Capp had some misgivings about the change in leadership, since he had made his original agreement with Snow, but he was eventually persuaded to sign a long-term licensing agreement with Odom. In 1968, Jess Odom bought controlling interest in REI from Snow and several other board members. Capp, worked at the park that year and met and married Vicki Cox, the actress portraying Moonbeam McSwine. Admission was $1.50 for adults, half price for children. In 1968, the first year of operation, general manager Schemerhorn reported that Dogpatch had 300,000 visitors. The logs in each building were numbered, catalogued, disassembled, and reassembled at the park. Many of the buildings in the park were authentic nineteenth-century log structures purchased by board member James H. Management added amusement rides in subsequent years. The park originally featured the trout farm, buggy and horseback rides, an apiary, Ozark arts and crafts, gift shops, entertainment by Dogpatch characters, and the park’s trademark railroad, the West Po’k Chop Speshul. The cost of the original construction was $1,332,000. The partners acquired 1,000 acres, and the Harrison Chamber of Commerce approved plans for an 825-acre park.Ĭapp spoke at the groundbreaking on October 3, 1967. Capp, who had rejected such offers in the past, agreed to be a partner in the enterprise. (REI) and approached Bostonian Al Capp with the idea. Snow and nine other investors formed Recreation Enterprises, Inc. listed his Ozark trout farm for sale in 1966. Snow conceived the park when Albert Raney Sr. ![]() The town of Marble Falls (Newton County) between Jasper (Newton County) and Harrison (Boone County) changed its name officially to Dogpatch to help promote the park. Dogpatch USA operated from 1968 to 1993 as an amusement park based on characters and locations in Al Capp’s popular “Li’l Abner” comic strip.
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