<P> The origin of the theme park dates back to 1920, when Walter Knott and his family began selling berry products at a roadside stand along State Route 39 in California . 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 site continued its transformation into a modern amusement park over the next two decades, and an admission charge was added in 1968 . The park was sold to Cedar Fair in the late 1990s, and the family's food business was eventually acquired by The J.M. Smucker Company . </P> <P> The theme park sits on the site of a former berry farm established by Walter Knott and his family . Beginning around 1920, the Knott family sold berries, berry preserves, and pies from a roadside stand along State Route 39 . In 1934, the Knotts began selling fried chicken dinners in a tea room on the property, later called "Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant". The dinners soon became a major tourist draw, and the Knotts built several shops and other attractions to entertain visitors while waiting for a seat in the restaurant . In 1940, Walter Knott began constructing a replica Ghost Town on the property, the beginning of the present - day theme park . The idea of an amusement park really picked up in the 1950s when Walter Knott opened a "summer - long county fair". </P> <P> In 1968, for the first time, an admission price was required to get into the park, originally set at 25 cents . The Calico log ride was added in 1969 . The park became a popular destination for conservative college students in the 1960s, especially as conservative organizations like the California Free Enterprise Association, the Libres Foundation, and the Americanism Educational League were based there . According to Assistant Professor Caroline Rolland - Diamond of the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense: </P> <P> it also appealed to conservative Americans, young and old, because the idealized representation of a past devoid of social and racial tensions that it offered stood in sharp contrast with the political and social upheavals affecting California since the Free Speech Movement erupted at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 . </P>

What was the first ride at knotts berry farm