Dolly Embraces Business
When we visited Pigeon Forge last month I noticed how much influence Dolly Parton has had in the area she calls home. Dolly’s birthplace, Sevierville, is next to Pigeon Forge where Dollywood is located. Dollywood hosts nearly 2.5 million visitors annually. It began in 1961 when it was called “Rebel Railroad”. The small park featured a steam train, general store, blacksmith shop, and saloon. In 1966, Rebel Railroad was renamed “Goldrush Junction”. in 1970, the Cleveland Browns football team purchased the attraction. In 1976, Jack and Pete Herschend bought Goldrush Junction, and in 1977, renamed it “Silver Dollar City Tennessee” as a sister park to their original Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri. I can remember friends of ours traveling to Silver Dollar City every summer.
On May 3, 1986, Dolly Parton became a co-owner, and the park was renamed “Dollywood”. New attractions were added such as The Rivertown Junction area, The Back Porch Theatre; Aunt Granny’s Dixie Fixins’ Restaurant; and the Tennessee Mountain Home, a replica of the cabin where Dolly grew up. Also new was “Rags to Riches: The Dolly Parton Story”; a museum featuring articles and mementos from Dolly’s life and career.
An interesting fact about Dolly’s partner in the theme park business, Herschend Family Entertainment is that they also own several other theme parks. HFE operates Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park in conjunction with the State of Georgia, and owns Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta. HFE owns Ride The Ducks amphibious tours in Branson, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Seattle. Ride The Ducks is also an attraction inside Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta.
HFE also owns and operates two aquariums: Newport Aquarium (Newport, Kentucky across the river from downtown Cincinnati) and Adventure Aquarium (Camden, NJ across the river from downtown Philadelphia). Other properties include Branson, Missouri’s Silver Dollar City theme park, Showboat Branson Belle lake attraction, White Water water park, Talking Rocks Cavern, The Wilderness at Silver Dollar City campground and Celebration City theme park.
Oh Karen, I would love to visit Dollywood one day. I am the biggest Dolly fan that there ever was. LOL.
I think that Dolly is so down to earth minus her wigs, clothes and umm, upper body parts! She also has a place near Disney World, called Dixie Stampede. One of these days we’re going to visit. I hear that it’s a great show.
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