The Beginning
By 1966 Jerry Parks had cleared much of the property destined for Pixieland including a tepee burner on the site of the old mll and a boat landing. Keeping the Salmon River in check was now complete, thanks to dikes, tide gates and levees surrounding the 57 acres. In September 1966 the formal incorporation was filed with the state of Oregon; The Oregon Trail Company. Jerry Parks was listed as president of the corporation and Robert Gygi, a Portland attorney, was secretary. Board members included George Bruns and Tommy Walker. Lincoln City architect Robert Martin was also listed as a director.
Parks’ plan for the future Pixieland began as a vision for “historical theme,” as Parks described it in a Portland meeting. The original name would be “Trails End.”
But Parks apparently had second thoughts, probably because of his success with pixies at Pixie Kitchen. In May 1968 stockholders agreed to change the name of the corporation to Pixieland Corporation The amusement park would become a strange juxtaposition of pixies and a western motif.
In addition to the $300,000 Parks had already invested in clearing, filling and diking the land, he invested $122,000 plus a Small Business Association loan of $250,000 and initial stock offering proceeds of $500,000 as the amusement park began to take shape. In December 1968 Parks announced Pixieland was near its financing goal with $1.1 million raised of the estimated $2 million goal.
The Train
A critical part of Phase 1 would be the train, “Little Toot,” also known as “”Little Pixie”. The property was ready for the one and one-eighth mile train ride on top of an 8-foot dike surrounding the property.
Train tracks would top the dike. Parks had already picked out the train manufacturer.
Crown Metal Products was based in Wyano, Pennsylvania and manufactured the Civil War replica locomotives. In the Pixieland order, 24-gauge rails and three passenger cars with the capacity for 78 passengers was the order. The coal-burning locomotive required a special coal, not anthracite, mined at the Pocahantas #2 mine in central Pennsylvania.. Parks had to purchase the coal from a Portland heating company. The train used 700 pounds of coal and 300 gallons of water each day of operation.
The train made the circle, crossing over a trestle above the trailer park and stopping at the station which featured the Depot Restaurant and Depot Gift Shop. With the steam whistle sounding every few minutes, the train departed for Trailer Overlook, Parks Way, Salmon River, Viewpoint North, Highlight Lane and Walters Incline.
The RV Park
Mass production of motorhomes was in the beginning stages during the mid to late 1960s. Some limited production models were on the road, but Winnebago produced the first model in 1966 which started the motorhome boom.
While motorhomes weren’t making any impact yet on camping in the 1960s, the travel trailer, towed behind a vehicle, was popular. A far cry from the fifth-wheel behemoths of today, the travel trailer offered a small living space including a kitchen.
Finding a convenient place to park them led to the Pixieland RV park.
Phase one included construction of a trailer park. . A Small Business Association loan of $250,000 would finance the trailer park including 121 spaces, its own sewage disposal plant , children’s playground and swimming pool. The trailer park featured other amenities such as a rec/television room, full utility hookups, a “fishing shack” on the Salmon River, washers and dryers.. Parks said he was encouraged “by the large flow of campers to the Lincoln City area…and the large north-south tourist traffic as well” as a reason for building the trailer park. He would later say the park was his biggest investment “mistake” and blamed the less than anticipated occupancy on “state competition.”
Always one to recognize the importance of media coverage, Parks made the announcement of Pixieland in December 1966. A later press release in July 1967 announced the official opening as May 1969. Parks estimated there would be 300,000 visitors in the summer of 1969.
It would be a “Fairytale Story of Oregon” and would include fresh and salt water canals, canoe and speedboat rides, a children’s zoo, burro rdies, and riverboat rides on the Salmon River.
A new city water line extending nearly two miles from Devils Lake Golf Course was installed, the $18,000 installation fee paid by Parks. A used sewage treatment plant with 35,000 gallons per day capacity was bought from a small town near Salem which had consolidated with the capital city. It was reassembled at Pixieland.
Everything was ready for the “first” grand opening.