Branson Missouri celebrating 100 years old in 2012.
Reuben Branson, one of the first settlers in the area, opened a general store and post office in 1882. The area didn't have a name to submit to the post office, so he submitted his own last name. The little settlement became known as Branson.
The first tourist attraction in the area was Marvel Cave, with only the very adventurous attempting to explore the cave.
Harold Bell Wright visited the area for health reasons, and wrote a novel about the characters in the Ozarks. His novel was a best seller, "The Shepard of the Hills". John Wayne starred in the movie version of his book. Tourists came to see the area that Wright wrote about in his novel.
In the late 1950's, Table Rock Dam, was completed for flood control and electric power. Fishing attracted tourists who loved to fish Lake Taneycomo for trout.
In 1991, "60 Minutes" television program came to Branson and literally put Branson on the worldwide map as an entertainment capital.
2012 Branson Missouri is a lot different from Reuben Branson's general store and post office. Branson has an airport, Branson Landing riverfront entertainment, luxury lodging and shopping, theaters with every genre of music, Silver Dollar City Theme Park, and a Convention center, to name a few. World class Bass Fishing on Table Rock Lake and Trout Fishing on Lake Taneycomo bring fisherman from all over the U.S.
8 Million Tourists a year visit Branson and many decide to move as their primary residence or have a vacation home.
Branson Missouri is 100 years old and still as ever changing as the seasons of the Ozarks.
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