If you're about twenty years old or older and grew up in the Ozarks, then you might remember visiting Dogpatch USA. It was opened in 1968 and based on Al Capp's popular comic strip Li'l Abner, which was set in the fictional town of Dogpatch. The park had a roller coaster, a trout farm and lake where you could fish for your own dinner, a huge water slide, and all kinds of shops. You could meet Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae, and even the lovable Shmoo.
Dogpatch USA has been closed since 1993, and everything's still there, rotting in the sun.
This was an interesting little place and I had the privelege of dropping by here in about 1992 - the year before it closed. Someone developed this to hopefully have the attraction of the super theme parks such as Six Flags. I still remember the rock caricature at the entrance of Abner and Daisy Mae!
But now it is just a rotting piece of Arkansas History!
Below is a brochure for the theme Park.
1 comment:
I remember my cousins vacationing as children. Then in the early 1990s, we went with our friends and their young children. I have a pic of them with Daisy and Shamoo. In fact, my second college roommate worked at Dogpatch, USA. Her name was even Sadie. Great memories. Always had hoped it would make it.
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