dogpatch usa

rubedugans · December 10, 2010, 10:35:58 AM

As it stood a while back, I had heard the ownership rights were up for grabs in a legal battle with the individual who was injured on the property. I heard this from an urban explorer so I am not sure if it was 100% accurate, but it checks out... I know that a lawsuit by the family of the 15-17 yr old injured on the property won the 2008 suit. A very powerful family from what i hear in the area,that owns a good amount of the land in the area around DP. Seems a bit fishy to me, and I am not talkin' about the trout pond...

Junior · December 10, 2010, 05:05:54 PM

It must have been a powerful family to win a lawsuit...to me, if you are trespassing on someone's property and hurt yourself, it's just too bad. It seems the land owners could have had the folks on the ATV's charged with trespassing. Dogpatch was marginally profitable in it's good years, lost money other years. Dogpatch was the weak link of three parks in the region that catered to Ozarks history and arts and crafts...SDC is #1, Ozark Folk Center at Mountain Home is #2 (It still operates only cause it's a state park and gets state funding.) Dogpatch was #3, and died in the 1990s. As a SDC employee in the early 1980's we got in free to Dogpatch, and I went there maybe three or four times, had a nice time, but it was second rate all the way compared to SDC. I know the park holds fond memories for many, so I don't want to "diss" the place too much. I wish I had the money buy some of the old hewn log structures on the property, and had a place to reconstruct them. Several of the old log structures were actual homes or barns in the region before being moved to Dogpatch, and probably date back to the early to mid 20th century.

sanddunerider · December 10, 2010, 06:00:44 PM

Some of those building would look great at SDC>>... and of course almost everything there fit into the theme.. what a shame...

midarkman · December 22, 2010, 05:05:26 PM

Was looking for some more additional information about the Dogpatch lawsuit and found this site. My deceased mother-in-law was Wanda Finney who was a part owner after it closed. I got to explore the whole place after she bought into it and even got a couple of the rides to operate. Her and her husband were the caretakers that lived on site for a while. Sure looks sad now.

biscuitcreek · December 23, 2010, 05:12:04 PM

There was an article in Arkansas Democrat Gazette recently about a judgment in a Dogpatch lawsuit that had been reinstated. Kid on ATV was trespassing and riding through the property. Hit a wire at the neck level, crushed his larynx, other problems. The trespassing charge apparently didn't mitigate the danger/neglect charge of the condition of the property. At least that's what I understood from the article. In the old Marble Falls Convention area above Dogpatch, the campground has been reopened (sort of -- still very rugged) and there are bikers conventions up there in the old convention center. The homes that are up at the top have seen better days but folks are still living in them. We were last up there about 1 1/2 years ago.

KBCraig · May 04, 2011, 03:02:15 PM

Update: when the property owners failed to pay the $650,000 judgement to the injured trespasser, the judge gave him the whole property.

http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/05/04/injured-man-awarded-dogpatch

Junior · May 04, 2011, 05:05:19 PM

I have got to admit I am flabbergasted. Apparently from the media I've seen, the FORMER owners put steel cables up to keep people from trespassing. Some were "throat high" to be at the effective level to whack people as they rode their ATVs around the place. That's ride ATV's around the property ILLEGALLY. Personally, I remember a time when if you trespassed somewhere, YOU were to blame for being injured for being someplace you were not supposed to be. Even if the FORMER owners were being extreme by putting the cables throat high, I still think it is wrong to give someone a reward for doing something illegal. It's too bad the guy who was trespassing was seriously injured and will likely suffer for the rest of his life, and could be in the care of daddy and the attorney the rest of his life. You break the rules, you pay the price...at least that is how it used to be. The Dogpatch property and Marble Falls is beautiful. Rugged Ozarks country. If anyone successfully develops the property it will be a miracle. The only thing the NEW owner and his family and attorney can do is put the property up for sale, otherwise they run the risk someone who is trespassing at the place will be seriously injured, and then after a lengthy court case they will have to forfeit the property. Aw, hell, wouldn't that be a doggone shame! Boo hoo hoo!

(END OF TIMES birthing sign: Wrong becomes right, right becomes wrong.)

rubedugans · May 04, 2011, 07:46:17 PM

I am glad I made it in and out in one piece (and no I was not on an ATV) Odds are not much will be left of it.

thelarsonsix · May 04, 2011, 10:27:10 PM

We went by it last year on our way to Hot Springs and I didn't even realize what it was until later. Pretty sad looking place right now.

sanddunerider · May 05, 2011, 01:35:23 AM

does anybody have some pics/ ? maybe before and after? what it was like then. and look like now?

biscuitcreek · May 05, 2011, 06:00:34 AM

Sanddunerider, check out the first page of this thread for pictures and for links to other sites that have more pictures.

Junior · May 05, 2011, 08:37:04 AM

I have to back away and apologise for comments made in my last two postings or so on this thread. I read an Arkansas Democrat Gazette article on the xfer of the Dogpatch property to the young man injured in the ATV accident there a few years ago. The article states the rider HAD PERMISSION to ride on the property, and wording in the article led me to believe someone, probably a caretaker, strung a cable across a roadway at a 52 inch height either on purpose as a booby trap for people illegally trespassing or by some error or mistake. The father of the guy injured said the family would have rather won cash to pay for medical care expenses, and have no ability to improve or develop the property. In fact, he said they were trying to figure out a way to pay back taxes. He also said there is no one that has come forward with an interest in purchasing the property.

rubedugans · May 05, 2011, 08:55:25 AM

I think if we'd make an offer we'd have to change our name to DPfans.com!

rubedugans · May 05, 2011, 09:05:19 AM

I was never aware that the young man had permission. That changes things somewhat. I have ridden many ATV's and I could understand how, while speeding down a trail, that an unmarked obstacle could pose a serious threat.

eagle1 · May 05, 2011, 07:00:10 PM

We went too all the time! Lots of legal troubles now though. Last I heard on the news last year some settlement is in the works (I know the current owners and lots of issures; do not talk with them much lately). I have pictures from my childhood years from both Dogpatch and SDC, just need to get them out and scan.. they are great! (from mid 70's & early 80's)