Category Development

Pioneertown was founded in 1946 by a group of Western actors who had been several plans to develop the land surrounding Pioneertown and make it a resort.

March 22, 1946 - Pasadena Star News clipping

‘Pioneertown’ Planned Near 29 Palms

‘Pioneertown’ Planned Near 29 Palms HOLLYWOOD, March 22. (U.P)–A combination Wild West resort and movie studio location site, to be known as “Pioneertown” was underway today on 13,000 acres of desert land near Twenty-Nine Palms. Motion picture personalities who backed…

Aug. 15, 1946 - The Valley Times feeature image

Valley Interests Behind ‘Pioneertown’ Film Spa

Pioneertown will be for lease to all motion picture industries and several already have indicated interest in filming westerns in an airplane-free spot. Companies have lost as much as $10,000 a week through interruptions of curious pilots who "buzz" movie locations.

Pioneertown Opens At Desert Sunday

Pioneertown Opens At Desert Sunday By auto caravan and special plane, Hollywood celebrities will arrive at the townsite of Pioneertown this coming Sunday for ground breaking exercise. This new town will rise in the San Bernardino mountains just 20 miles…

Movie Celebrities to Launch Development of
‘World’s Most Unusual City’ on Desert Today

Development of Pioneertown, a unique motion picture location and resort community was be formally launched with ground-breaking ceremonies and an all-day celebration.

Sept 3, 1946 - Hollywood Citizen News clipping

Pioneertown Fete Attended by 2000

Pioneertown Fete Attended by 2000 More than two thousand persons joined civic leaders of San Bernardino and Hollywood motion picture executives and celebrities in Labor Day ground breaking ceremonies at Pioneertown. Located in the San Bernardino Mountains, 22 miles from…

Westerns Now Booming New Desert Hollywood

The classic advice, “Go west, young man,” is now being amended to “Go east, slightly.” For, in a saga of modern pioneering that sounds like Hollywood repeating itself, the movie makers are establishing a new frontier at Pioneertown, 125 miles east of Los Angeles and less than five miles up into the San Bernadino Mountains from Yucca Valley. There they are producing and will produce fittingly westerns.

Town to Have Pioneer Style

With architecture and atmosphere of the colorful pioneer West, a new community already named Pioneertown, sponsored by motion-picture personalities, is envisaged for an area in the San Bernardino Mountains, according to announcements in the past week. Plans for its construction are being furthered.

The Desert Sun Full Page Ad

his full-page advertisement for the Pioneertown Land Company was run in the Desert Sun on March 25th, 1947. This advertisement features Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and the Sons of the Pioneers, after whom the town is named after. This ad was the first big push to get people interested in Pioneertown. This was during the height of the popularity of the Western Movie.

Old West Revived in ‘Pioneertown’
Near Palm Springs

The Growing popularity of motion pictures and stories relating to the Old West has led to the development of Pioneertown about 30 miles from Palm Springs.

10 Men in Jeep Pioneer Desert-Mountain Short Cut

July 25, 1947
The Grizzly
Development

10 Men in Jeep Pioneer Desert-Mountain Short Cut Pioneering the shortest possible land route between the new and thriving desert town of Pioneertown and Big Bear Lake, 10 men, 2 dogs and a Willys 1947 jeep make a “short-cut” record…