Branson is a city in Taney County

Taney County, Missouri

Taney County is a county located in Southwest Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 39,703. In the 2010 census the counties population was 51,675 Its county seat is Forsyth....

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 and operator of a general store

General store

A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

 in the area in the 1880s.

Branson has long been a popular destination for vacationers from Missouri and neighboring areas. The construction of music theaters by nationally-known performers along Highway 76 has increased Branson's popularity as a tourist destination. Branson now draws visitors from all regions of the country, mostly by car or bus.

The population was 10,520 at the 2010 census

United States Census, 2010

The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...

. The Branson Micropolitan Statistical Area

Branson micropolitan area

The Branson Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in southwestern Missouri, anchored by the city of Branson.As of the 2010 census, the μSA had a population of 83,877...

 embraces Stone

Stone County, Missouri

Stone County is a county located in Southwest Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county's population was 32,202. Its county seat is Galena...

 and Taney counties.

History

In 1882, Reuben 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

White River (Arkansas)

The White River is a 722-mile long river that flows through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri.-Course:The source of the White River is in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest southeast of Fayetteville...

 which would form Lake Taneycomo

Lake Taneycomo

Lake Taneycomo is a man-made lake or reservoir on the White River in the Ozark Mountains of Taney County, Missouri. The reservoir is named for the county in which it is located: Taney County, MO....

 was completed.

In 1894 William Henry Lynch had bought Marble Cave

Marvel Cave

Marvel Cave is a National Natural Landmark located just west of Branson, Missouri, on top of Roark Mountain in Stone County. The cave was known by the Osage Indians in the early 16th century, after a tribe member fell through the cave's main entrance, a sinkhole. There is evidence that in 1541...

 (renamed Marvel Cave) and had begun charging visitors to see it. Hugo and Mary Herschend leased the cave in 1950 on a 99 year lease and began hosting square dance

Square dance

Square dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...

s in it. The Herschend Family

Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation

Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States....

 modernized the cave with electricity and cement staircases, and in 1960, the Herschends opened Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a theme park in the state of Missouri. Opened on May 1, 1960, the park is located between Branson and Branson West, Missouri, on Highway 76...

 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 the Hatfields and the McCoys

Hatfield-McCoy feud

The Hatfield–McCoy feud involved two families of the West Virginia–Kentucky back country along the Tug Fork, off the Big Sandy River. The Hatfields of West Virginia were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield while the McCoys of Kentucky under the leadership of Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy....

.

Harold Bell Wright

Harold Bell Wright

Harold Bell Wright was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non-fiction during the first half of the 20th century. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and...

 had published his novel about The Ozarks

The Ozarks

The Ozarks are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas...

, The Shepherd of the Hills

The Shepherd of the Hills

The Shepherd of the Hills is a book written in 1907 by author Harold Bell Wright. It depicts a mostly fictional story of mountain folklore and has been translated into seven languages since its release. It is also depicted in a popular outdoor play numerous times each week from May to October, in...

, in 1907. The Old Mill Theater began its first outdoor production based on the novel in 1960. The show known as The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama & Homestead still runs today. It is also the home of Inspiration Tower, the Sons of the Pioneers show, and other attractions. The Harold Bell Wright Museum shares a location with The World's Largest Toy Museum.

1958 saw the completion of Table Rock Dam on the White River, which created Table Rock Lake

Table Rock Lake

Table Rock Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in The Ozarks of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. It is impounded by Table Rock Dam constructed in 1954-1958 on the White River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is one of the tourist draws for the nearby town of Branson,...

. In 1959 The Baldknobbers Jamboree opened their show in Branson.

In 1962 Paul Henning

Paul Henning

Paul William Henning was an American producer and writer. Most famous for the successful TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, he was crucial in the development of several "rural" comedies for CBS.-Early life:...

, inspired by a Boy Scout camping trip to the Ozarks, created the Beverly Hillbillies which ran on television until 1971. The first five episodes of Season 8 in 1969 are set in the Branson area when the Clampetts returned to their home. Henning later donated 1534 acres (6.2 km²) for the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area near Branson. He also donated the modified 1921 Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 truck used as the vehicle in the series to the College of the Ozarks

College of the Ozarks

College of the Ozarks is a private, Christian liberal-arts college, with its campus at Point Lookout near Branson and Hollister, Missouri, United States. It is south of Springfield on a campus, overlooking Lake Taneycomo...

 where it is on display in the Ralph Foster Museum.

The Presley family became the first to move their show to Highway 76 in 1967 (which would become known as the "strip"), followed a year later by the Baldknobbers. This area would eventually grow to more than 50 theaters – most of them located on Highway 76.

In the early 1980s the Starlite Theater (not to be confused with the current theater by the same name) was one of the first to introduce stage sets, horn section, elaborate costume changes, and music outside of the traditional country music normally played. It helped to launch the careers of Shoji Tabuchi

Shoji Tabuchi

Shoji Tabuchi is a Japanese country music fiddler and singer who currently performs at his theater, the Shoji Tabuchi Theatre in Branson, Missouri.-Growing Up:...

, Doug Gabriel, and many others.

In 1983 Branson began its transformation into a major tourist attraction when the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre opened in Lampe, Missouri

Lampe, Missouri

Lampe is an unincorporated community in southern Stone County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 13 south of Table Rock Lake.The community is part of the Branson, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area....

. The theatre, which started out as a venue for rock bands such as Def Leppard

Def Leppard

Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...

, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

, REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...

, Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf (band)

Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...

, and Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

, was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. It closed in the early 2000s, but had shown that there was a market for large music gatherings.

Also in 1983, Roy Clark

Roy Clark

Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...

 opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre, becoming the first famous country music star to have his own venue in Branson. Many of the performers who have their own theaters in Branson got their 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.

Andy Williams

Andy Williams

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

, built his own theater in Branson opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre.

Scenes from the family motion picture Gordy

Gordy

Gordy is a 1995 feature film about a piglet who searches for his missing family...

were shot here in 1995.

The closest commercial airport is the newly developed Branson Airport

Branson Airport

Branson Airport is a public use airport located eight nautical miles south-southeast of the central business district of Branson, a city in Taney County, Missouri, United States. It is privately owned by Branson Airport, LLC.Although most U.S...

 which opened in May 2009, constructed at an originally projected cost of $155 million on land formerly owned by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Tennessee Ernie Ford

Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...

. This airport is privately owned, and it is thought to be the largest privately-owned commercial airport in the United States. Its construction involved flattening the tops of a series of Ozark Mountains and is thought to be the largest earth moving project in the history of the state. Previously, the closest commercial airport was Springfield-Branson National Airport 50 miles (80.5 km) northwest of Branson, owned by the City of Springfield.

Other attractions

Local attractions include The Hollywood Wax Museum

Hollywood Wax Museum

The ' is located in the heart of the tourist district of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA and in Branson, Missouri, USA.The museum, the brainchild of entrepreneur Spoony Singh, was opened in 1965, and claims in promotional literature to be the only wax museum dedicated solely to celebrities...

, Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a theme park in the state of Missouri. Opened on May 1, 1960, the park is located between Branson and Branson West, Missouri, on Highway 76...

, White Water

White Water Branson

White Water Branson is located in Branson, Missouri and is known by most in the area as just White Water. It features a wave pool, a series of tubular slides, a ProSlide mammoth family raft ride, and a slide deck featuring 2 speed slides and 4 "Racing Lanes"....

, Waltzing Waters, The Titanic Museum, Mount Pleasant Winery

Mount Pleasant Winery

Mount Pleasant Winery is a winery in Augusta, Missouri, USA, on the north side of the Missouri River in what is called the Missouri Rhineland. It is the third-largest winery in the state.-History:...

, Stone Hill Winery

Stone Hill Winery

Stone Hill Winery is a Missouri winery located in Hermann, Missouri, along the Missouri River, in what is called the Missouri Rhineland of the Hermann AVA. It has additional facilities in Branson and New Florence...

, Ride The Ducks

Ride the Ducks

Ride the Ducks is a national duck tour operator, and an eponymous tourist attraction in U.S. cities such as Branson, Missouri, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Newport, Kentucky, San Francisco, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and Stone Mountain Park, Georgia. It makes use of over 90 amphibious vehicles to...

, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede

Dixie Stampede is a dinner theater with two locations in the Southern United States. Dixie Stampede is owned by Dolly Parton and The Dollywood Company, a branch of the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation.-Locations:...

, The Haunted House and Monster Asylum, Butterfly Palace & Rainforest Adventure, Predator World and Branson Landing. Ripley's Odditorium in Branson is housed in a building that has been made to look as if it is cracked wide open by an earthquake or other disaster.

Branson Landing opened in the summer of 2006 on the Lake Taneycomo

Lake Taneycomo

Lake Taneycomo is a man-made lake or reservoir on the White River in the Ozark Mountains of Taney County, Missouri. The reservoir is named for the county in which it is located: Taney County, MO....

 waterfront in downtown Branson. The lakefront project includes retail space with Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Shops is a privately held retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise. Bass Pro Shops is known for a large selection of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor gear.-History:The owner, John L...

 and Hudson Belk as anchors in an outdoor shopping mall of stores and restaurants. The new Branson Convention Center http://www.bransonconvention.com, which is situated between the Landing and Historic Downtown Branson http://www.downtownbranson.org, opened September 7, 2007. Two animal attractions are Butterfly Palace & Rainforest Adventure, a palace filled with thousands of flying butterflies in a mystical rainforest maze; and Wings of the World, a home to many birds of the world.

Branson is home to America's largest Veterans Day celebration, "Veterans Homecoming Week."

Demography

As of the 2000 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, there were 6,050 people, 2,701 households, and 1,661 families residing in the city. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 374.0 people per square mile (144.4/km²). There were 3,366 housing units at an average density of 208.1 per square mile (80.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.50% White, 0.84% African American, 0.86% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.47% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.26% of the population.

There were 2,701 households out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,997, and the median income for a family was $43,145. Males had a median income of $31,769 versus $21,223 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $20,461. 12.1% of the population and 9.7% of families were below the poverty line. 15.6% of those under the age of 18 and 17.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

List of entertainers associated with Branson

• Ann-Margret
  Ann-Margret
  Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
  
  
• Moe Bandy
  Moe Bandy
  Marion Franklin Bandy, Jr.–better known professionally as Moe Bandy– is a country music singer...
  
  
• Jim Barber
• Norman Bergen
  Norman Bergen
  Norman Bergen is an American pianist, music arranger, record producer, band leader, musical director, and vocalist.- Early years:...
  
  
• Pat Boone
  Pat Boone
  Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
  
  
• Boxcar Willie
  Boxcar Willie
  Boxcar Willie, born as Lecil Travis Martin was an American country music singer, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat...
  
  
• Kirby Van Burch
  Kirby Van Burch
  Kirby Van Burch is a magician who performs in Branson, Missouri. He was named "The Prince of Magic" by the Princess of Thailand and "Worlds Best Illusionist" at the 2008 World Magic Awards. Kirby performs at his own theater in Branson with 12 animals, including white tigers and panthers, and...
  
  
• Glen Campbell
  Glen Campbell
  Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
  
  
• Captain and Tennille
• Conlan Carter
  Conlan Carter
  Chester Conlan Carter is a former film and television actor best known for the role of "Doc", featured in sixty-six episodes of the Rick Jason and Vic Morrow ABC World War II television series Combat!...
  
  
• Johnny Cash
  Johnny Cash
  John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
  
  
• June Carter Cash
  June Carter Cash
  Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
  
  
• Charo
  Charo
  María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Gutiérrez de los Perales Santa Ana Romanguera y de la Hinojosa Rasten , better known as Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, comedienne, and flamenco guitarist, best known for her flamboyant stage presence, her provocative outfits, and her trademark phrase...
  
  
• Dick Clark
• Petula Clark
  Petula Clark
  Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
  
  
• Roy Clark
  Roy Clark
  Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
  
  
• The Comets
  Bill Haley & His Comets
  Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
  
  
• John Davidson
  John Davidson (entertainer)
  John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991....
  
  
• Phyllis Diller
  Phyllis Diller
  Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
  
  
• Barbara Fairchild
  Barbara Fairchild
  Barbara Fairchild is an American Country Music/Gospel Music Singer, who is best known for her 1973 Country chart-topper "The Teddy Bear Song". After the success of the song, she continued to have success on the Country charts....
  
  
• Mickey Gilley
  Mickey Gilley
  Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...
  
  
• Robert Goulet
  Robert Goulet
  Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
  
  
• Dino Kartsonakis
  Dino Kartsonakis
  Dino Kartsonakis is an accomplished sacred pianist of Greek heritage.-Biography:Dino was born in New York City and attended Glad Tidings Tabernacle. He began playing his grandmother's piano at the age of three. The first song he had learned was "At the Cross." He was enrolled in piano lessons at...
  
  
• Gladys Knight
  Gladys Knight
  Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
  
  

• Cristy Lane
  Cristy Lane
  Eleanor Johnston, known by her professional name as Cristy Lane is an American country music and gospel music singer, best known for a number of major country hits in the late 70s and the early 1980s, including her cover version of the song, "One Day at a Time".Lane's career began to take shape in...
  
  
• Brenda Lee
  Brenda Lee
  Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
  
  
• Lennon Sisters
• Shari Lewis
  Shari Lewis
  Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...
  
  
• Rich Little
  Rich Little
  Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
  
  
• Barbara Mandrell
  Barbara Mandrell
  Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...
  
  
• Irlene Mandrell
  Irlene Mandrell
  Ellen Irlene Mandrell is an American musician, actress and model. She is the younger sister of country singers Barbara Mandrell and Louise Mandrell.Irlene Mandrell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas...
  
  
• Louise Mandrell
  Louise Mandrell
  Thelma Louise Mandrell, also known as Louise Mandrell, was born July 13, 1954 and is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country music with a string of...
  
  
• Wayne Newton
  Wayne Newton
  Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
  
  
• Oak Ridge Boys
• Tony Orlando
  Tony Orlando
  Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis , better known as Tony Orlando, is an American show business professional, best known as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Discovered by producer Don Kirshner, Orlando had songs on the charts in 1961 when he was 16, "Halfway to...
  
  
• Osmond Family
• Gary S. Paxton
  Gary S. Paxton
  Gary S. Paxton, sometimes Pax , is an American record producer, and a Grammy Award and Dove Award winning songwriter and recording artist.-Biography:...
  
  
• Charley Pride
  Charley Pride
  Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
  
  
• Kenny Rogers
  Kenny Rogers
  Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
  
  
• David Silverman
  David Silverman
  David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
  
  
• Yakov Smirnoff
  Yakov Smirnoff
  Yakov Naumovich Pokhis , better known as Yakov Smirnoff, is a Ukrainian-born American comedian, painter and teacher. He was popular in the 1980s for comedy performances in which he used irony and word play to contrast life under the Communist regime in his native Soviet Union with life in the...
  
  
• Jim Stafford
  Jim Stafford
  James Wayne "Jim" Stafford is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter, prominent in the 1970s. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica....
  
  
• Ray Stevens
  Ray Stevens
  Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
  
  
• Shoji Tabuchi
  Shoji Tabuchi
  Shoji Tabuchi is a Japanese country music fiddler and singer who currently performs at his theater, the Shoji Tabuchi Theatre in Branson, Missouri.-Growing Up:...
  
  
• Mel Tillis
  Mel Tillis
  Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
  
  
• Bobby Vinton
  Bobby Vinton
  Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
  
  
• Lawrence Welk
  Lawrence Welk
  Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
  
  
• Andy Williams
  Andy Williams
  Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
  
  
• Muse Watson
  Muse Watson
  Muse Watson is an American stage and screen actor. He most recently appeared as the recurring character Mike Franks in the television drama NCIS.-Biography:Watson was born on July 20, 1948 in Alexandria, Louisiana...
  
  

External links

• City of Branson
• Branson Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Official Tourism Web Site
• Historic maps of Branson in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of Missouri
  University of Missouri
  The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
  
  

• http://www.census.gov/