PLATE 1. Vintage murals celebrate Silver Dollar City’s unique heritage.

Celebrating Silver Dollar City

by Jim Barrett (written spring 2000 in conjunction with Silver Dollar City’s 40th anniversary)

I got to seriously thinking about the history of Silver Dollar City and a goodly number of old memories began flooding back. I remembered going over to the “City” to chat with Pete Herschend. I would park on the then-gravel parking lot in front of one of the very few buildings there. Sometimes Pete himself would get up from a rocker and come down off the porch with a big smile (which would fade when he saw who it was). “Oh, Barrett, it’s you! Heck, I thought you were a tourist!”

You see, in those days, 40 years ago, Silver Dollar City consisted of a mere handful of 1880s’ style buildings around a small gravel parking lot. If you went down Indian Point Road in those days, you had to drive slow and careful. You might have to wait as a stage coach and four went across the path. In those days, folks weren’t quite so frantic to get “there,” wherever “there” was.

Like Silver Dollar City, I’ve been here for some 40 years! Where have all those years gone? Yep, I sure have thought it doesn’t seem that long. Where did it all start?

This is a long, colorful story filled with explorers, ghost stories, adventures, murders, investments, fortunes, and ghost towns. The Indians of the Ozarks came to know Marvel Cave centuries ago. It was told a brave, while chasing a bear or deer, ran off into the cave’s opening and was never seen again. In those days the mouth of Marvel Cave was a ragged great hole, surrounded by trees and brush. In the blackness of that opening the first step was a long one: over two hundred feet straight down.

Then there comes the tale of a bushwhacker who — not long after the Civil War — was pushed into the cave, murdered as punishment for the terror he brought to the Ozarks during the war. Some say his ghost is still down there.

The US Government deeded this land — “Section 29” — to the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company to encourage westward expansion. During this time, mineral prospector Henry T. Blow traveled from St. Louis looking for lead mines. Blow would write his name in candle smoke on the cave’s wall, noting formations resembling marble and giving the cave its first English name: the Devil’s Den. He never did find lead.

Section 29 became owned by a group of speculators [led by Truman Powell, grandfather of Walker Powell]. Founded June 26, 1884, the Marble Cave Mining & Manufacturing Company was meant to quarry marble from the cave but what little marble they found was contaminated with undesirable minerals. The Civil War veterans, including Powell, cast about for a way to make the cave pay off and they found it in bat guano. Many feet deep throughout the cave and wildly rich in nitrates, guano was a key ingredient in gun powder and fertilizer. The Company mined and sold the guano for $700 a ton.

A town — to be named Marble City — was laid out, then renamed Marmaros, Greek for marble. On August 13, 1884, the Stone County Recorder of Deeds registered the plat map and Marmaros thrived until the guano ran out. It wasn’t long before the town began to fade. The post office was moved a few miles away. Soon all that was left was a pottery factory. When the factory burned down, Marmaros was a ghost town.

On October 30, 1889, Henry Lynch bought the “useless” cave (and section) for $7,000. Less than a week later, William Lynch bought the parcel from Henry for $10,000. No one seems to know why Henry bought it, then sold it to his brother William for a profit. But what is know is that William bought the cave and section sight unseen. Why? Another mystery. However, William H. Lynch was no dreamer. He was a skilled mineral man, a Yukon explorer, a man who understood caves and made plans to exploit his newly acquired hole in the ground for its fabled beauty.

Lynch opened “Marble Cave in Onyx Park” for the first time from October 18 to 31, 1894, and soon began mapping the cave along with cave explorer and Ozarks visionary Samuel “Fred” Webb Prince (Prince would ultimately present a master map compilation entitled “Marvel Caverns” to William Lynch’s daughters in 1931).

The White River Line of the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railway reached Branson in 1906, closely coinciding with the publication of Harold Bell Wright’s book Shepherd of the Hills. Powersite Dam brought electricity to the area in 1913. William Lynch’s daughters changed the cave’s name from Devil’s Den to Marble Cave and finally to the more romantic Marvel Cave. William Lynch built a huge platform in the cave’s cathedral room and lowered a grand piano to it — some 200 feet straight down! His daughter Miriam, trained as an opera singer, performed for tourists visiting the cave. Lynch also cleared a passable road to the little town of Branson. He believed the railroad would bring lots of tourists to the Ozarks because the Ozarkers’ romantic, colorful lives would be world-famous, thanks to Wright’s book. Lynch was right and Marvel Cave’s success continued. The family would operate Marvel Cave in Onyx Park for over 50 years — making it the first tourist attraction in our area.

Part 2

As William Lynch was clearing his road to Branson in the 1920s, he started hiring young men to help out. One of those young men was “Fiddlin’” Jake Vining’s boy, Lester, then only nine years old. Lester and others helped “Plunger” Lynch (as he was known) clear the ridge tops, each earning 25¢ an hour. Lynch also hired Fannabelle Ford to work as a cave guide.

Lynch would die in October of 1927. Daughter Genevieve left her job as an administrator of hospitals in Carthage to help her sister Miriam. The siblings would operate Marvel Cave together for the next 20 years when their path was crossed by Hugo Herschend and his family.

Hugo had been born in Denmark. Mary in Illinois. Pete was Hugo’s son by a previous marriage. Jack was Mary’s son. Hugo and Mary first vacationed in the Ozarks in 1946. The couple stayed at Rockaway Beach — a prime resort and tourist town at the time — and it was not long before they discovered Marvel Cave. They also became close friends with the Lynch sisters.

Sons Jack and Pete vacationed with their parents in 1949, meeting the Lynches, discovering Marvel Cave for themselves, and staying at Marvel Cave Lodge, cabins the Lynches rented out. The sisters were “getting on” and wanted good managers for their cave. Hugo saw the opportunity: a good retirement occupation plus a future income for his boys, all in an idyllic mountain setting.

In 1950, a lease arrangement was reached — $5,000 per year or 10 percent of ticket sales, whichever was greater. Hugo kept his day job (manager of Electrolux sales in Chicago). Mary managed the cave. Jack and Pete worked with Marvel’s crew to modernize the place. Concrete replaced wood. Light bulbs replaced kerosene lanterns. Newspaper and magazine ads replaced word of mouth. In between college responsibilities, Pete would become cave manager. Jack accepted a military commission. Fannabelle Ford’s (now Fannabelle Nickel) daughter Sherry married now-lieutenant Jack to great fanfare — in the cave.

Hugo Herschend was a savvy salesman, avidly seeking every promotional opportunity he could find. Do you remember the old Burma Shave signs? Well, Hugo had his staff paint hundreds of similar signs and before long, small roadside placards dotted intersection fenceposts and tree trunk for miles around.

In 1950, a lease arrangement was reached — $5,000 per year or 10 percent of ticket sales, whichever was greater. Hugo kept his day job (manager of Electrolux sales in Chicago). Mary managed the cave. Jack and Pete worked with Marvel’s crew to modernize the place. Concrete replaced wood. Light bulbs replaced kerosene lanterns. Newspaper and magazine ads replaced word of mouth. In between college responsibilities, Pete would become cave manager. Jack accepted a military commission. Fannabelle Ford’s (now Fannabelle Nickel) daughter Sherry married now-lieutenant Jack to great fanfare — in the cave.

Hugo Herschend was a savvy salesman, avidly seeking every promotional opportunity he could find. Do you remember the old Burma Shave signs? Well, Hugo had his staff paint hundreds of similar signs and before long, small roadside placards dotted intersection fenceposts and tree trunk for miles around.

Herschend was also a fan of the new Chicago-based TV show Zoo Parade. He befriended Marlin Perkins, establishing “Marlin Perkins’ Zoo” on the Marvel Cave Park grounds (about where the old Woodcarver Barn is today). Herschend made sure the new zoo got lots of Chicago TV coverage. The bats of Marvel Cave made guest appearances and Marlin even named his chimpanzee after Jack Herschend’s mother in law Fannabelle.

Throughout the 1950s, the Herschends continued expansions. Hugo died suddenly from a heart attack in 1955. Mary took the helm, applying her management skills and overseeing operations and promotions. Jack came home from the military and took over daily management, engineering and construction. Pete worked at the cave every available moment while working to finish college. The boys built an exciting new cave railway — which nearly killed Jack in its testing. The incline railway would safely take its first public run with the real Casey Jones Jr. at the throttle.

Since 1920, plans for a huge dam to control flooding on the dangerous White River had been in the works. Finally in 1954, the silver tongue of Congressman Dewey Short (with the help of Senator Stuart Symington and Branson banker Ben Parnell) convinced Congress to fund the project. There was local opposition to the dam because the White River — as the local fishermen and bottom land farmers knew it — would be buried forever. The Lynch sisters feared the coming of the lake, knowing it would change so many mountain ways. Jim Owen, famous float guide, even sent mourning cards to all his friends and clients when the dam was finished. But the Herschends saw the lake as a keystone to tourism. They purchased 640 acres around Marvel Cave to protect the area from uncontrolled development.

As Table Rock Lake was nearing completion, Mary, Jack and Pete began plans to rebuild Marmaros but planned to simply call it the “Ozark Mountain Village.” A September 29, 1959 press release states, “The Ozark Village is not a museum or a ghost town, but a living, working village [where] the old sheriff still keeps order on the old boardwalks and the old Missouri mule is the best transportation available.”

May 1, 1960 was opening day. Only about one-third of the “Ozark Mountain Village” as finished: a blacksmith shop, general store, ice cream parlor, doll shop and the “Stage Coach Inn.” There were also two reconstructed log buildings — the Wilderness Church and the old McHaffie Homestead. The Mabe Brothers (later the Baldknobbers) played music on the square. The “Hatfields & McCoys” feuded throughout the day. The Herschends were amazed — every two-lane blacktop and gravel road leading to this new / old city was jam-packed with eager tourists and curious locals wanting to see the latest Ozark wonder.

PART 3

Now let’s travel back to the 1950s for a moment. One day, former carnie Charlie Sullivan pulled into Marvel Cave’s gravel parking lot. The Herschends would learn Charlie had been born in Marmaros and that he could show them a number of lost foundations in the nearby woods. They also learned Charlie had planned the development of a theme park called Frontier City USA in Oklahoma. Under the direction of the Herschends, Sullivan began to dream up a brand-new village — built right over the top of Marmaros.

From 1959 through the spring of 1960, the Marvel Cave team worked like crazy to make Charlie’s little model town a reality. Just two weeks before the grand opening, Mary Herschend herself could be found madly working through the village with paintbrushes, words of encouragement, changes, and the admonishment of “Hurry up!” Don Richardson, former writer for Springfield’s Ozark Jubilee TV show, came to work full time as director of public relations.

The old tales of the Yocum Family and their mysterious silver dollars were well known around here. Richardson was looking for a “hook,” a gimmick that would help promote the new village and he recalled someone out in Vegas had a habit of handing out “cartwheels,” silver dollars, as change. The gimmick — and name — came full blown into his mind. Besides, Richardson had never liked the name “Ozark Mountain Village,” saying it was generic and had too many adjectives — rather like titling someone “tall, good-looking blonde.” The village atop Marvel Cave would hand out silver dollars in change — and be named Silver Dollar City.

The People’s Bank in Branson began delivering bags of silver dollars by the wheel-barrow load and word of mouth promotion (“Where’d you folks get all those silver dollars?”) was all the promotion needed for five years. Pete took early release from the military and came home to be part of the madness. Everyone working in the City sang in quartets, participated in the shootouts, sold goods in the stores, demonstrated local crafts, waited on tables, guided tours in the cave and more.

The second year saw new attractions being built: Sullivan’s Mill, a print shop, a photo shop, a livery stable, a music store, Slantin’ Sam’s Cabin and a haunted house. Pete took over management of the City (he loved to sing and act) and Jack became manager of the cave. There are so many stories to share. How Andy Miller — another Ozark Jubilee staffer — became Mary Herschend’s ally in keeping the new buildings from being slapped together. Andy was a perfectionist and saw the future of the City only as strong as its structures and the artistry of its craftsmen. And so, though the City grew rapidly, it did so with careful thought about buildings, signs, businesses and local color.

There is also the fabled stories of Mary Herschend and her trees. Many a person got “fired” for damaging a tree on park. Of course, being fired meant keeping out of Mary’s way for a couple of days then getting back in harness once more. There’s the story of the little steam train which became the City’s first ride. There were stage coaches. The “Retreat to the Colors,” which concluded with the firing of the ceremonial cannon at sunset. And then there was Root Diggin’ Days when Pete Herschend competed in getting out of his long-handles the fastest.

From 1960 to 1970, the “Ozark Mountain Village” started out as a reincarnation of a frontier city. But as the decade passed, Andy Miller, Don Richardson and the Herschends slaved over the place’s essence: the architecture, the arts, crafts, artist signage and so much more.

And something interesting began to happen: The frontier aspect of the town slowly faded away and a spirited, Ozark hillfolks’ town unfolded. Perhaps the ghosts of the old-time Ozarks, of Marmaros, were waiting for their moment. And now it had returned for them as they always knew it would.

PART 4

The first 10 years of Silver Dollar City flew by as on wings of pure gold. It wasn’t long before the Herschends realized they had created a real theme park with potential far exceeding that of the cave. Of the half-million visitors in 1960, only about 150,000 even toured Marvel Cave. Efforts were poured into the park. Of course, I could easily take up this entire article telling you about Shad and Molly Heller (beloved stars of the City’s cast of characters), the new steam train from Hamburg, Mary’s heart attacks which nearly paralyzed the City, diligent searches for craftsmen to begin that first Craft Festival, the swinging bridge, the mills, the mining theme developed to celebrate old Marmaros and Marble Cave, and so on. There is so much to tell!

A milestone came the second week of May, 1969. Paul Henning, Missouri-born Hollywood writer / producer, showed up at Silver Dollar City with five tons of equipment, a cast and crew of 50 people, vans, trucks, buses, dressing rooms and more. Why would a Hollywood man come to Silver Dollar City? Because the Beverly Hillbillies Show had been enticed to film “a couple of episodes” there by Don Richardson.

Now in those days, there were no other TV shows that could touch the Hillbillies’s ratings. And now the whole thing was right here in downtown Silver Dollar City. Henning would fall in love with the City, the cast, with Shad and Molly Heller, and Mary, Jack and Pete Herschend. He would stay to shoot five episodes.

As many as 5,000 people visited the City each day, some getting to appear as extras in the episodes. There is no conceivable way in which Silver Dollar City could have gained greater publicity than being a featured location on The Beverly Hillbillies Show. In keeping with an agreement between Paul Henning and Mary Herschend, the state of Missouri was never mentioned in any of the shows (thus keeping the “Clampetts’” family home a secret). However, a gig carrying the “Clampetts” slowly moved by a roadside sign stating “Silver Dollar City, Population 28” several times during the completed episodes.

Population 28 wasn’t exactly true. By the early ’70s, Silver Dollar City had over 650 seasonal employees and more than 200 permanent ones. The Herschends had established a new game in town: solid, permanent jobs for the area’s young people and paychecks that didn’t bounce!

An employee handbook was developed, outlining Mary Herschend’s philosophies of guest excellence and satisfaction. Her care for trees, for the natural world as a whole, and park cleanliness, were all heavily stressed. Now no employees carried ball point pens, smoked filter-tipped cigarettes or wore sunglasses. “Creating atmosphere” was now the catchphrase for the City.

Every new building, every new act, each new employee, every costume and tool had to fit the atmosphere. And it paid off. Attendance continued to climb. The theme park was written up in numerous magazines and newspapers. Honors came in recognizing the Herschends (and their team) for citizenship, economic goals, leadership and so on. By 1976, the City was entertaining about 1.5 million visitors each year, employed 260 folks full time and hired a part-time staff of over 1,200! Silver Dollar City was now big business in the Ozarks. Those real silver dollars had since disappeared, replaced by over 1,800 paychecks.

For you Silver Dollar City trivia buffs, 1968 was the first year the park charged for admission. Until then, visitors came through the gate for free and then bought tickets for rides. The Herschends decided to follow the theme park routine and charge general admission but make the rides “free.” Of course, many of us retired folks who wouldn’t get on one of those gol’durned gutshaker rides for all the money in the world wish things had stayed as they were. But the Herschends’ decision was correct and paid off.

You see, the problem with free admission is that tons of free-loaders show up just to rubber-neck. In a park as dynamic as Silver Dollar City, this sure would have a negative effect. And remember, the admission pays for the actors, the sets, the musicians, the cleanliness, the upkeep, the springs, ponds, flowers, paved walks, pretty buildings, the smiles, clean fun and ambience that folks love.

At Christmas time, those admission tickets pay for the miles of lights, the elegant trees, and all the non-salable items tourist and local folks go to see. During the festivals, the tickets pay for costly sets, hundreds of craftsmen from all over the world, actors, musicians, dancers, entertainers of every sort. And if your guts can take the strain, you can go and ride all the rides for free and — just like the kids — have the darndest, goodest time of your life!

Incidentally, if you ever see one of those mysterious Yocum Silver Dollar, remember that’s what started it all!

PART 5

In every chapter of Silver Dollar City, there has been one important point: there is hardly a moment that isn’t family oriented, personally interesting, individually created and starring real, recognizable people. The Lynch Sisters, their father William, Mary and Hugo Herschend, and those first “citizens” of a pioneering Silver Dollar City (including Don Richardson, Andy Miller and Shad and Molly Heller) were all real and recognizable individuals but also unique, colorful — even legendary — characters.

By the 1980s, Silver Dollar City was a giant, corporate theme park. Would that essence of individuality continue?

Andy Miller’s 1965 map shows about 18 attractions housed in something like a dozen little buildings. To the left is the 1843 log homestead and church Mary acquired from nearby Forsyth. To the center is the rather lonesome looking little bandstand / gazebo. Fifteen years later, the City’s map shows 40 or 50 buildings, still mostly tucked in amongst the trees. The gazebo, homestead and church are still there but around — and far beyond — are buildings and attractions clear down to the new “Silver Lake” encircled by a shining steam train.

Somewhere between the two maps, Indian Point Road disappeared from the scene. The road once ran right through Silver Dollar City. After much discussion — some of it quite heated — Indian Point Road was moved over to the east of the park. And in recent times it was enlarged and improved.

In a wise move, Jack, Pete and Mary chose to step back from their completely hands-on management. They selected an outside board of directors to oversee the future of the City and it worked, “as any fool can plainly see.” (I think that is an Al Capp quote.) The Herschends moved back from the trees so they could see the forest. Employees began moving up into management positions.

Then, just as things were all looking like solid four-leafed clovers, Mary’s great heart gave out in 1982. Her death, the story of her life and successes, all were noted across the nation. Missouri’s House of Representatives joined together to write her eulogy into the state records. She was called a true Missouri pioneer, one who had brought tourism forward in her adoptive state. Her sense of timing, her love of wilderness, her guidance and her love continued to be felt at Silver Dollar City.

Twenty years of growth brought changes. Now the paths were paved. Entertainment was too complex to take place just on the square. No longer did crowds gather at Root Diggin’ Days to watch Pete Herschend get out of his winter long johns. To date, there are now six theaters: the Dockside, the Boatworks, the Opera House, the Riverfront Playhouse, the Silver Dollar City Saloon, the 4,000 seat Echo Hollow Amphitheater, every porch in town, the gazebo on the square, and the towering Red Gold Heritage Hall.

Celebrations have been a part of the City since the National Festival of Craftsmen began in 1963. A Great American Music Festival started up in 1977. Silver Dollar City’s Christmas season began in 1988. Worldfest was launched in 1994. In recent times, these festivals have been updated as World-Fest, Bluegrass & BBQ, a Star Spangled Summer, Southern Gospel Picnic, National Harvest Festival, and An Old Time Christmas.

And this season, as the happy sounds of kids screaming on those gut-wrencher rides mingles with the sweet whistle of a narrow-gauge steam train, the smell of fried potatoes is on the summer breeze and the clang-clang of the blacksmith’s hammer rings out, remember the history — as alive and colorful and real as the evening sun slanting through the pines on the rocky ridge.

The spirit — if not the fact — of the past is alive here.

Edited and published first on StateoftheOzarks APRIL 28, 2014

Jim Barrett, celebrated author, historian and businessman, spent much of his life preserving Ozark culture. His writings have been read by untold numbers and it is with great appreciation that StateoftheOzarks was granted the right to republish Jim’s most popular articles. He will be missed.

—  Joshua Heston, editor-in-chief

April 26, 2014, StateoftheOzarks Archive by Joshua Heston.