Flagler’s Lasting Tracks Across the State
May 20, 2026
The Moonshot That Began in Congress
May 25, 2026Six Gun Territory once brought the Old West to life in the heart of Ocala. Opened on February 2, 1963, the 200-acre attraction sat just outside Silver Springs and captured the era when television Westerns ruled American pop culture.
Visitors would board a steam train from the parking lot and roll straight into a recreated 1880s frontier town, complete with surprise holdups and cowboy shootouts that felt pulled from a movie set.
More than forty buildings lined the dusty streets, including the lively Palace Saloon with its CanCan shows, a courthouse, a jail, an Indian Village, a Mexican border town, and even an aerial skyride overlooking the scene.
Designed by Russell Pearson, the park thrived for years but faced steep competition after the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971. As national tastes shifted from cowboys to science fiction, attendance faded, and the park closed on January 1, 1984.
The site was cleared in 1986 and later redeveloped as Six Gun Plaza, but the spirit of the place endures. Each year, Kirby Family Farm hosts a reunion weekend featuring preserved memorabilia, original locomotives, and sometimes former cast members who once kept the Wild West alive.