April 5, 2011

In 1934, Al Capp (right, ca. 1955) created Li’l Abner, one of the nation’s most popular comic strips for more than forty years. In the 1960s, he was approached by a group of northwest Arkansas businessmen asking if he would consent to the opening of a theme park based on the strip’s hillbilly characters and location. Having rejected previous offers, Capp agreed, and, on October 3, 1967, he spoke at the groundbreaking ceremonies of Dogpatch USA. The moderately successful theme park operated from 1968 to 1993.