I have fallen in love with Pioneertown! I have lived in this here desert for over 15 years and there is still so much for me yet to explore. Take Pioneertown for instance. I have driven thought it a few times, but never really stopped to look around. And then about a month or so ago, I decided to go on a Photo Walk down Mane Street as the sun rose up. And then I returned this past weekend to photograph The Darling Family for their holiday greeting cards.
This quaint little town of Pionertown took my breath away during the golden hour of sunset!
First a little history about Pioneertown:
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 set. A number of Westerns and early television shows were filmed in Pioneertown, including The Cisco Kid and Edgar Buchanan‘s Judge Roy Bean. 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 Pioneer Bowl bowling alley. Its construction was credited to one "A.E. Thompson" in 1947 and Rogers himself rolled out the first ball in 1949. School-age children were hired as pinsetters until the installation of automatic pinsetting equipment in the 1950s. According to the Morongo Basin Historical Society, the bowling alley is one of the oldest in continuous use in California.
So far, it appears that at least 35 movies have been filmed in Pioneertown, at least according to this list provided by the Internet Movie Data Base. I would hazard a guess that this number is higher. When I called to get permission to use Mane Street as a backdrop for a photo session, I was told that a movie was currently being filmed there and was not available on a Friday. Fortunately my client and I had arranged to do our session on a Saturday.
If you’re ever passing though the desert, I would definitely recommend taking a side trip through Pioneertown. And if you’re interested in a Photo Session with me in Pioneertown, please contact me and we can see about scheduling your session.
Celebrate Life and Capture It! Patty