Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a theme park in the state of Missouri. Opened in 1960, the park is located between Branson and Branson West, Missouri on Highway 76. The park is an 1880s themed experience that fits Branson's vision as a family friendly vacation destination with down-home charm.

Silver Dollar City's operating season runs from mid-March until late-December, with the park closed during the months of January and February. Silver Dollar City is owned by the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, which also owns the nearby Celebration City theme park.

History

Silver Dollar City has developed into one of the most successful theme parks in the United States. Situated at the site of one of the Ozarks' oldest attractions, Marvel Cave, Silver Dollar City literally sprang from the ground. The cave, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior, is important not only because of its subterranean features but also because of its role in the origins of Silver Dollar City.

The first oral record of Marvel Cave comes from the Osage Nation, while the first written record dates from an 1869 expedition. Henry T. Blow of St. Louis, a lead mining magnate, explored the cave with six miners. They found no lead before returning to St. Louis, but convinced that the flat wall of one room was composed of marble, they originally named the cave Marble Cave.

The cave remained undisturbed until 1882 when another group of entrepreneurs, led by Mr. T. Hodges Jones and Truman S. Powell of Barton County, entered the cave in hopes of finding lead. Jones and Powell found huge amounts of bat manure, or guano, and the flat wall, which they also believed to be marble. Two years later Jones bought the property and, with several of his friends, formed the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company to mine the cave. The company planned a town, Marble City, on the rough hilltop near the cave and in 1884 recorded a plat map at the courthouse in Galena, Missouri. Although a few lots in the new town were sold, little development seems to have taken place.

By 1889 much of the guano had been mined from the cave, the marble wall proved to be limestone, and no lead ore was found. The mining company, which had developed so quickly, ceased operation.

The history of the cave took another turn in 1889 when William Henry Lynch, a Canadian miner and dairyman, purchased the cave and a square mile around it for $10,000. Lynch, with the aid of his family, proposed to open the cave to sightseers. The Lynches began operation of the sightseeing venture in 1894 with a grand celebration and a few visitors. The venture was not immediately profitable and was closed until Lynch raised additional capital to reopen the cave sometime after 1900. The cave has remained open since, making it one of the oldest continuously running tourist attractions in the Ozarks.

When William Lynch died in 1927, ownership of the cave passed to his daughters. Shortly there after, the name of the cave was changed to Marvel Cave. The Lynch family operated the cave for nearly fifty years until a Chicago vacuum cleaner salesman, Hugo Herschend, purchased a 99-year lease on the cave.

After Hugo Herschend's death, five years after he began managing the cave, his wife, Mary, took over the day-to-day operations of the venture. With the aid of her two sons, Jack and Peter, Mary Herschend was able to make vast improvements to the cave, including a train which pulled visitors a distance of 218 feet, from the depths of the cave up to the surface.

Once the train was in operation the Herschends felt the development of the cave was complete and immediately began to search for ways to expand their growing attraction. Anticipating additional tourists to the Ozarks, they wanted to create an attraction which would attract even more tourists to the cave.

The Herschends decided to build an Ozark frontier town on the land surrounding the site of the cave. The new attraction was named Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City originally was the site of five shops, a church, a log cabin, and a street production reproducing the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys several times daily. With the growing numbers of tourists visiting the attraction each year, the Herschends were able to add many new shops as well as rides and variety shows. Today, Silver Dollar City plays hosts to thousands of visitors each day during the tourist season.

The park gained much public notice when the Clampett family of CBS' The Beverly Hillbillies decided to pay a visit to Silver Dollar City to start off the 1969-1970 season. The plotline involved Granny (Irene Ryan) attempting to find a husband for Elly May (Donna Douglas) back in the hills, while Uncle Jed (Buddy Ebsen) socialized with hotel clerk Shorty Kellems (Shug Fisher). They visited the blacksmith Shad Heller, soapmaker Granny Ethel Huffman, and woodcarver Peter Engler, and Miss Hathaway (Nancy Kulp) was seen in the Ozark woods. The Hillbillies were from the area surrounding Silver Dollar City and Branson, and references to Jim Owens, the famous Ozark comedian, and some Missouri mountain locations were made throughout the show's nine year run.

As confirmed by Theme Park Insider, there was another Silver Dollar City owned by the Herschend family from 1976 to 1985, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dolly Parton became a partner in 1986, and the still thriving attraction was renamed Dollywood.

Rides and attractions

Rides

American Plunge--A log flume ride
Becky's Carousel
Fire In The Hole--An indoor roller coaster, with scenes of the great fire started by the Baldknobbers
Frisco Silver Dollar Line--An old-fashioned train ride. Passengers view various shows by cast members, including a train robbery
Lost River of the Ozarks--A water raft ride (riders get very wet)
Powder Keg
Flooded Mine--An indoor water ride though a flooded mine worked by convicts. Riders can shoot at various targets for points
Thunderation
Tom Sawyer's Sand Station
Wildfire
Electro Spin
Mighty Galleon
Royal Tea Party
Tom Sawyer's Skychase
Great Expostion Coaster
Magnificent Wave Carousel
Racing Regatta
Elephant March
Wings Of Wonder
The Ladybugs
Happy Frogs

Attractions

The Grand Exposition
Geyser Gulch
Grandfather's Mansion
Marvel Cave

Former rides

Buzz Saw Falls - A roller coaster that also incorporated a water type boat for the vehicle. The ride was largely promoted, however was constantly plagued with mechanical difficulties. It was closed in 2003 and construction began, on the same location, for Powder Keg. Powder Keg opened in 2005.
Rube Dugan's Diving Bell - An attraction that simulated a Jules Verne-style fantasy submarine ride, the first simulation ride of its kind. Disney World engineers told Silver Dollar City that it could not be done. It was removed in the late-1980s to make room for the Lost River of the Ozarks, a ride that could run more people through per hour . Slim Pickens was the voice of Rube Dugan. Noel Green was the only person to ever play Rube Dugan in the flesh during the 1999, and 2000 seasons.
Jim Owens Float Trip - Outdoor boat ride around a man-made river with animatronics. Removed after the 1980 season and replaced by the American Plunge log flume.
''Stagecoach'"" In the early years of the park, an authentic stagecoach took guests on a bumpy ride around the perimeter of the town square pulled by sturdy draft horses. It was removed within the first five years after the park opened.

External links

Silver Dollar City (Official Website)
Dollywood (Official Website)
Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation
Family trip to Silver Dollar City
Page about Rube Dugan's Diving Bell

Theme parks in the United States | Amusement parks in the United States | Stone County, Missouri