weismuller. We sat at a huge table with other people. Does anyone remember that or have any info on it? After working at the zoo I worked at Legend City while attending ASU. Wonderful times-we always said it was a little Disneyland! Could have been.
Joy Guyer

Date: 10/13/2006   Time: 11:00:34 AM

Comments: Thank you for the memories you brought back on this sight. This was a really nice trip down memory lane.

Date: 10/4/2006   Time: 2:31:16 PM

Comments: I spent a summer working at Legend City, the summer of 1974. I worked in the Mexican Restuarant and my parents ran the Ice Cream Parlor. My Cousin was general manager. It was a great summer with lots of good memories. For a small town Oklahoma kid it was being in the movies. TLC