In this post, I wanted to take a brief look at the history of the park now known as Dollywood. I’m going to give Lawson co-writing credit, because the comment he posted in response to my first Dollywood post contained pretty much the same information that I had planned to include in Part 2 of my Dollywood series.
I’d also like to give a special thanks to whoever wrote the Wikipedia article about Dollywood, which filled in some gaps in my own knowledge about Dollywood, and to Dollywood.com, which contains some more detailed information about the park’s past that I didn’t know before.
The park was founded in 1961 by The Robbins Brothers as Rebel Railroad. It was a small attraction that included a steam train named “Klondike Katie”, general store, blacksmith shop, and saloon.
In 1970, the park was purchased by Art Modell (who owned the Cleveland Browns at the time) and renamed Goldrush Junction. It was touted as “Tennessee’s Million Dollar Fun Attraction”. A number of additions were made to the park during this time, one of which was the log flume, which I just learned was relocated to the park from the New York World’s Fair. The Robert F. Thomas Church was also built during this time. It is still in the park and weekly services are held there.
In 1977, the park was bought by Jack and Pete Herschend, owners of Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo. The Tennessee park was renamed to Silver Dollar City as well, and began experiencing significant growth that continues today. By 1985, Craftsman’s Valley and many rides had been added to Silver Dollar City.
In 1986, Dolly Parton entered into a partnership with the Herschend brothers and became part-owner of the park. It was renamed as Dollywood at that time, and the park has continued to experience major growth and expansion. Attendance between 1985 and 1986 increased by 75%, and the park now hosts around 2 million visitors per year.
In the next installment in my series, I’ll begin taking a look at the park’s rides.
