In 1956, twenty years after creating his museum, Marion Speer (at age 72) donated the carefully catalogued collection (30,000 items) to Knott’s in return for Knott’s housing it, displaying it and naming Speer as curator. Speer had been an enthusiastic supporter of Walter Knott’s efforts to create Ghost Town, and had written articles for the Knott's newspaper, the Ghost Town News. In 1956, Walter Knott made an arrangement with Marion Speer to bring his Western Trails Museum collection to Knott's Berry Farm. His art was also used extensively in Knott’s newspapers, menus, brochures, catalogs and other publications. His Old West paintings and murals adorned the walls of many structures in the park, and a number of them still do. He also drew up floor plans, oversaw the construction of buildings, and even spent some time painting concrete to look like natural rock. He created concept art for most of the buildings that were built there. He traveled to ghost towns in the West, conducted research, and designed most of the Ghost Town section of Knott’s Berry Farm. In 1941, he joined Knott’s as a staff artist, then served as art director there from 1943 to 1953. Paul von Klieben was the key employee of Walter Knott in the creation of Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm and the restoration of the ghost town of Calico, California. "Andy" Anderson with Sad Eye Joe in the Ghost Town area of the park, 1941 In 1997, the park was sold to Cedar Fair for $300 million, just two years after the Knott's food business was acquired by ConAgra, Inc. The site continued its transformation into a modern amusement park over the next two decades, and an admission charge was added in 1968. By the 1940s, a restaurant, several shops, and other attractions had been constructed on the property to entertain a growing number of visitors, including a replica ghost town. The park began in 1923 as a roadside berry stand run by Walter Knott along State Route 39 in California. It features 40 rides including roller coasters, family rides, dark rides, and water rides. In March 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. Knott's Berry Farm is a 57-acre (2,500,000 sq ft) theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. ( July 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.
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