Dogpatch USA
Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip Li'l Abner, created by cartoonist Al Capp and set in a fictional village called Dogpatch. The park opened in 1968, and closed in 1993.
Dogpatch USA was a commercial success in its early years. Investors tried to parlay that success into a sister park, "Marble Falls," planned with a ski resort and convention center. The venture failed and led to the park's closure in 1993. The property then fell into disrepair. Parts of the park have been divided up and sold, and the main area has been bought, sold, and foreclosed on several times.
A documentary about Dogpatch USA by Jeff Carter Productions was released in May 2018.
History
Origins
In 1966, Albert Raney, Sr. decided to sell his family's Ozark trout farm and listed it with O. J. Snow, a Harrison, Arkansas, real estate agent. Snow examined the property and decided that the Raney farm was ideal for an amusement park based on pioneer themes, which was an idea he had entertained for years. He noted that features of the area resembled those pictured in the Li'l Abner comic strip: he imagined Mill Creek Canyon at the base of a 55-foot waterfall could be the "bottomless canyon" featured in the comic strip, and the nearby tourist attraction Mystic Caverns could become "Dogpatch Cave", where Kickapoo Joy Juice was brewed by a few unsavory Dogpatch characters.Snow and nine or ten Harrison businessmen formed Recreation Enterprises, Incorporated to develop the land. Their first step was to get permission from Al Capp, the creator of Li'l Abner, for a park based on his work. According to an Arkansas Gazette article, Snow sent Capp home movies of the property and descriptions of the attractions. In addition to the trout farm and Mystic Caverns cave, Snow planned a variety of attractions and activities, including horseback riding, paddle boats, train rides, local arts and crafts shops, family-oriented theatrical presentations, a botanical garden, an apiary, and honey and fudge shops. Li'l Abner comic-strip characters would roam the park and perform skits for the patrons. Snow also assured Capp that the park would be quiet and dignified and would not include roller coasters or thrill rides that would conflict with the rustic Li'l Abner theme. Capp, who had turned down other offers to use his characters in theme parks, accepted this one and became a partner, claiming he had once driven through the Ozarks and had pictured just such an area for the setting of his fictional "Dogpatch" town. On January 4, 1967, an article in the Northwest Arkansas Times stated that Capp's attorneys were finalizing the agreement. Capp approved of the plans for the park and granted REI the rights to use his characters.
Some state officials and Arkansas residents objected to the creation of the theme park because they thought that it would encourage negative hillbilly stereotypes. Lou Oberste of the Publicity and Parks Commission expressed reservations, and Commission Director Bob Evans agreed that Arkansas had difficulty shedding a similar image created by comedic actor Bob Burns.
In January 1967, Edwin T. Haefele of the Brookings Institution and Leon N. Moses, Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, were in Arkansas attending the Central Arkansas Urban Policy Conference. When reporters asked for their opinions of the Dogpatch project, they expressed doubts about the likelihood of its success, citing the failure of other theme parks that had popped up trying to replicate Disneyland's great success. They also felt that such theme parks tend to cause nearby property values to deflate and local businesses to relocate to more desirable areas. Despite these reservations, the Publicity and Parks Commission toured the property and decided to support the project, and the Harrison Chamber of Commerce approved the plans for the 825 acre park. In comparison, Disneyland originally called for only eight acres.
Building and opening the park
Al Capp and his wife attended the ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday, October 3, 1967. Phase I of the project, at a cost of $1.332 million, included construction of the initial buildings and rides. A second phase, which included the construction of a train from Dogpatch to Marble Falls, a tram from the parking lot to the park entrance, the "Skunk Hollow" section of the park, a motel, and a golf course, was planned to be completed over the next two years at a cost of $2 million. In 1968, the name of the community post office was officially changed from Marble Falls to Dogpatch.Under the direction of Jim Schermerhorn, an REI board member and experienced caver, Mystic Caverns, which was renamed "Dogpatch Caverns", was completely renovated. Dangerous conditions were corrected to ensure safety, and the additions included a better lighting system, walkway, and entrance. During renovation, while Schermerhorn was operating the bulldozer, a second cave was discovered next to Mystic Caverns. Realizing the potential value of this pristine cave, he had it blocked off so that it could be preserved untouched. It was named "Old Man Moses Cave" and put on the "to do" list along with the other projects intended for Phase II. Schermerhorn also acquired several authentic 19th century log cabins in the Ozark Mountains and had them dismantled, shipped, and reconstructed in the park. A watermill that had originally operated on the property circa 1834 was restored and made fully operational.
Dogpatch USA opened and welcomed about 8,000 visitors on May 17, 1968. The centerpiece of the park was a giant statue of the fictional town hero, Jubilation T. Cornpone. Capp unveiled the statue during his dedication speech to a crowd of about 2,000. Kim Capp, son of Al Capp, worked as the assistant Public Relations Director. General admission was $1.50 for adults and $0.75 for children. During the first year, the park's attractions included a railroad, surrey rides, trail rides, a stable, an apiary, a grist mill tour, a slide, a petting zoo, and a "mule swing". Fishing in the trout pond was another activity offered; the Dogpatch restaurant could then cook the trout for visitors. Artisans demonstrated their work, including candlemaking, glassblowing, and woodcarving, and local crafts were available for purchase, including handmade dulcimers, smoking chips, and embroidered aprons, though crafts produced elsewhere supplemented the local products. The "alpine-style" Dogpatch Inn provided accommodations for visitors. The park reported a net profit of about $100,000 at the end of the 1968 season.
Attendance expectations for the park were, in retrospect, extremely optimistic. David Wesley and Harrison Price of the Los Angeles consulting firm Economic Research Associates projected 400,000 patrons in the first year. They projected that within 10 years, annual attendance would exceed 1 million and annual revenue would be $5 million. However, Dogpatch USA hosted only 300,000 visitors in 1968. Estimates of attendance in its subsequent years have varied widely. According to a February 9, 1997, article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, it never reported more than 200,000 visitors in any subsequent year. However, according to an August 10, 1997, article in the same newspaper, "in the early 1970s, the park was attracting almost a million visitors each year."
Jess Odom ownership
A disagreement arose among the members of REI with regards to investing the profits of the first year. Snow believed all the profits should be reinvested in the park, but the other members wanted to divide some of it among themselves. Jess Odom, an Arkansas businessman in search of an opportunity, bought REI members' shares for $750,000 and gained a controlling interest in the park in October 1968. Odom had been successful in several other endeavors, including the founding of a planned community northwest of Little Rock called Maumelle. In summer 1968, there were plans to expand the park further in time for next season's opening; the planned attractions were the "Skunk Holler" section, new shops, and more Li'l Abner-themed performances.Odom signed a long-term licensing agreement with Capp, giving the park and any future Li'l Abner franchises the rights to use all characters, events, jargon, names, and titles until 1998. In return, Capp would receive two to three percent of the gross of admissions over the same time period.
According to some sources, in 1969, the cave discovered during construction, "Old Man Moses Cave," was opened to park visitors. However, according to Mystic Caverns' owners, the Old Man Moses Cave was never opened to the public while it was part of Dogpatch USA. Also in 1969, the first annual Miss Dogpatch pageant was held in the park. During that time, Orval Faubus, former governor of Arkansas, served as the president of Dogpatch USA. Also in 1969 the B-movie It's Alive! was partly filmed at the Dogpatch Theme park.
1969 marked a particularly popular year for rustic and hillbilly pop culture. Shows such as Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, and The Beverly Hillbillies were in vogue on American television, and a similar rustic-themed park about 40 miles away near Branson, Missouri, Silver Dollar City, had become a huge success. The Li'l Abner comic strip was appearing in more than 700 newspapers daily throughout the country, which kept the fictional town of Dogpatch in the public eye. In 1968, Al Capp had granted New York restaurant chain Longchamps, Inc. the rights to use his characters and artwork in a planned Li'l Abner-themed restaurant franchise. Capp had also approved the creation of a Li'l Abner TV series, and the Dogpatch USA operators hoped the park and series would mutually build each other's audiences.
Dogpatch USA was profitable in its first few years, and Odom expanded the park's amenities. By the 1970 opening day, a motel consisting of 60 mobile-home units had been completed, and a funicular to carry guests from the parking lot to the park entrance was a few weeks away from completion. In 1971, Odom, who foresaw unlimited potential for the park, bought out most of the remaining investors for $700,000 and became, essentially, the owner. Several new attractions were added in time for the 1972 season opening, including an "Animal World" section with a sea lion exhibit and an aviary with exotic birds, a children's water ride, and, as stated by the Harrison Daily Times, a "unique boat train ride."
In August 1972, Odom announced that he was financing the construction of a sister park, Marble Falls Resort and Convention Center, which was the first ski resort in Arkansas. The two parks were marketed together as a year-round attraction. The resort was ready for the Christmas season of 1972, though a winter storm prevented it from opening until after Christmas. The resort used snow machines to produce enough snow for skiing; the anticipated skiing season was December to mid-March. Marble Falls Resort and Convention Center included ski slopes, a toboggan run, an ice-skating rink, the 62-unit Marble Falls Inn, 36 condominiums, and 30 rental alpine chalets, though the condos and chalets weren't completed until after the initial opening. Odom also opened the Antique Auto Museum as part of the Marble Falls complex.
Odom also continued to expand Dogpatch USA. New attractions during the 1973 season included a go-cart track named Pappy Yokum's Positively Petrifying Putt-Mobiles, a scrambler called Joe Btfsplk's Impending Disaster Machine, a shooting gallery called Scraggs Feudin' Range, a black light maze, and a swinging bridge. The Kissin' Rocks sculpture was also newly installed for the 1973 season. In 1974, more new attractions were added, including the thrill ride Hairless Joe's Kickapoo Barrel, an inflatable "bouncing bag," a replica Native American village, and craft shops where artisans demonstrated pottery making, leather working, and woodworking.
Success seemed to be on the horizon for Odom and Dogpatch USA, but the many unforeseen events of the 1970s cast a dark shadow on Odom's dreams. Attendance figures throughout that decade were woefully short of expectations. In 1973, interest rates began to skyrocket, and a nationwide energy crisis kept many tourists home. In a bout of cancellations nicknamed the Rural purge, American television networks eliminated many shows with country themes, and the popularity of hillbillies waned. The Li'l Abner restaurant chain was never built. The proposed Li'l Abner TV series was never made; a pilot was produced and premiered as a television special on ABC-TV, but it received poor reviews and no network purchased the series.
The mild winter weather which visited Arkansas through the mid-1970s proved to be the undoing of Marble Falls as a ski resort, and its snow cannons and slopes sat idle much of the time. The modest profits of Dogpatch USA were not sufficient to keep the two parks afloat, and Odom, already $2 million in debt, was forced to borrow an additional $1.5 million in the unfavorable financial atmosphere of 1973.
In 1974, Odom partnered with the Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts at the University of Arkansas to create an in-park repertory theater in a venture called "Arkansas Rediscovered" or the American Revolution Bicentennial Project. The group of student performers was named the "Boar's Head Players." Odom and the university planned for the group to perform well-known plays and short children's productions and to develop new plays based on the history and culture of Arkansas. They planned for the new plays to premiere at Marble Falls in 1976 as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration, and then the group would tour the state performing the new works.
In 1976, Union Planters Bank began foreclosure proceedings on $3.5 million in debts. In 1977, Al Capp and the Li'l Abner comic strip retired. Capp's retirement brought an end to one of the greatest advertisements for Dogpatch USA - the Li'l Abner comic strip. The same year, First National Bank of Little Rock began foreclosure proceedings on $600,000 in debts. In September of that year, Odom stated that, because Marble Falls had lost $50,000 to $100,000 a year since it opened, the ski slopes would be closed permanently. In subsequent years, various activities, including grass skiing, a gaming arcade, a 400-foot water slide, and a disco, were advertised at Marble Falls along with the resort accommodations. New attractions included the Slobbovian Sled Run, Grist Mill Puppet Theater, Rottin' Ralphies Rick-o-shay Rifle Range, and Barney Barnsmell's Skunk-works. New attractions in 1978 included Li'l Abner's Space Rocket, which was intended to simulate a flight into space.
Two personal injury lawsuits, seeking more than $200,000 in compensation, were brought against Dogpatch USA in 1979 and settled in 1980. By 1979, Dogpatch USA's income was less than its operating expenses, and attempts by Odom to get the town of Harrison, and later Jasper, to issue tourism bonds to refinance millions of dollars of debt were unsuccessful. That same year Odom announced that negotiations had been underway to sell the park to a private nonprofit group called God's Patch, Inc., which would turn Dogpatch USA into a Biblical-themed amusement park, but funding never materialized. New attractions in 1980 included a trained bear act, Castle's Country Bears, and the Shmoo, a character from the Li'l Abner comic strip, which appeared for the first time among the park's costumed characters.
The heat wave of 1980, one of the worst in Arkansas's history, made that year one of the worst for the park and marked the second consecutive year that Dogpatch USA operated without sufficient income. In October 1980, Union Planters Bank filed to take possession of both Dogpatch USA and Marble Falls. A month later, Dogpatch USA filed for bankruptcy. Union Planters Bank put Dogpatch USA up for sale in order to pay off $7 million' worth of loans.