Actor Dick Curtis started up the town in 1946 as an 1880s themed live-in motion-picture set.[2] The town was designed to provide a place for production companies to reside while also using their businesses and homes in movies.
Pioneertown's founders intended the area to be a residential area with Mane Street acting as both a movie set and the town's commercial district.[3]
Dick Curtis, Roy Rogers and Russell Hayden were some of the original developers and investors. Gene Autry filmed his weekly show in town for five years, using the buildings and businesses as part of the film set.
The Pioneer Bowl is no longer an operating bowling alley.[4] The third building to be built in Pioneertown, Pioneer Bowl served as a recreational venue for residents, actors, and crew after filming. Roy Rogers made the front page of the local newspaper when he opened the bowl with a strike on lane one. He bowled a 211-game in his cowboy boots, with Dale Evans and 200 townsfolk in attendance.
Bowling leagues were an active part of American culture, and dozens of businesses had leagues at Pioneer Bowl, especially after western films were no longer being made in town. Many locals recall working as pin boys at the bowling alley until Brunswick's first automatic pinsetters were installed.
The Thompson and White family partnership built the bowl in 1946. Mrs. White volunteered to be the first postmistress of Pioneertown, and the first post office was located inside the bowling alley.
The werewolf movie Howling 7 was filmed in Pioneertown.
As of 2006[update], Pioneertown had a population of around 350.[6]
In July 2006, parts of Pioneertown were burned in the Sawtooth Complex fire, which also burned into Yucca Valley and Morongo Valley.[7] Firefighters managed to save the historic movie-set buildings, but much of the surrounding desert habitat was damaged.[8] Among the buildings saved was Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, a longtime local club and landmark built within the town's original and only gas station, which counts among its regular patrons notable musicians, including Eric Burdon and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.
Mane Street in downtown Pioneertown is open to the public.
As Pioneertown is a working movie set, commercial production and photography is allowed by permit only.
In 2023, San Bernardino County officials announced plans to apply generic commercial zoning to Pioneertown's historic district.[9][10]
In 2024, Pioneertown received media attention when Alanna Gold, a participant in the reality show Selling Sunset falsely claimed on the show and in multiple interviews[11] to have been the owner of the town. Gold issued a retraction and apology in response to community backlash.[12][13] Gold's apology clarified that she co-owns a several properties in the town along with other parties, including a music festival producer and RH CEO Gary Friedman.
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