The idea of an amusement park really picked up in the 1950s when Walter Knott opened a "summer-long county fair". In 1968, for the first time, an admission price was required to get into the park, originally set at 25 cents. The Calico log ride was added in 1969. On April 12, 1974, Cordelia Knott died, and Walter turned his attention toward political causes.