Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 10, 2005

A Dogpatch USA billboard

Dogpatch USA is a defunct theme park located on Arkansas State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper in the state of Arkansas, USA, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was opened to the public in 1968 and was based on the popular comic strip Li'l Abner, which was created by cartoonist Al Capp and set in a fictional town called "Dogpatch". Dogpatch USA was a commercial success in its early years, and investors, buoyed with optimism about the park's future, decided to pursue extensive and heavily financed expansion in the form of a sister park, "Marble Falls", designed as a ski resort and convention center. But the following years would see a combination of characters and unforeseen events transform the high hopes of investors into a financial roller coaster ride which eventually ended in the park's demise. Ownership of the park changed hands many times throughout its history, and it was finally closed in 1993. Since that time much of the property of the twin parks has been neglected and frequently vandalized, and portions of the acreage are either entangled in legal issues, in a state of redevelopment, or for sale once again.

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