The History of Branson, Missouri

Today, Branson Missouri is the live music capital of the world and a city bustling with tourism and action. It was not always this way, considering the fact that Branson got its start as a tiny little river town. From its humble start, it quickly grew over the years to one of the top family destinations in the country.

How Branson Began

In 1837, Taney County, the county in which Branson is located was developed. Many years later, in 1882, Reuben Branson built a general store and post office, and the location became known as Branson, Missouri, named after the owner.

The year 1884 saw a great migration of settlers to the Ozark area in search of free land and a better life, allowing Branson to become homesteaded, with each family getting 160 acre lots. In 1912 Branson was officially incorporated with 1,200 residents, and business began to come to the city. The Winch Spoke Company and American Pencil Company were just a few of the companies that set up shop here.

The Birth of Branson Tourism

Throughout the following years, tourism began with the birth of Silver Dollar City and Marvel Cave founded by William Henry Lynch in 1894. As early as 1904 a resort city began to form, with the creation of a new bank, hotel, stable, and resorts, all of which were formed to accommodate the local travelers and workers.

The famous author Harold Bell Wright wrote the book “The Shepherd of the Hills” in 1907, which brought thousands of tourists to the city in order to experience the Ozark country for itself. This spurred  Branson tourism even further, and made it a must see destination.  His work is now depicted in a theatrical performance, several times weekly in downtown Branson.

The Beginning of Branson Shows

In 1959, an enterprising family began putting on shows in the basement of the Branson City Hall with nothing but folding chairs. The Mabes family entertained visitors with their wit and musical charm, and called themselves, “The Baldknobbers.” They toured the area putting on shows with homemade instruments while their wives stood by the roadside with signs for advertisement. Today, they are one of the most popular Branson shows.

Another entertaining family, the Presleys, started their own show alongside a road, just west of Branson. The erected a small metal building and played each night for anyone who happened to be passing by. It was slow going, but they too also developed into one of the most popular local Branson shows.

Growth and Development in Branson from 1950’s to Present

In 1963 The Table Rock Dam was completed, which created the first major lake for fishing in the area and stopped the constant threat of flooding that had terrorized the waterfront town. In the mid 1970’s a two lane road was blasted through the area to cut down on the driving time to get to Branson, and a short decade later, the amount of shops, shows, and dining options along the newly constructed Highway 76 skyrocketed. A tribute to the rapid growth was evidenced by the fact that in 1959, Baldknobbers was the only area show, and by 1980 there were 16 Branson entertainment options.

Major news publication began to see the potential of Branson Missouri beginning in 1991 when it was featured in Time magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and People magazine. The hit show 60 Minutes also did a spotlight on the town and started a flow of tourism that fed the cities growing tourism market.

After the public media attention many big name stars began to see the potential of this booming waterfront town. Ray Stevens, Moe Brandy, Mel Tillis, and Andy Williams are just some of the stars who began to bring their business and attention to Branson.

In recent years Branson’s tourism industries have continued to grow, with the addition of the massive Branson Landing with its rows of huge outlet stores, fine dining, and entertainment options. Championship golf courses have formed vacation resort destinations, and a new convention center has brought in big businesses looking for convenient meeting facilities. In 2009 ground was broken on the brand new Branson Airport, which will be sure to bring even more traffic to this booming city.

Even though it started off as only a humble river town, Branson Missouri has grown in an exciting city full of entertainment choices and activities. With more than 100 live shows, 12 golf courses, and three large fishing lakes, it is easy to see why Branson is now considered one of the premier vacation destinations.

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Top 10 reasons to Visit Bull Shoals Lake

We recently added a new video to the site entitled “top 10 reasons to visit Bull Shoals Lake and where to stay“.  You can watch this video by clicking on the previous link or by going to [http://www.showmelakes.com/bullshoals.php]

Additionally you can also view the video below:

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Planning Your Next Trip To The Missouri Ozakrs

If you have never taken a trip to the Missouri Ozarks this region of the country really has some great lakes to offer. You are probably familiar with Lake of the Ozarks but there are many lesser known bodies of water that can really provide you and your family with a great trip. If you are looking to get away from the crowds then you might want to check out Lake Pomme De Terre, Truman Lake, or Stockton Lake. All three of these lakes are about the same distance from St. Louis as Lake of the Ozarks but are much more “off the beaten path”. All three of these lakes are fueled by water from the Osage River and will provided you with a destination that is far different from the party atmosphere of the Ozarks.

Lake Pomme De Terre is located in Southwestern Missouri and was originally made as part of a large flood controll project. Locally Pomme De Terre is famous to fishermen for one main reason, the lake is stocked with Muskie. This is done by the Lost Valley Fish hatchery, who stock the lake with up to 10,000 Muskie every year. Pomme De Terre is not only popular for fishing, the lake has very little commercial development and therefore is very popular with nature enthusiasts. A very neat aspect of Pomme De Terre is that there are two state parks around the lake with a total of over 650 campsites! These sites are not just typical campsites either, many have electric hook ups for RV’s and all of them are really well kept. Another really cool feature of the lake is that there are two public beaches that have imported sand so they are a lot nicer than the typical sand bars that can be found around waterways in Missouri. Overall if you are looking to take a relaxing vacation or weekend getaway and enjoy the beautiful Missouri Ozarks then Lake Pomme De Terre is sure to provide you with everything you are looking for.

Truman Lake is located in Central Missouri about 45 minutes from Columbia. A little known fact about Truman is that it is actually the largest man made lake in the entire United States. Truman is located very close to Lake of the Ozarks and is a very popular tourist destination. The lake is great for all types of boating activities due to its large size. Another great aspect about visiting Truman is that there is minimal boating traffic on the lake, this is great for finding smooth water to ski on or a secluded cove to catch a few fish in. Truman has a little more commercial development than Pomme De Terre but there is still a really nice mix of resorts and campsites all along the shores of this huge lake.

Stockton lake is located in south western Missouri somewhat near Springfield. This lake is somewhat famous locally and throughout the United States with a select group of people, sailing enthusiasts. The reason is that the lake is constantly battered by strong winds that sweep across the lake from west to east. There is even a large sailing club on Stockton Lake that holds several races each year with large turnouts. In general Stockton is a great lake to visit if you want to enjoy a relaxing vacation away from any large crowds but still stay at a nice resort. Stockton is typically not very crowded, in fact it is not unusual for to spend a day out on the lake and see only a few boats out on the water! Even though the lake is not very crowded there are about 15 – 20 real nice resorts spread throughout the lake as well as numerous campgrounds.

I hope you enjoyed this small review on each of these three lakes, and more importantly I hope you find some time to get out and take a weekend trip to one of these lakes, I promise you wont regret it.

I was born and raised in the Missouri Ozarks and currently help opperate a tourism website in the State of Missouri Called Show-me-Lakes. If you are looking for places to stay on any of the three lakes mentioned in this article I encourage you to check out out pages on:

This article can also be found on our E-zine page at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sam_L_Bell

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New Website

We just wanted to highlight a new website on Lake Pomme De Terre.  It is complete with a history of the lake as well as information about area attractions and fishing conditions on the lake.  Click the link above to check it out.

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Sptolight Stockton Lake

In this blog post we are going to do a spotlight on Stockton Lake in the southwestern part of Missouri. Stockton offers breathtaking scenery accompanied by close to three hundred miles of immaculate shoreline.  Stockton Lake also boasts in the neighborhood of 25,000 acres of clear waterway. This lake is truly and unspoiled gem in the Missouri Ozarks and a perfect place to kick back and relax on a weekend getaway with the family.  Wildlife is abundant alongside the shoreline and varies depending on the time of year you visit.  In the fall/Spring visitors can see deer at the waters edge, and the occasional turkey crossing the road. For those bird watchers out there Bald eagles are often sited near the lake, with several having made Stockton Lake their home. Stockton is the perfect family lake, mainly seeing as how there is something for everyone. Water skiing and wake boarding is especially popular on the lake because it is usually fairly easy to find a protected cove through the daytime and always in the evening. Fishermen love Stockton for its exceptional walleye fishing, the lake has become renown in the Midwest and is really viewed as one of the best lakes to fish for Walleye around. Stockton Lake is rated one of the top 10 sailing lakes in the United States. Steady breezes and open waterfront make for great runs up and down the lake. There are many campgrounds encompassing the lake and  surrounding country for those of you that want to be one with nature. Our locale is growing,  but is a long way from being crowded and overpopulated. The non polluted lake water makes those refreshing dips on a hot summer weekday rather enjoyable. We are very proud of our lake and hope you will come and enjoy it and our Ozark hospitality.

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Review the Cabins at Stockton Lake

The Cabins at Stockton Lake are a great place to enjoy your next visit to Stockton lake.   Joe Hughes, the owner and operator of the resort has truly built one of the nicest luxury resorts on Stockton Lake (and we are talking nice, if you have ever been to any of the fancy places at lake of the Ozarks, this is right up there with those)

Some amenities of the resort include:

- full size luxury kitchens

-open vaulted ceilings living rooms

- fireplace and cable TV in each cabin

1 to 1-1/2 baths with whirlpool tubs

1-2 bedrooms in each cabin

The resort itself is also located on some prime real estate.  It is situated right next to Stockton Country club, only a short walk from downtown Stockton Missouri.  The resort is close to many affordable restaurants and dining in the area as well which is an extra bonus.  All in all if you are looking for resorts on Stockont Lake the cabins at stockton will definitely not disappoint.

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Missouri Vacation Guide

If you are thinking about planning your next family vacation and are also looking for a way to save a little money at the same time you should take a look at the different vacation options available in Missouri.  Instead of taking that trip down to Florida, or to the Caribbean, taking a trip to one of the state of Missouri’s great lake destinations might be a great affordable option for you and your family.  Overall the State of Missouri has many lakes that can each offer you some great activities.  If you are looking to take a vacation to a luxurious resort than the Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake are two options that would be very well suited for you.  These two destinations have accommodations that are very comparable to destinations on the Ocean and Mexico.  There are countless resorts at both of these lakes that will offer you and your family great luxurious accommodations, for far less money that what you would pay for a place on the ocean or the coast.  You can expect to pay around $1500 for a nice cabin that will sleep 4-7 people FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK.  Compare that with the typical cost of taking an exotic vacation, plain flights, extra travel to and from the airport, sleeping arrangements once you get there and you can really see that the savings of staying close to home are very good.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway or for a fishing trip than there are a couple different lakes that you will want to check out.  Depending upon where you live weekend some lakes you should check out for a weekend getaway are Truman Lake, Mark Twain Lake and Stockton Lake.  If you live in Northern Missouri than Mark Twain Lake will be your best bet as it is located in North Eastern Missouri and will be a much shorter drive for you.  Mark Twain is a very nice lake, that offers visitors a great opportunity to get away from the daily grind and really enjoy a lake that is for the most part free of commercial development and the large crowds that come with it.  If you live in southern or central Missouri than the two lakes that you want to check out are Stockton Lake and Truman Lake.  Truman Lake has the added benefit of being close to Lake of the Ozarks so you are not very far away from “big cities” such as Osage Beach if that type of atmosphere is your thing.  Stockton lake is really famous locally and nationally for one thing, sailing!  Stockton is notorious for the its great sailing conditions, and anyone who is looking to take out their sailboat will really enjoy a visit to Stockton.

Now for the fishermen Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake, or Lake Pomme De terre are all great options.  Bull Shoals Lake is similar to Mark Twain in that it really has stayed free from commercial development and offers visitors an unique ability to soak up the natural beauty of the Missouri Ozarks.  There are many great resorts on Bull Shoals Lake, and the lake is a very good lake for Bass and Crappie.  Another interesting Lake is Lake Taneycomo, what makes this lake such a great fishing destination is that the water is a breathtaking 48 degrees year round (that’s cold!).  This is due to the fact that Taneycomo gets is water from the upstream Tablerock Lake, and this water is drawn form the bottom of the lake up through the dam.  What this “cold water lake” offers visitors is a very unique opportunity to catch Trouth.  The lake is actually rated as one of the best lakes to catch Trout at in the entire Nation.  Another unique aspect of the lake is its close proximity to Tablerock and Branson Missouri.  This allows visitors to Taneycomo to be within a short drive of all the shows and entertainment that comes with a large city while at the same time still enjoying a lake that is not very built up and offers great fishing opportunities.

Some additional lakes that you might want to consider in Missouri are Lake Wappapello and Clearwater Lake.  Both of these lakes are smaller in size, as well as limited in their development.  If you are looking to “get off the beaten path” than checking out Wappapello or Clearwater would be right up your alley.  Since these lakes are somewhat limited in their resort listings try checking out our pages for each lake that list resorts on wappapello and resorts on Clearwater.

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