Forgotten History of Knotts Berry Farm in Pomona - Walter Knott Home & Church He Built / Gravesite
Walter Knott History in Pomona
Transcript
0:01
welcome everyone
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Adam is the woo here has a recording of
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this Wednesday November 2nd 2020.
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I am heading up to Pomona California
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about an hour commute depending on
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traffic
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30 miles 40 miles give or take
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arm which is just down Beach Boulevard
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that direction I'm gonna swing by there
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first because it ties in to what I'm
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going to be doing I'm going to be also
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side note very unique trees behind me
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probably have a unique root system and I
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am going to talk about the roots
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a little bit of a stretch
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of Knott's Berry Farm and Walter and
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Cordelia not up in Pomona and just see
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what else I could see while I'm up there
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I'm inviting you to join me
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shally slightly uncommon for Southern
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California I mean it happens but not as
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not as much as what I'm used to in
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Florida it is overcast and rainy today
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which is kind of nice crisp and cool
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and some clouds in the air some
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cumulonimbus I just went to Scary Farm
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the other evening
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not scary farm but now it's back to
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Knott's Berry Farm
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and coming up at the end of the month
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they're doing Knott's Mary Farm which is
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their Christmas event all right I have
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made the commute to Downtown Pomona says
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right there on the banner
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looks like there's a train about to go
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by
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a commuter train
1:27
to be honest I don't really know a lot
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about Pomona
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however Brooke does
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you are
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a long time local to this area yeah I
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love Pomona yeah I'm Pomona proud Pomona
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proud say here so you're going to show
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me around I am we're gonna go
1:43
we're gonna look at 9
1:54
. right over on like what's it called
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again me capacito
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yeah nice and are you still doing
1:59
YouTube I am just very very rarely
2:02
what's your Channel
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yeah super retro gout you also have the
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Nintendo I do yeah my shirt on Spyro and
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your purse you have the the old school
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NES purse there very nice I don't know
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that it didn't the train didn't come by
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yeah I'm sorry it was a ghost that was
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it it was a ghost train
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all right
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up there it goes again the ghost train
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yeah take a look at this speaking of
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retro oh there's a Nintendo in the
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uh
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stuff in here yeah
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speaking of Nintendo you pointed me into
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the right direction before I moved out
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of Southern California to buy my
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Nintendo over in Ontario and there's a
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Nintendo in here so it's come full
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circle look at this rat over here
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playing
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the controller of the NES controller
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okay this old theater definitely has a
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Carthage vibe to it
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they're kind of similar to how Carthage
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Circle looked a little bit this is the
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fox the Pomona Fox
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the old miyaz of neon still light up at
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night yeah
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I always love these Marquis and the old
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neon the ticket booth in front very nice
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and across the street here this old
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hotel called the Mayfair
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pretty interesting looking building with
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a neon Marquee and all okay I was just
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informed it's no longer a hotel it's
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Apartments now
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who'd you say stayed here
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Clark Gable yeah oh he ate here he
3:32
didn't stay here but he ate here
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I'm seeing a sign over here for the old
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Crest building which is kind of cool
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this is a very unique looking also
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and is this an active pay phone
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or is it just the shell the skeleton
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shell
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there is a pay phone
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what the heck all right I'm gonna check
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and see
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oh it's not a dial tone it's a beeping
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sound
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if you can hear
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that's making like a little beeping
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okay this location uh Frontier is
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permanently closed oh look at it it's a
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Picard over here
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well the actor that played Picard see
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who that is I think yes yeah
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Frontier final frontier
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I don't know
4:42
the Deep strip so deep that's a stretch
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what's on top of the Armstrong roof over
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there looks like a dandelion what are
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the it's like it's supposed to be
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fireworks like it's a neon sign that it
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lights up at night and it like it
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explodes out oh okay so I feel like a
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fireworks actually
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that's pretty cool
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all right this is starting to look
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really familiar because I've been on
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this road before
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in fact I was in a band and we played is
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there like a punk rock Club around here
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there's a glass house besides the Glass
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House is there something down here on
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the left
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it could be what the look
5:27
and I also remember this because I think
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I did a video when I was in the band not
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you know not of the show but
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I walked around here and showed where
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Cat in the Hat was filmed the Mike Myers
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movie Cat in the Hat was right around
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here
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so I had been to Pomona before
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I mean I've been here a couple times but
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I think I did a video a long time ago
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The Cat in the Hat stuff so who's this
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artist Miller
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Miller cheats
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and he made the fountain and the art
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yeah
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this is a horse couple horses
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and
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I guess art is always up for
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interpretation of what you see I see
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like a stick creature like a praying
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mantis okay okay going after those two
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horses what do you see I see a horse's
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ducking behind a tree
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that's probably what it's supposed to be
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did you actually see the movie The Cat
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in the Hat movie I have but it was a
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long time ago were you living here when
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they set decorated all this no no I
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wasn't living here so I think they just
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they took this whole street and they
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turned it into like they turned into
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Whoville
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I'm not really too sure I've never seen
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the movie
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I don't know anyone that has I think he
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might be the first person that's ever
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seen it
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yeah it will it has my Mike Myers in it
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I know that yeah I know it had Mike
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Myers in it was it the Grinch that stole
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Christmas or was it Mike Myers it was
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Mike Myers The Cat in the Hat Cat in the
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Hat
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I can't remember exactly but I think
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they have like a top hat up here on one
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of the
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you know what I don't really know but I
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just do definitely recognize this area
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from walking around here when I was in
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the band they do use Pomona for filming
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quite a bit Hollywood sets up here and
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uses our buildings what else do they use
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with us
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um oh quite a bit of shows
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um I think Mad Men was filmed here okay
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I'm not too sure but I know that it does
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have a mid-century charm it gets used
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quite a bit yeah okay I have not lost my
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memory completely yet because I did
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recall and I was in the right area I was
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only like one street over
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from character sports bar yeah there's a
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bag called gutter mouth we played here
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probably 10 years ago
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right inside here
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wow
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it's bringing back some memories here
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just to give a little perspective of
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what it looked like when they filmed the
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Cat in the Hat a lot of set dressing but
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this is standing in the same angle as
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the camera looking
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this direction looks a lot different but
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up here on the left this little awning
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is where the coffee cup was and the
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three
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three vegetables or fruits or pears or
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whatever they were over on that side as
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well looking down this one
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so there's the three pairs and there's
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also a big donut underneath that window
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and the coffee cup was right up on
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that little ledge right there kind of
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went down a quick little rabbit hole of
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photos of
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Cat in the Hat and right there is yep
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that's it because there's that little
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Tower
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off in the distance that you see over
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the coffee cup
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I should probably watch the movie I've
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never seen it and check this out there
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is a cobra a real Cobra Kai dojo in
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Pomona
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they're using the quote from The Karate
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Kid and the
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and this in the you know the the series
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as well which I've been watching let's
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have a few episodes left before of
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season five but really like the show
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Fear does not exist in this Dojo yes it
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say
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go check out that batter there with some
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of the landmarks from here in Pomona as
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well all right got to get over to the
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Walter knot stuff okay Barrel on the
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side of the brick there was like the
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stairway leading up through that door
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pretty cool okay is this a church
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building
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pretty impressive building there the
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steeple
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so what's the back story on are you
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familiar with this with this church
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it's been around for obviously a very
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long time
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I've been in this building once and I
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was just telling you that they have an
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absolute gorgeous pipe organ in this
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the Pomona holy church
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I always love stained glass Church
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Steeples like this
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I have no idea what was over there but
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that kind of looks like it would have
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been like a hamburger stand or something
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if I had to guess you were saying they
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use this in a lot of things to film this
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Diner over here yeah
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it kind of reminds me of like the diner
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that's on Sunset
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or no not sunset on Fairfax I think it
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is over by Fairfax High
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that they set dress a lot
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at Hollywood and they make
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they do TV shows that for like diners
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this kind of reminds me of like that
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kind of has that same Vibe I can
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definitely see this
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being used for filming a lot yes very
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retro with the chairs and the booths and
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all that
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I really can't get over like the
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architecture down here this is such a
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cool building here and this is a very
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unique very Hollywood art deco Vibe over
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there in that corner
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I always say art deco like I know what
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I'm talking about but I think that's our
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Deca this is our Deco yeah
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this is awesome she holding an orange I
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think it's an orange yeah we used to
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have like a lot of orange groves that's
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why our
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hair but it's not Orange County what
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county is this uh this is L.A it's L.A
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County
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and the City Hall is also really awesome
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looking this is the same what's the
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architect's name Miller cheats Millard
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sheets
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definitely some cool buildings here look
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at this thing it's like something out of
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like a Robocop or something
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century mid-century
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actually this looks like nothing in
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Robocop yeah
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here at 10 40. this house was built by
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Walter Knott for him and his wife
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truck to this with his O2 hands
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and it still stands here 1911 is what I
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was reading when the house was built by
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Walter which is kind of interesting two
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of the biggest
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theme park guys in Southern California
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both named Walt
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they're still so you know the building
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still stands here
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one of the original housing developments
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in this area
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and his father was a minister at a local
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church I'm going to try to figure out
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where the church was and then
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Walter not also not only Built This home
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constructed by himself for him and his
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wife but also built another church
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building in town and dedicated it to his
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father
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it was not the church his father was a
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minister at but another church and he
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built it in honor of his dad
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but just think about
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Walter and
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Mrs Knott Cordelia I think her name was
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lived right here and you can thank her
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for Notch chicken dinner
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restaurant she started that and still
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has her namesake Baird
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after her
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pretty dang cool
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right here in this residential
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neighborhood
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this is the not home I wonder if people
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who live here even have any idea at all
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of the theme park history that exists
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right behind their walls
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okay there are a variety of dogs
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alerting
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everyone that this is Walter Knox
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former home this is the docent Italian
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when it comes to theme parks where would
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you rank Knox
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it's one of your favorites right yes
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number three and all the theme parks
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like yeah Paris Tokyo yeah all right
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probably number three Epcot you're
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number one though right Epcot you're
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number one Nas is your number three
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that's my very favorite thing yeah it's
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historic and I love it so just imagine
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Walter and Cordelia yeah
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Walter built this with his own two hands
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they lived right here
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four going down to Buena Park
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starting Notch chicken dinner starting
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not only what you know like the ghost
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town and all that that he transported
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all the old buildings from all over
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California and moved them there way
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before Cedar Fair moved in
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created what knots is today
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you getting the vibes
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you ever been by here before
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first time here there we go
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what are the odds of people living here
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have no idea
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I'm gonna say they probably don't know
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1911 would have been 111 years ago
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foreign
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all right we should head over to the
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both the church buildings yeah
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yeah now Walt's also Walter also built
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A Tale of Two Waltz in Southern
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California and now a couple miles away
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over to the Westmont United Methodist
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Church
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which everything I read
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online about this
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stated
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that Walter not also built this
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entire church building
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at least this portion over here I don't
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know about the extension
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this direction but maybe
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it's like a steeple back there too
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but the front of the building
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is very unique looking
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we passed by here you were you were
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getting pretty excited about this the
16:39
architecture and how Walter Knott
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utilized a lot of this in the theme park
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as well
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this kind of style what are some of the
16:48
some of the buildings that are at not
16:49
now that kind of resembles us you think
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the lines
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reminds me a lot of the fountain in the
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bathrooms when you first walk in
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with the George Washington yes fireplace
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and all that it's very similar like very
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that vibe that mid-century
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use the Earth Vibe yeah
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you think there was a placard here
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there is yeah oh it's tucked away over
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here on the corner
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we got some stained glass
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here as well
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okay I see it now the chapel of Prayer
17:29
wait a second this isn't the same one
17:29
not the same one okay this is just this
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section is dedicated to Reverend Joseph
17:33
Whiteside by his wife Mary
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so that's just
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the chapel of prayer which is this
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little section
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there has to be more than one placard
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one right there too there's another one
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over here
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okay here's another plaque the Spire
17:55
with the illuminated cross was a
17:56
memorial to Scott McAllister by his
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parents
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there has to be a Walter knot okay I'm
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not seeing a placard anywhere this is
18:06
the Social Hall
18:14
I could have swore I saw something that
18:14
there was a plaque here
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unless they've removed it
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oh there it is right here
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so it's inside the courtyard you're
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welcome Wesley Chapel in the in memory
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of Elgin C naught which is Walt's father
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so it's just a little chapel it's not
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the main sanctuary
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that is so cool
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we were trying to match up all these out
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front we couldn't figure it out couldn't
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figure out where that was
18:50
so he built the whole inside of just
18:52
this Chapel for his dad
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so is this the main con is this the main
18:58
uh main enter no it's just a little
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chalkboard right there oh okay is it
19:02
separate from the big one no it's safe
19:04
it's the same thing okay
19:07
so this was all originally built
19:09
together yeah okay cool
19:12
all of it
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well thank you so much thank you it's
19:18
like mission style yeah
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thankfully the groundskeeper
19:27
without a son
19:29
stop by yes that's what we were doing
19:32
all right that worked out pretty well we
19:33
were really trying to find the photo of
19:35
the plaque and match up over here on the
19:38
main area where some of the rock
19:39
formation was to try to figure it out
19:41
and nothing matched up
19:43
thankfully we were allowed inside this
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door
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groundskeeper showed up opened the door
19:49
for us
19:50
let us walk over there didn't get to get
19:52
inside the chapel but I guess it's like
19:54
a smaller Chapel connected
19:57
with the bigger Auditorium but he was
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confirming what our thoughts were
20:02
that Walter not built this entire thing
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that's what he said right he said he
20:06
built everything so he built all this
20:08
there used to be like a school that's
20:11
not open anymore they used to be back in
20:12
this little Courtyard area almost looked
20:13
like almost like a combination like
20:15
hotel rooms almost yeah he said he
20:17
called it a hotel but
20:20
pretty awesome
20:22
all right now we just got to find the
20:24
church that his father was the minister
20:25
at
20:26
and obviously his father passed on so to
20:29
honor his dad he built this church but
20:32
this was not the church his father was
20:34
the minister we're going to try to we're
20:35
going to try to find that too okay have
20:37
found the building where Walter Knott's
20:39
father ministered at it is now an
20:42
apartment complex here on the corner of
20:43
Hawthorne and Reservoir and I saw a
20:46
YouTube video by a gentleman by the name
20:48
of R.E Nunes who about seven or eight
20:52
years ago discovered that this is the
20:54
spot the spot so I want to give a shout
20:55
out to him because couldn't find any
20:57
other information online about this spot
20:59
so using the coordinates that he
21:01
mentioned was able to find this street
21:03
corner and a photo of what it looked
21:05
like then versus what it looks like now
21:07
so take a look what it looked like in
21:08
the early 1900s notice the two windows
21:11
on either pillar and also noticed the
21:13
archway doors with the stairs there so
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the stairs on the left there are six
21:18
stairs and there are five on the right
21:21
hand side obviously the stucco has
21:23
changed everything has changed but you
21:25
could definitely tell from the
21:26
staircases and the style of the building
21:27
that this was the spot and the archway
21:30
up top you know the roof fly the little
21:32
not the Steeples but just the the design
21:35
of the building up there has changed and
21:37
the circular window in the middle middle
21:39
is gone as well but notice I was saying
21:42
how the shorter steps are over here on
21:44
this side as kind of shown in the photo
21:46
and then the more amount of steps are
21:49
over on that side so this is where
21:53
Walter Knot's father was the minister
21:56
which is why Walter not wanted to build
21:59
the other church building just down the
22:01
way and dedicated to his father
22:05
that is just so dang cool here so
22:07
there's two different apartments located
22:09
back here now
22:15
this is around the side angle
22:15
not shown in the photograph
22:29
okay I kind of talked about it a little
22:29
bit too but you definitely know a lot
22:30
about like repurposing buildings and
22:33
whatnot what are your are you are you
22:35
convinced this is the spot too a
22:36
thousand percent okay awesome we kind of
22:38
like looked around the front we saw
22:39
where they had you know stucco the there
22:42
was once like a curved yeah door and I
22:46
think that they just stepped it in and
22:48
got the round window pretty awesome
22:51
so this this building would be a hundred
22:54
and like 11 years old 100 something
22:56
years old and it's being used for great
22:57
things today so yeah what are they using
22:59
it for now so it's right now it is a
23:02
halfway house for those that need to
23:04
escape maybe domestic violence and also
23:06
homelessness so they're breathing life
23:08
into others around the balloon community
23:10
so I love that
23:25
no historical plaque here at all no not
23:25
and there's no historical plaque
23:28
at the house either no and just a very
23:31
short few blocks away from where we just
23:33
were
23:34
is the Lassie house
23:36
says sit make a wish say a prayer right
23:39
here on the well now I'm kind of
23:42
confused if they use this as the filming
23:45
location of the original Lassie series
23:47
however
23:48
the actor
23:51
that was in the series lived here this
23:53
was his childhood home
23:55
so that is confirmed from what I was
23:57
looking at online but I do not know if
23:59
any of the series itself
24:03
was filmed on screen here
24:06
but this is the well
24:08
or at least a representation of the Well
24:11
from Lassie
24:20
oh there's a plaque oh here we go yeah
24:20
okay yeah
24:32
Lassie house childhood hope of actor
24:32
John Provost who played Timmy in the TV
24:34
series Lassie
24:36
Timmy's in the well dedicated back in
24:39
2018.
24:41
there's Lassie and Timmy right there
24:52
oh there's a chicken
25:05
what if that chicken's name is Timmy
25:05
Timmy going to the well Timmy's on the
25:08
well
25:13
back there
25:13
these guys come out all the time
25:21
and the sky is definitely cleared up
25:24
quite a bit heading over into Fullerton
25:27
now for the last spot of the day
25:29
arrived at Loma Vista from Oriole Park
25:34
and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able
25:35
to see what I need to see over here
25:38
because they are doing a little
25:39
construction work
25:45
but hopefully it's accessible at least
25:45
to
25:47
see from the side
26:06
the fence is not obstructing The View
26:06
but take a look
26:09
obviously my apologies for the
26:11
construction that's going on
26:24
passed away in 81.
26:24
here in Fullerton
26:33
they started the Chicken Dinner
26:33
restaurant
26:34
and was his wife
26:47
it looks like they are redoing the
26:47
sidewalk that runs parallel here
26:57
one of the two Waltz here in Southern
26:57
California that created
27:00
some magnificent theme parks
27:03
of course Walt Disney but
27:05
Walter knot the other Waltz and is said
27:08
that Disney would go and see the work of
27:11
Mr knot and probably gained some
27:13
inspiration from him as well because he
27:15
predated
27:17
Walt Disney's vision
27:19
you're not good
27:21
and not too far away from where I was
27:24
just standing is Russell not the son and
27:27
his wife Mildred
27:29
that's here in fact most of the family
27:33
is here on this property
27:41
all terrain Cordelia
27:41
sound is kind of subsided so I figured
27:43
I'd take this opportunity
27:45
a little quieter
28:14
there's Walter and
28:14
Cordelia
28:22
I really like checking out some of these
28:22
spots
28:33
I'll see you in the next video the Vlog
28:33
is over