Blog: Failed amusement park in Ozark resurfaces with sale plan

Twenty years ago, Farm Country USA set off excitement and a subsequent rumor mill as the years went by.

The reason? The owners had bought up nearly 500 acres of land between 1999 and 2000 with plans to build a large agriculturally themed amusement park. Those plans never materialized and after using the land for cattle and farming, the Farm Country USA owners are seeking to part ways with it, says Ozark Mayor Rick Gardner, who’s also a real estate agent with The Massengale Group of Keller Williams.

“They never went through with it. That was a big undertaking at the time,” Gardner says. “There were all kinds of rumors years ago about what that theme park was going to be. It just never came to fruition for whatever reason.”

At the intersection of highways 65 and EE, about four miles south of Ozark, Gardner says the property owner now want to sell the acreage. Gardner says he’s dealt with a Florida attorney representing the owner. The owner, he believes, is an affluent Kentucky man, but he’s never spoken with him. Gardner and R.B. Murray Co. separately are listing parcels of the property for millions of dollars.

The property, however, is interesting beyond just a sale.

Gardner points to exotic cattle — which could have been part of Farm Country USA — that have grazed on the land and an abandoned Blansit Dairy Cattle sale barn. It reminds me of my youth, living in rural northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, where properties often showed aging history with barns ready to topple at any moment. But none have this kind of unique history.

For those who have made the short trip to Branson along Highway 65 from Springfield, you may not have noticed nearly a mile of frontage that’s been mostly vacant for years. If you’re like me, you probably never even knew the history. A Google search won’t even turn up very much on the amusement park plans.

Regardless of whether you’re a developer, an Ozark native or a fan of rumored properties, this sale process is bringing to light an interesting chapter in southwest Missouri history.