Q: At Christmastime in 1972, my family brought a limestone block to Disneyland. The block was salvaged from an old house on our farm in Ellis, Kansas. The house was once owned by Walt Disney’s grandfather and had the initials of Roy Disney carved into it. Roy and Walt had spent time at this farm when they were younger. I am curious about the pictures of our farm that are in the archives in Disneyland. I would like to bring my children and grandchildren to Disneyland to see these sometime soon. My wife and I now live on this farm and are proud to still have it in our family. A little bit of history and a lot of pride! Could you please let me know if the stone and pictures are still in Disneyland?
Dennis, Ellis, Kansas
A: In the fall of 1912, Roy O. Disney traveled to the home of his uncle, William Harvey Disney, in Ellis to help with the harvest. Six decades later, I visited the farm and noticed the initials, and when I told Roy about them, he indeed recalled carving them. A few years later, when the building on the farm was being demolished, I requested the block of stone with the initials for the Walt Disney Archives. The family brought it with them on a driving trip to California, and it is in the Archives’ collection in Burbank, California. They also have a few photographs of the farm. You can contact the Archives directly.
Dave Smith