MARBLE FALLS, Ark. (KY3) – The Dogpatch USA theme park, which operated from 1968 to 1993, was once an important part of the area’s tourism industry, especially for the Harrison area.
“It was our local economy at one time,” said Harrison Mayor Jerry Jackson. But over the years Dogpatch and the former Marble Falls resort (that sits on a hill overlooking the park) have fallen into a state of disrepair with the remaining buildings and equipment serving as a sad reminder of glory days long gone and ill-fated attempts to revitalize the land.
“We’ve gone through so many ups-and-downs of people wanting to buy the property and then backing out or making all these grandiose plans,” said Harrison Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Bob Largent. “They’d move in for two or three months and work with paint and ladders and hammers and then just not show up the next day.”
“We’ve been living with it being nothing for so long that we never expected it to be something again,” Mayor Jackson added.
When they heard that Bass Pro Founder Johnny Morris had bought the property in 2020 they were encouraged, even though they didn’t know exactly what Morris had planned for the property.
“It was like we just landed on the moon,” Mayor Jackson said. “It was one of the greatest things we’d heard in many decades.”
Recently at a Buffalo River Conservation Committee meeting, more information was made available to the public about what was coming.
While Morris is working with his…
