WILLISTON, FL (352today.com) – Before there was Walt Disney World, one of Florida’s biggest man-made attractions was a western-themed park in Silver Springs called Six Gun Territory. It opened in the 1960s.
“There were over 40 full-scale, old west-style buildings. They had gun fights,” said Daryl Kirby, a self-professed kid of Six Gun Territory and founder of Kirby Family Farm. “Six Gun Territory, it opened the heyday of all the wild west shows.”
One of the main draws of Six Gun Territory was a ride aboard a train. The park closed in 1984 as the popularity of other attractions rose.
In an effort to recapture that magic, the Kirby Family Farm in Williston restored a locomotive and railroad station on its 110-acre property. Kirby Family Farm’s historic railroad collection includes five locomotives and six open air passenger cars. The farm has three trains that were once part of Six Gun Territory. They currently are not operable. The nonprofit provides educational and recreational programs and experiences to thousands of terminally ill, special needs, foster and at-risk children each year at no cost.
“When we started the foundation, we discovered that historic 100-year-old railroads are very expensive to maintain,” said Kirby. “We came up with the idea of opening up our facility to the public… I always wanted to have a wild west weekend out here. And then I thought how cool would it be if we could honor the original Six Gun Territory Park and do that.”
For nearly a decade now, Kirby Family Farm has hosted a Wild West Weekend event which reunites original cast members for performances of gun fights, train robberies, Can-Can dances and, of course, train rides.
“When we started the reunion in 2015, we started it as a fundraiser for the charity and we wanted to honor all the old Six Gun employees,” said Kirby. “It was so well received we had people come from all over the country literally for that first reunion. So, we said let’s make it annual. Then we went to twice a year. We’ll do it again in November.”
Ed Maury was a gunfighter at Six Gun Territory in 1974. He was in his 20s, a veteran fresh out of Vietnam.
“Six Gun Territory was a place in everybody’s heart,” said Maury, whose stage name was Billy the Kid. “For me and some of the other gunfighters, it wasn’t a job. To us, it was fun… I fell off the roof five times a day.”
Leslie Kemper was one of the Can-Can dancers. She started at Six Gun Territory in 1968. With feathers in her hair and a boa around her neck on Saturday, she appeared ready to step back into the high-energy dance routine. But instead said she was sitting this one out.
“I’m letting the young ones take over, over there at the Palace (Saloon),” said Kemper, who goes by Diamond Lil when she’s in character. “I’ve paid my dues. Now I just get to stand around and look at the cowboys. It’s a hard job. Somebody’s got to do it.”
The next public event at Kirby Family Farm is its Rock-n-Roll Easter Train & Giant Easter Egg Hunt on March 23-24, 2024. To learn more, visit the Kirby Family Farm website.