Branson a Family Vacation Destination For first time visitors, Branson is a great place for great people to have a great family friendly vacation. All the entertainment of Vegas (no gambling) but here we are family friendly. Branson is home to more than fifty live theaters, 17 movie screens, 1 IMAX and featuring numerous shows and productions. Branson is also the home for several museums, three lakes, and twelve championship golf courses. Other local attractions include Silver Dollar City, Celebration City, White Water, an IMAX Theater, The Shepherd of the Hills, Mount Pleasant Winery, Stone Hill Winery, Ride The Ducks, Zip Lines, Tanger Outlet Mall and Branson Landing.
Branson is a city in Stone and Taney counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named for Rueben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s. The population was 6,050 at the 2000 census.
In 1882, Rueben Branson opened a general store and post office in the area. Branson was formally incorporated in 1912 and construction of the Powersite Dam nearby on the White River which would form Lake Taneycomo was completed.
In 1894 William Henry Lynch had bought Marvel Cave and had begun charging visitors to see it. Hugo and Mary Herschend bought the cave in 1950 and began hosting square dances in it. The Herschend Family modernized the cave with electricity and cement staircases, and in 1960, the Herschends opened Silver Dollar City which was a recreated frontier town of five shops and a church, and it featured a log cabin with actors playing out the feud between Hatfields and McCoys.
Harold Bell Wright had published his novel about the Ozarks, The Shepherd of the Hills, in 1907. The Old Mill Theater began its first outdoor production based on the novel in 1960. The show still runs today.
1963 saw the completion Table Rock Dam on the White River, which created Table Rock Lake.
The Presley family became the first to move their show to Highway 76 in 1967 (which would become known as the "strip"), and a year later, the Baldknobbers moved their show there as well. This area would eventually grow to more than 50 theaters many located on Highway 76.
In 1983, Roy Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre, becoming the first famous country music star to have his own venue in Branson. Many of performers that have played in Branson, got their first start at that venue. A series of larger theatres opened soon thereafter. In 1987, Box Car Willie became the first entertainer with a permanent schedule in Branson.
In 2007, ground was broken for the $155 million Branson Airport on land formerly belonging to Tennessee Ernie Ford. Open in May 2009, it is the largest privately-owned commercial airport in the United States. The construction which involves flattening several Ozark mountains is said to be the largest earth moving project in Missouri history.
The Titanic Museum opened in 2006 and includes artifacts from the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Also on display are models of the ship, a full scale replica of the grand staircase and recreations of various rooms of the ship, in addition to eye-witness accounts of the events that occurred. And there are tilted planks of decks to see what it feels like during the sinking.
Branson Landing opened in the summer of 2006 on the Lake Taneycomo waterfront in downtown Branson. The lakefront project includes retail space with Bass Pro Shops and Hudson Belk as anchors in an outdoor shopping mall of stores and restaurants. The new Branson Convention Center, which is situated between the Landing and Historic Downtown Branson, opened September 7, 2007.