The Corriganville Regional Park is a pleasant place for a stroll. The park trail passes sites utilized as filming locations and as features of the amusement park. Informative signs describe the history of these sites. Our pictorial tour shows some of these sites today (pictures taken in March, 2008) and in historical photographs. The location of the pictured sites can be found on the Corriganville map.
Silvertown was the heart of the park. The street was lined with western style storefronts.
Crash Corrigan appeared frequently on the street, and he participated in the western acts staged for the
guests.
Views of the original Silvertown (right)
The sandstone formations seen in the historical views are recognizable in the recent pictures. These
jumbled rocks add much to the attractiveness of area, past and present. They reduce the bareness of the
current landscape.
Fires destroyed the town thirty years ago, and only foundations exist today. These several views show the
relatively bare area that remains. The foundations of the barn are the largest remnants of the town
Views of Silvertown site, circa 2008 (right)
The signs at the regional park call this area the Jungle Jim pool. Jungle Jim is the main character in a
series of action films (1948-1955) which starred Johnny Weissmuller. Scenes for these films were shot at
the Corrigan ranch and in and around this pool.
The artificial pool is concrete lined. The concrete room with windows housed the cameras for underwater
filming (seen above). Above the pool is the Jungle Jim Dive Rock. This platform was constructed for easy and
attractive looking dives into the pool.
The information at the pool states that it was used for a variety of films including the Jungle Jim series,
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), and The African Queen (1951), perhaps for some of the shots of
Humphrey Bogart in the water.
The now dry pond was used for boat rides at the amusement park (see below).
A western fort was built in this area for exterior scenes in the 1948 film, Fort Apache. The film was
directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The fort set was altered as needed for
subsequent films. Foundations remain. The hilly area with rock outcrops enhance the scene.
Fort Apache became an attraction at Corriganville.
Site of Fort Apache, circa 2008 (right)
A set representing a 19th century village
on the island of Corsica was built in 1947
in a small cove near the
site of the Fort
Apache set. The film was called
Vendetta and starred Faith Domergue.
This feature was called the Corsican
Village for the amusement park. Nothing
remains of it today (see left).
Small features on the ranch were used to represent entrances to a cave or a hideout. The cave or the
hideout did not exist, but proper camera angles and set enhancements gave the impression of their
existence. The artfully posed tree and rock made a convincing and attractive entrance to a hideout.
Although the trail through the regional park is relatively flat, the terrain is actually quite hilly. The trail mostly avoids the hills. The jumbled rock formations dominate the landscape. They provide a visual attractiveness even in the areas which have been battered by many years of heavy use.