Folks who went to Dogpatch in the old days DO have a sentimental attachment to it just like SDC and other attractions. Younger folks who don't remember the place wouldn't care...I am old enough to remember Chain of Rocks and Jessie James Territory, both in the general St. Louis area. I still miss them both. Dogpatch was 2nd rate compared to SDC, and since SDC and the Ozark Folk Center duplicated the arts and crafts and hillbilly stuff, they survived, while Dogpatch died. Honestly, if Arkansas government did not underwrite the folk center, it would be gone, too. Soon as the folk center's folklorist and director died, his massive archive was put into the special collection at the university in Fayetteville. That to me was a massive insult to the man who built up that place. Anyway, times change. Dogpatch is located in a beautiful site, but was not as easy to access as the other two attractions. That also led to the downfall.
My kids have no clue about Calvin and Hobbes, a strip that is endeared to my heart. I pity that. They seem disinterested in my collection of books. Same goes for Bloom County. I feast on Pearls before Swine these days.
Arkansas Gov? Cough, hack, cough, try Arkansas Tax Payer, the ones that voted in a dedicated sales tax to the State Park System and Game and Fish. That happened under Huckabee and he gets grief for it as a tax hike, he just referred it to the people. Remember the state that went total red also overwhelmingly voted for a modest minimum wage increase in the same election. It's a populist state at heart and why Huckabee once said the anti anything immigrant Republicans (the Duggar clan and allies) drank a different kind of Jesus Juice than he did.
As for Dogpatch, the theme reused today would be akin to SDC using the Baldnobbers and fictional characters like Rube Dugan to sell a theme. The family has done nothing to help keep it alive, either. I think it can be sold or pushed via a social media campaign. The comic strip offers plenty of ride and theme ideas. Like I posted, I think it's a great backdrop for an enhanced small scale theme park/enhanced FEC. Again, Here's a strip just full of ride ideas and focal points for theming
either.
I spend lots of time in Newton Co and it's absolutely stunning country. There was a huge debate in the 60's on putting a dam on the Buffalo that would have destroyed it in my opinion. It's much more valuable as a River as it's designation as a National River signifies.
The roads getting there weren't much more difficult to traverse than those to Branson back in the day. That's not to say they aren't now. It's really not much farther a drive from downtown Harrison as Branson was to SDC 30 to 40 years ago. The theater growth and the lake gave Branson the edge, but like I said the turning the Buffalo into a lake was a great never happened. If it was to have been place around Eureka on Beaver, it may still be kicking today. It was to have a ski slope and I think they actually tried the man made stuff but it was futile. In hindsight, if I could have survived, the snowflex tech that I've posted about may have made that much more viable especially with the snowboarding component and the growth of NWA and the eventual upgrading of US 412 that's slowly taking place. The river is known as a floating river but it is a mecca for thrill seekers in kayaks when there's a heavy rain and the upper has water. It would be a good location for a man made whitewater course that's immune to rain, like I've posted about. But that's all stuff folks like Morris should be looking at for Branson these days.
