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[chittlins]

via the U of A.

It was uploaded three years ago, maybe it's been posted.  Man, have things changed since it faded away in terms of demographics of the region and the development of the highway system, though 412 is still has a long way to go.

http://vimeo.com/8343269#at=0

[Junior]

Thanks for posting. Interesting, sad, and a ruin!

[History Buff]

I wanted to go there when I was a kid.  I think I picked up a brochure while in Branson or while touring caves in Arkansas and Missouri.  Personally, I don't quite understand the squelching of the hillbilly stereotype.  These were characters, obviously not representative of modern figures, and that should have been made all the more obvious to visitors when they stopped for gas or checked into a hotel and saw that the area was more progressive than the citizens of Dogpatch...or were they?

[chittlins]

I wanted to go there when I was a kid.  I think I picked up a brochure while in Branson or while touring caves in Arkansas and Missouri.  Personally, I don't quite understand the squelching of the hillbilly stereotype.  These were characters, obviously not representative of modern figures, and that should have been made all the more obvious to visitors when they stopped for gas or checked into a hotel and saw that the area was more progressive than the citizens of Dogpatch...or were they?

Well, that depends. Both my in laws graduated from Deer and I'm over there enough to know that some that could have had water and a new fangled bathroom for 5 years now and ain't dun it yet.

[How-doFolks]

Wow! Interesting. If i am not mistaken, i have been there 1 time. Thanks for sharing this! Made me go to YouTube & check out more videos on it.

[Junior]

Having gone to Dogpatch several times over the years I can tell you that several of the Dogpatch characters working on the park have done quite well indeed. Richard Young, who greets and entertains guests at the Opera House during regular season, is a teacher, writer, and storyteller. He's Aunt Judy's husband. The couple that own the Pine Mountain Theater at Eureka Spring are Dogpatch alumni, I worked with a guy in Springdale who was part of that crew, and there are many musicians and actors who are now in Branson or Eureka Springs, or elsewhere who got their start playing characters at Dogpatch. One of my former Dugan clan buddies, James McKay, was a Dogpatch character, and went on to a career in the military.
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Arkansas suffered from the hillbilly stereotype for decades, and still does to some extent. Read Arkansas/Arkansaw by Brooks Blevins. At one time Orval Faubus, former governor during the Central High School Integration Crisis in Little Rock, ran Dogpatch. He needed a job, the hillbilly park needed someone with some kind of Arkansas reputation to lead the crew.
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I can tell you this, Dogpatch was fun, for what it was, but, in my biased opinion, SDC was 10,000 times better. Dogpatch was second rate at best, more of an amusement park than a theme park. It is hard to be a convincing park when the highway runs the length of the park and you see traffic passing by all day on the other side of the fence. They had a simulation ride, called Lil Abner's Space Rocket, that was a complete joke when compared to the diving bell. At Dogpatch, the space rocket was on a trailer, exposed to all to see, not enclosed in a building. So, while standing in line, you knew you didn't fly off anywhere. At the diving bell, the simulator capsule was hidden well inside the building, and there were many people convinced they were going underwater.  SDC has FITH, Dogpatch had Earthquake McGoon's Brain Rattler and a Mad Mouse rollercoaster. Both fun, but both were pretty much carnival rides. In fact, most of the rides were not much more than carnival rides. The entertainers did a good job with the little skits they did throughout the park all day. I give them credit there, they were as good as the SDC entertainers.   

[chittlins]

When Dogpstch was concieved, it was thought that the COE was going to dam the Buffalo River and that area would have a little more pull to it. The ski slope was short lived due to it being just too mild. Every road there was a two lane nightmare if ever caught behind a logging truck, farmer hauling hay, a truck pulling a camper or RV. NWA's population was a fifth of what it is today as well. If one wanted to do Dogpatch again and do it in the Ozarks, somewhere along US 65 from the 412 junction to the Missouri border.

[biscuitcreek]

Due to work related travel I usually drive by the ruins of Dogpatch once or twice a month. I do have fond memories of my visits there. What I remember most about Dogpatch were the very talented musical performers at their shows.

[okiebluegrass]

I never got the chance. My parents never went into Arkansas much

[warp9p65]

I loved Dogpatch, and it just makes me sick to see it sitting there in total ruin beside Highway 7.  My first visit there was in second grade on a school trip, about 1970.  My mom usually took us there a couple of times per year after that.  It was always a grand treat.  People of my generation were familiar with the Lil Abner comic strip and its characters.  Dogpatch was FUN.  After about 16 or 17, I stopped going because a teenager has other things that need to get done.  Then it shut down a decade or so later after years of decline.

In my opinion, I think Dogpatch ultimately failed because of three things.  1. Years before it went under, the comic strip had gone out of print and that generation of folks didn't know what Dogpatch was or anything about the characters.  They had no reference for the theme.; 2.  Dogpatch was located in a rather isolated area on a narrow, winding, two-lane road.  There was little or no infrastructure in the immediate vicinity, and the nearest town was 12-15 miles away.; and 3.  Silver Dollar City was advertised and promoted a great deal more than Dogpatch and was near the thriving town of Branson, which wasn't too far away.   

Those combination of factors marked the eventual demise of Dogpatch, in my opinion.

[psychosaw13]

Here is my article & photos on DP if any one is interested.
http://www.abandonedok.com/dogpatch-u-s-a/

[History Buff]

Hey, psychosaw13, I put a post on my blog that cites AOK, last year, and I'm about to repost it, including the photos (used with permission).  This was the first school I entered as a teacher:  http://www.abandonedok.com/page-woodson-school-revisited/.

My post is here:  http://hoggatteer.weebly.com/2/post/2013/01/a-school-made-of-bricksand-history.html.

It would be fun to explore old places like that.  I like looking at the pictures.

[psychosaw13]

Awesome HB ! yeah i'm the only one of my teams that never went to page woodson. I do have lots of friends that have in Okc area though.
that's ok I got to go to Dog patch twice & they didnt Ha ha Ha!

[psychosaw13]

Here is a newer set of photos from DP on my new website

http://www.destinationdeserted.com/locations/amusement/dogpatch-u.s.a?galAlbum=105#.Ur5JXPRDvuI

[History Buff]

After reading your Dogpatch article, I realized I had already read it.  It's nice to know you're on SDCFans now.  Now on to your next link...