Times Are A-Changing In “Branson” and Silver Dollar City

Back through the ‘50s, Rockaway Beach was the place in the Ozarks for people to come for vacations, senior getaways, etc. All that changed with the opening of Silver Dollar City and the completion of the Table Rock Dam in the early ‘60s. “Branson,” even though neither Silver Dollar City nor Table Rock Lake was within its city limits, became the vacation destination of choice for many rather than Rockaway Beach.

The first time the Ole Seagull came to “Branson” in 1975, he spent most of his time in Lampe, Missouri. In fact, during the week he spent in “Branson,” he was only in the city of Branson for about two hours as he traveled through it going to Bull Shoals Lake, and on the way back from Bull Shoals to Lampe, when he stopped at the Pizza Hut on Highway 76 in the city of Branson. In fact, until he moved to Branson in 1986, although he spent his annual weekly vacation in “Branson” every year, he never spent a night of lodging within the city of Branson.

Although a city, the term “Branson,” then and now, encompasses a region. Think about it for a minute. In 1960, Silver Dollar City, Table Rock Lake, Shepherd of the Hills, and Presleys’ Country Jubilee were major attractions in “Branson.” Yet, none were located within the city limits of Branson. The use of the term “Branson” to promote tourism in the region began with the publication of “The Shepherd of the Hills” by Harold Bell Wright in 1907, as it was the closest city to Shepherd of the Hills, and the train station was located in what would become the city of Branson in 1912.

In those days, people used maps to plan their travel. In 1907, they were searching for the Shepherd of the Hills, in 1960, Silver Dollar City and Table Rock Lake, all of which were not on maps, but were located near the city of Branson, which was marked on maps. Silver Dollar City began its branding by handing out Silver Dollars and, like many before and since, promoted itself as “Branson” because it was beneficial to do so.

Obviously, Silver Dollar City’s advertising, which featured the name “Branson,” was also beneficial to the city of Branson and its developing entertainment and lodging industry. It was the perfect synergy. Silver Dollar City was a theme park, open only during daylight hours, with no lodging and offering very little competition to the developing entertainment industry in Branson, which, at the time, only offered evening shows. Indeed, Branson’s original shows, “The Baldknobbers” and “Presleys’ Country Jubilee,” were established to provide visitors with something to do in the evenings when they couldn’t visit Table Rock Lake or Silver Dollar City.

Today, in 2025, significant transformations have occurred. People no longer rely on maps as a primary resource for planning their vacations. They go to the internet and use search engines and AI to search for destinations and plan things to do while on vacation. Silver Dollar City, justifiably so, has expanded and is continuing to expand its operations to the point where, in terms of “visitors’ time,” it is in direct competition with the city of Branson and its entertainment industry.

An Ole Seagull would have to be brain-dead if he didn’t appreciate and recognize how important Silver Dollar City was to the growth of the entertainment industry within the city of Branson. Both Silver Dollar City itself and the use of the term “Branson” in much of its advertising, both before and after the internet, contributed significantly to the growth of the city of Branson’s entertainment industry.

In today’s marketing, Silver Dollar City, because of the great attraction it is, expansion into the resort business, and its superlative marketing and branding, doesn’t need to feature the term “Branson” in its marketing. The renaming of the “Show Boat Branson Belle” to “Silver Dollar City’s Show Boat” is an example of that branding and marketing.

The term “Branson” was of prime importance in Silver Dollar City’s marketing in its earlier days. In terms of today’s branding and marketing, that is “a-changing.”