Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City
Branson, Missouri

On April 15, 1950, Hugo Herschend leased "Marvel Cave" from Miriam and Genevieve Lynch. Believing the cave could be developed into a profitable business, he later bought 640 acres surrounding it. During the summer of 1952, eight thousand visitors went underground . A few years later, the Herschends built a little town with a blacksmith shop, general store, ice cream parlor, doll shop, and a stagecoach ride. All the town needed was a name.

Since they could not afford to advertise, they came up with a great marketing idea. When giving change to customers, they would give silver dollars. When the visitors would leave the park and try to spend the uncommon coins, they were often asked where they got them. Hence Silver Dollar City was born as a unique way to create word-of-mouth advertising. The park opened on May 1, 1960. The park now has about 2,000 beautiful wooded acres.

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