Did anyone go to Mutton Hollow? Do you have any pictures to share?
Yep I went there several times when I was younger, unfortunately I do not have any photos of the park. There might be some buried at my grandma's house, but yeah.
The thing I remember most about the part was that it had a spinning barrel ride.
Later on towards the end of its life as Mutton Hollow, they added a midway with rides. There were a couple of coasters there. One was a Figure-8 and the other was a Go-Gator. They also had an Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel and a few other rides.
I went there when I was working at the City. This was the year before it closed its doors and it was like a ghost town. I felt so bad for the people working there. So bad in fact that I left after about 30 minutes.
I must have been allergic to cameras back then because I didn't take any. Odd too, because it was fairly obvious that Mutton Hollow was on its way out by then and I would have liked to document it.
Growing up I do remember that Mutton Hollow was THE place to go for big name concerts. This was well before Grand Palace and some of the resident artists that are currently there.
I went to Mutton Hollow with my family when I was young. I remember having a good time but unfortunately I don't have any pictures readily available to share. We have old photo albums and I'm sure if I got ambitious one day and started digging through them I'd find several photos that were taken at Mutton Hollow.
I remember that place! Here is another brochure from my collection...enjoy reminiscing!
And another scan...
And another...
And this should be it unless I find another hiding somewhere!
The wife and I took a long vidoe of about every inch of that place just about 2 months before it closed. For some reason though the tape has went to live with the storage goblins that steal most every odd thing I want to keep now days.
On another note, does anybody remember Jim Lane's grave located at Mutton Hollow? That had to be a prop, right? Because it is obviously not there now.
Thanks for the info everyone. The brochures were great. I'd love to see those videos sometime.
Look close at some of the buildings and you might be able to recognize them at CC. As a side not the guy pulling taffy is Rocky. He is Aunt June's brother. Aunt June is the lead of Brown's Candy Factory at SDC. He used to run MH's candy shop.
Very cool bit of info...I wouldn't a park like that would last very long next to SDC, 1800's theme, steam trains, crafts...hard to compete with
I looked through all of my photos of CC and failed to find any definate matches for the ones from my brochure...but I am going to keep looking!
When you die, I expect to get all of this awesome history you posses...just write "steamfreak" in the will.
QuoteLook close at some of the buildings and you might be able to recognize them at CC.
Quite a few of the buildings are from MH - the toy store has been there for years, and even the "circular theater" was there during the MH days.
QuoteThe thing I remember most about the part was that it had a spinning barrel ride.
I, too, remember seeing the barrel, but it was not in use when I walked through it.
QuoteOn another note, does anybody remember Jim Lane's grave located at Mutton Hollow? That had to be a prop, right? Because it is obviously not there now.
I'd be interested in getting an answer to Hatfield McCoy's question about Jim Lane's grave. With that being a historical figure, why would it be faked. All the
Shepherd of the Hills museum stuff is now in the Toy Museum on 76CB (unless that's changed too). Why isn't it at SotH?
His grave would not have been there because Jim Lane was a fictional person in the Shepard of the Hills Book. The Book was based on real people but that was not their real names.
Quote from: oklaSDCfan on March 02, 2009, 07:36:59 PM
His grave would not have been there because Jim Lane was a fictional person in the Shepard of the Hills Book. The Book was based on real people but that was not their real names.
Good point. But I think they actually had his real name followed by "AKA Jim Lane" and a little history. I am sure it must have been a fake, because moving something like that for Branson USA would have created a stink.
"of the chief Knobbers, big Mathias Shearer, who Wright called Jim Lane, he was a mixed sort of man, you know. He was a true Bald Knobber, but his heart wasn't in the beatin', hangin' and killin' part of it. No, not at all." was a quote I found about the real man...wherever he may be interred
I do know that John and Georgianna Ross (Old Matt and Aunt Molly) are buried at the Evergreen Cemetary located near SDC.
I am unsure of where the other actual personages final resting places are.
I found this on another Branson forum...
"The man who inspired the character of Jim Lane is supposedly buried in Gretna Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Gretna Cemetery is located behind the Royal Oak charcoal plant."
When I was a youngster, there was a small train that made it's way around Mutton Hollow. We always used to ride horses there. There was a small craft village there. The best part is that admission to Mutton Hollow was free. This probably led to it's demise, but for years my parents used to go hang out there when we weren't at SDC.
The family that originally owned Mutton Hollow and developed it in the 1960s sold it in the '90s to the BRANSON USA theme park people, who operated their attraction for a couple of years before it went bust...then along came Celebration City. The next chapter in the commercial development of the site remains unwritten.
I remember going to Mutton Hollow. I remeber the pony ride, the round theatre and a kiddie train. My dad took a video of me while i was the only child on the little train. The Gentleman let me stay on it as long as I wanted. The video shows me going around the little track....oh....i'd say about 1000 times! Bless dads heart, he didn't want to miss a second. I was probally around 4 or 5.
I barely rememebr mutton hollow, but it was a major draw in its day..... too bad, progress moved on...
Depends on what you call progress... ???
I also had an chance to visit the old Mutton Hollow attraction when it was open. I am afraid that I only remember the train ride.( only because we waited in line for a long time to get a ride on it with my dad thinking it was a free ride because no addmission price sign was visible.) and the theater with the original manuscript and the brief movie on the life of Mr. Wright. Other than that I don't remember much else.
good point okie!
I remember a bit from it, but not too much. My Mom called me the other day and told me a women in the new office she works in, used to work at Mutton Hollow. Just funny how coversations must get started about Branson!
The Mutton Hollow I remember from the mid to late 70s, early 80s didn't seem to do banner business. It was seldom busy. When walking through the streets and shops, there were not any lines. The only entertainment was horseback rides through Mutton Hollow. Later in the mid to late 80s, early 90s, they added a handful of carnival type rides, had some street and stage entertainment, and the Harold Bell Wright Museum. We've talked about the HBW Museum here before...it was unique because when I took the tour, Harold Bell Wright's youngest son, who had a full career and retired from Disney as a film maker, owned the museum, had produced the film on his dad's life, and also PERSONALLY gave tours and visited with guests. I'm lucky to have had a short visit with the man, too! However, HBW's son was bitter, as were other family members. They were upset that Shepherd of the Hills Farm could not work out a deal with them to house the museum, plus they were upset the copyrights on the books were running out and others made money off their dads works without paying royalties to the family. TImes have changed, as Mutton Hollow turned in to BRANSON USA theme park, later Celebration City. The HBW museum was later housed briefly at Shepherd of the Hills prior to the move to the Toy Museum building it is now in. I am not sure the family of HBW still owns the stuff inside the museum, but, as I remember, it was a wonderful collection...anything HBW you could imagine.
I worked at Mutton Hollow for several years after they had done remodeling and started charging an admission to the park. I worked in the Apple Butter Shop and yes we actually made all the fruit butters right there in a big very deep copper kettle.
I enjoyed the park and especially the wonderful people I worked with in the several years I was there.
I also worked for Branson, USA for a time getting the retail shops set up.
I have no pictures of Mutton Hollow, guess when you work at a place you don't have the time or inclination to bring a camera with you.
Marge, we would love to have you tell us stories about your working there. Tell us what shops were there, rides, entertainment, and tell us about the entertainers and then how Branson USA came about and what that was like setting up shops. Anything you can remember. We all are interested in that kind of stuff here. Thanks! :)
I dug out my old Branson box of Non SDC stuff, and I only have 2 p/c's from MH (I thought I had a brochure but apparently not)...I am going to have to start lokoing for more!