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[Junior]

Note the above shot is of the old, smaller train originally used. The cars are different, smaller, too! Good shots...and again, MORE!!!!!!

[pintrader]

Thanks for the photos coalesce99!  Very much appreciated.

[rubedugans]

Very nice. I have a color postcard of a similar train robbery. More please!

[Ozark Outlaw]

Awesome picture once again!

I just love these old classic shots. To just the casual observer, it looks like an authentic train robbery photograph from the 1880's!

[Coaster]

WOW! Thank you so much for posting these! I love seeing old photos that I have never seen before. This made my day!

[coalesce99]

The caption on the bulldozer pic is:

"CLEANING UP -- Workers are clearing the burned out site of structures at Silver Dollar City near Branson, Mo., lost in a $50,000 fire early yesterday."

It ran on Oct. 1, 1968.

[Junior]

According to Leon Fredrick in his book"Ozarks Hillbilly Editor," here are some details from his memory about the fire:

                  "The city was building a huge mill building next to the print shop. The exterior was completed. Very early one extremely
                   cold morning Pete (Herschend) came in and built a rip roaring fire in the King heater stove in the old mill to enable workers
                   to come in later and work on the building's interior. He then went to eat breakfast. When Pete and the other workers
                   arrived for the next days work, there was no mill building, no print shop and no photo gallery. All were rebuilt in time for
                   the opening of the tourist season."   

Fredrick does not say what year the fire took place, but did say it happened in Februrary.   

           

[Junior]

Note: An autobiography is a bit untrustworthy, as the guy writing it often gos by memory and nothing else. So, either there was more than one fire at SDC in the early days, or Fredrick remembered things wrong, because although he does not say what year the fire was in, he said it was in February, different from the photo caption in the Kansas City Star. Fredrick also says in his book the fire happened in the opening years of the park.  Fredrick operated the print shop and photo gallery in the early years and it indeed was located in the area behind the current jail in the vicinity of the blacksmith shop and Sullivan's Mill.

[Avalanche04]

wow, thanks for sharing,

[rubedugans]

interesting.

[thelarsonsix]

Assuming the story is somewhat true, I wonder what would have happened had it been an employee that lit the stove and went to breakfast...

[Junior]

In the early, early days, there were less than two dozen employees. My guess is that in most cases when a mistake was made, all was forgiven soon after...probably with the warning "don't repeat." From what I've heard and read, they were a pretty tightknit group. Some are still with the company, others have retired, some have passed on.

[Joy]

Hey all! That 1968 press photo of the workers clearing the burned out area is on Ebay right now!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Workers-Clearing-Off-Burned-Out-Site-In-SILVER-DOLLAR-CITY-Press-Photo-/111679171854

Oh, and I did a quick Google search, and here's the text I found from the Sept 30, 1968, issue of the Garden City Telegram (Garden City, KS) (http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/486526/):

"Silver Dollar Buildings Burn

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) - A wooden building housing five shops at the Silver Dollar City resort west of Branson was destroyed by fire Sunday night. Two other structures in the development were scorched. A fireman, Jim McLain, 58, of Branson, was overcome, apparently by heat exhaustion. Mrs. Mary Herschend, owner of the destroyed building, estimated loss at $50,000. It was one of 45 in the resort, which opens for business as usual today. The fire broke out in the candlemaking shop and destroyed the basketmaking shop, the grist mill, broom factory and print shop. Countless items of antique tools, furniture, costumes and equipment were kept in the shops. A week long national festival of craftsmen will be held as scheduled, starting Saturday, the resort announced. Firemen from Branson, Hollister, Galena, Reeds Spring and School of the Ozarks fought the flames."

Sept 30 was a Monday, so the fire occurred on the night of September 29, 1968.