Game Changers: The Herschend Family

Hugo and Mary Herschend surely had no idea their leased cave near Branson in 1950 would lead to the founding of Dolly Parton’s iconic Dollywood. A series of events with the Herschend family and their Silver Dollar City theme park produced a partnership with the country singer. The family’s name now adorns the Herschend Family Entertainment flag encompassing 26 entertainment properties in 10 states, with several holdings putting Branson on the tourism map. Silver Dollar City marked its golden anniversary with a yearlong celebration in 2010, but it was the 1980s – under the leadership of sons Jack and Peter Herschend – that saw the addition of White Water aquatics park and Parton’s Silver Dollar City-Tennessee, which was reopened as Dollywood. In 1995, HFE’s Showboat Branson Belle set sail on Table Rock Lake, and The Dollywood Co. opened Dixie Stampede in Branson.

One of SBJ's 31 Game Changers in conjunction with Springfield Business Journal's 31st anniversary.[[In-content Ad]]