BACKSTORY (1955—Present): This portion of Town Square first popped up in 1955 with a sign on the construction site from that stated “Site of International Street, Grand Opening 1956.” On the wall was written “Site of Future Sights, Take A Peek.” Peek-ins allowed guests to see photos of what the area would eventually look like. Based on photos in my collection, by March1956 the year on the sign was changed to 1957. I have a black and white image in my collection that shows the date being changed to 1958. By March 1958, the construction wall was painted a bluish-green (previously it had been a tan/brown color) and the sign was changed to “Liberty Street, Grand Opening 1959.” The peek-ins where replaced with windows. The verbiage encouraging guests to “Take A Peek” was removed, although there appears to be small signage above at least two of the windows that I have been unable to decipher. At some point in 1959, the Hills Brothers Coffee Garden expanded seating into this area and the signage for International/Liberty Street was not seen again.
From the publicity booklet that heralded the never-built-Liberty-Street:
Few events on the contemporary American scene have stirred public interest and imagination as has the advent of Disneyland Park. Described by its creator, Walt Disney, as "a place for people to find happiness and knowledge," Disneyland's skillful blending of entertainment and education has resulted in a totally new concept of family recreation. Within fifteen months from opening, Disneyland has become an international institution, attracting more than five million guests from the United States and sixty-three foreign countries. With public acceptance now an established fact, Walt Disney is directing his creative energies toward a new development for Disneyland — LIBERTY STREET. This brochure contains details on the concept of Liberty Street together with an outline of the way American business and industrycan identify themselves with this significant development. Operational data on Disneyland Park, from July 18, 1955, to October 1, 1956, is also included in the following pages.
CONCEPT OF LIBERTY STREET
Liberty Street is the result of a personal philosophy that Walt Disney has long shared with many other Americans. It has a belief that we, as Americans, often fail to comprehend the tremendous significance of our heritage, as related to our personal lives and the growth and prosperity of our country. In Liberty Street, Walt Disney intends to excitingly dramatize the events of the Revolutionary War period, and present them in such a way as to give us a better personal understanding and pride in our American way of life. In essence, LIBERTY STREET will tell the story of our American heritage and its relationship to Freedom of Enterprise. One of the enterprises which might be included in Liberty Street is the Glass Shop, which would be in actual operation. Visitors would actually see the making of glassware is it was accomplished in the formative years of American history.
From the Disney Park Blog:
The Fourth of July is in full boom here at the Disneyland Resort, but the spirit of patriotism has always been alive here. Even before he proclaimed, “here age relives fond memories of the past,” Walt Disney was greatly influenced by his passion for American history when developing ideas for Disneyland. The trails that blazed the American frontier provided the inspiration for Frontierland, while Main Street, U.S.A., is the quintessential American town. Walt was also looking for a way to incorporate Colonial America into his original Magic Kingdom, and announced Liberty Street as one of the first expansions for Disneyland. Even though we know now that Liberty Street never became a reality here at Disneyland park, today seems the perfect time to look back on this tribute to our nation’s beginnings.
Walt Disney announced plans for Liberty Street in 1956, one year after Disneyland opened. Set in the Revolutionary War era, this cul-de-sac would be set on the east side of Main Street, U.S.A., with its entrance just across from where the Mad Hatter store sits. The architecture would be a mixture of several American cities as they existed during the nation’s early years. Some concept designs showed thirteen buildings paying tribute to the original thirteen colonies, featuring merchants and trades that reflected the time period. Not only would guests get to purchase from a blacksmith shop or an apothecary, but Walt envisioned sellers practicing these crafts inside the stores as well.
At the end of the cul-de-sac would be Liberty Square (name sound familiar?) which would feature the area’s main attraction inside Independence Hall – The Hall of Presidents – which would present a show titled, “One Nation Under God.” Remember, Audio-Animatronics technology would not enter the picture for a few more years, so the presidents represented inside the attraction would have to be wax figures. A second attraction was planned for this area, called The Hall of Declaration of Independence. This experience would present the dramatic story of the birth of the United States through three scenes inspired by famous paintings depicting that time in history.
So why was this land never built? Well, Walt had a lot on his hands in the late 1950s at Disneyland. You may recall three groundbreaking attractions that debuted a few years later … the year 1959 brought the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System, Walt’s “highway in the sky”; the Matterhorn Bobsleds, considered the world’s first steel roller coaster and the first coaster to allow multiple cars to run simultaneously on the same track; and of course the Submarine Voyage, which joined the Matterhorn and the Monorail as the first the E-ticket attractions.
With the development of Audio-Animatronics figures for Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room in 1963 and later for “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” at the 1964 World’s Fair, Imagineers knew they could make Walt’s dream of The Hall of Presidents an even grander reality. In 1971, Walt’s Liberty Street vision was finally realized at Magic Kingdom Park in the Walt Disney World Resort. There, Liberty Square features the Hall of Presidents that Walt Disney dreamed of, and still entertains and educates guests to this day.
BACKSTORY: In 1958, Disneyland presented GE with an idea for a new area at Disneyland to be “…located just off Main Street at the Plaza…the hub of Disneyland and entrance to each of the ‘lands’” to be called Edison Square. By the time of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, this concept had been retitled Progressland and had morphed into the theater show that we now know as The Carousel of Progress. From a D23 calendar titled “Undiscovered Disney”:
Edison Square, 1963: A new land intended to be located just a few steps from Main Street, U.S.A. down “Plaza Street” between the Plaza Inn and the Kodak Shop, would feature a paved brick street leading to a residential square showing America passing from the ‘old’ of the 19th century to the ‘new’ of the early 1900s. The electric light is seen taking the place of gas lamps; horse-drawn vehicles would give way to electrical and gasoline-powered horseless carriages. It was designed as a composite of several major American cities at the turn of the century, from New York City to San Francisco, and behind the façades an attraction called “Harnessing the Lightning” would celebrate the life and work of Thomas A. Edison using five dioramas. Although the street was never built, many of the ideas were later realized in the General Electric Carousel of Progress attraction.
