Pioneertown, California

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Pioneertown, California
settlement_type = Town


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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location in San Bernardino County and the state of California


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = California
subdivision_name2 = San Bernardino
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area_water_km2 = 0
area_water_sq_mi = 0
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population_as_of = 2006
population_footnotes =
population_total = 24848
population_metro =
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timezone = PST
utc_offset = -8
latd = 34 |latm = 7 |lats = 34 |latNS = N
longd = 116 |longm = 24 |longs = 59 |longEW = W
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
postal_code_type = ZIP codes
postal_code = 92268
area_code = 760
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info =
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
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website = http://www.pioneertown.com

Pioneertown, California USA is an unincorporated small town in the Morongo Basin region of Southern California approximately 26 miles north of Palm Springs.

History

The town started as a live-in Old West motion picture set, built in the 1940s. The movie set was designed to provide a place for the actors to live, and at the same time to have their homes used as part of the movie sethttp://www.pioneertown.com/f-index.htm Pioneertown official website] . A number of Westerns and early television shows were filmed in Pioneertown, including "The Cisco Kid". Roy Rogers, Dick Curtis and Russell Hayden were among the original developers and investors, and Gene Autry frequently taped his show at the six-lane bowling alley, opened by Rogers in 1949, and still in operation today. School-age children were hired as pinsetters until the installation of automatic pinsetting equipment in the 1950s. Autry also had his own room at the Pioneertown Motel, today a Western-themed establishment with individually decorated rooms.

Current

Pioneertown's facade has an exceptionally realistic look, right down to actual bullet holes in the signage and functional hitching posts for horses used in filming.

Mock gunfights are staged from April through October along Pioneertown's Mane Street (sic).

The town as well as the surrounding desert towns are home to a series of experimental art installationshttp://www.highdeserttestsites.com High Desert Test Sites experimental art project] .

The ZIP Code is 92268, and the community is inside area code 760. As of 2006, the city of Pioneertown had a population of 24848 [www.fizber.com/sale-by-owner-home-services/California-city-Pioneertown- profile.html] .

awtooth Complex Fire

On July 11, 2006 some of Pioneertown was burned in the Sawtooth Complex fire, which also burned into Yucca Valley and Morongo Valleyhttp://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/communique/2007_winter/PhotoEssay.pdf] . Firefighters managed to save the historic movie set buildings, but much of the surrounding desert habitat was damaged [http://www.hidesertstar.com/services/photo_gallery/albums/sawtooth%20complex%20fire/] . Among the buildings saved was The Pioneertown Motel and Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, a longtime local club and landmark built within one of the original sets and which counts notable musicians among its regular patrons, among them Eric Burdon.

References

*Rafton, Louise. “Pioneertown”, "Westways" Magazine, March/April 2005

External links

* [http://www.pioneertown.com Official website]
* [http://www.highdeserttestsites.com High Desert Test Sites experimental art project]
* [http://www.pappyandharriets.com/ Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace home page]