Please understand, that in the '60's, '70's, and early to mid '80's, Branson was a very different place. Our country-nation was in a different place. During that period, because of the folk music scene, because of a heightened interest in "getting back to the land" and in arts and crafts, HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS like Shepherd of the Hills, Silver Dollar City, and places like Colonial Williamsburg were HOT tourist destinations. There was a big interest during that time in the Kewpie doll inventor and illustrator Rose O'Neill, who lived in Branson. This trend led to the development initially of Mutton Hollow and Lloyd Durre, who for years played the shepherd in the play, even had his own TANGLEWOOD nature trail tourist trap on Fall Creek Road (All that's left of it is a couple of hewn log cabins along side the road that have been rented out as shops in recent years.) Also, Shad Heller's Wilderness Settlement and Toby Show was a part of that era. As you all know, trends change, and interest in historical attractions has waned. Note even SDC has cut back on the arts and crafts emphasis. IT PAINS ME to read in this thread that some of you younger folks didn't even understand why Shepherd of the Hills was even there, But I understand. Anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the development of tourism in the Branson area should pick up an excellent book by Lynn Morrow and Linda Myers-Phinney titled "SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS COUNTRY: TOURISM TRANSFORMS THE OZARKS, 1880s-1930's. The book is published by the UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PRESS and is available in book stores, or if it's not on the shelves, you can order it as it is still in print. As I said in another thread on SDCfans, last time I visited Shepherd of the Hills, my wife and I were in and out of there in 15 minutes...there were few visitors...and when we visited Bonniebrook, home of Rose O'Neill, located north of Branson, we about had the whole place to ourselves. I went to high school with Kelly Trimble, whose dad, Mark owned Shep. Hills...I said it before, and I'll say it again...Mark sold Shep. Hills at the right time in the early 80's, he saw that it was time to retire and get out...Gary Snadon, current owner, has had to jump through hoops and make many changes to the homestead to keep at least some visitors going back. The tower did that in the 80s/90's, and a zipline will do it for the next few years. Business is business, ya gotta make money to keep it all going. Somebody will come up with another new idea in a few years and places like the Shep. Hills Homestead will shift and change to meet the demands of new, younger visitors, who don't realize what the origins of the homestead are, or what the place meant to the Branson area fifty to a hundred and twenty years ago. God Bless! (Junior now gets off the soapbox, again!)
