Dogpatch independence missouri

One example was Mystic Caverns, renamed Dogpatch Caverns, which was improved and tied to the park. A central clearing house will be created to handle reservations, at least for the balance of the summer season. That projected growth came with a change in ownership.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, local businessman Jess Odom bought controlling interest from REI in , giving him clear leadership of the park.

The next year, Odom brought Orval E. Faubus, former six-term governor of Arkansas, on board as president of Dogpatch. The next year, he bowed out when he decided to run in the gubernatorial primary, a race he did not win.

Less than a year after Dogpatch opened, plans for major expansion were already in the works. That started things going a little downhill. Instead of reinvesting them in its early years, Pelsor says that Odom needed the cash for other projects. That choice forced the hand of the other businessmen, who were mandated to take a cut, too.

The hillbilly themes that were so popular when Dogpatch began were quickly fading. Another nail in the coffin came in , when Capp retired his comic strip. Two years later, he passed away. Less than a decade after it began, Dogpatch was in dire straits. The rest of its life was a complicated, convoluted mess: Bankruptcy was involved, it passed through various owners, and was eventually chopped up.

Mystic Caverns , still open today, was sold in The park, often due to debt, has changed hands several times. It also faced controversy in , when a man was hit in the throat by a neck-high steel cable while riding an all-terrain vehicle across the property.

He did pass it by, however, while keeping up with family connections in Pelsor, Ark. And when he was quietly notified that the park was for sale, he decided to see if he could write its next chapter. But in the three years since, many challenges have kept the dream from being realized. We had a flood that literally was up in the buildings. Today, ghost-like memories fill the park. Jubilation T. Cornpone no longer reins supreme on the town square.

A concrete desert, freckled with empty, decaying former business buildings, comprises the area near the ski lodge. Dogpatch U. A couple of log boats float capsized; an old bumper boat looks longingly at a reservoir. The something buildings, scattered over the acreage, many not have the strength to stand — but they still have the power to summon memories. That was obvious in , when the park was opened to the public for the first time since Around 5, people came to tour the deteriorating structures, a turnout that surprised Pelsor.

At the time, he told the Branson Tri-Lakes News that he anticipated reopening in Until a buyer comes along, however, the dream remains. And, working a day at a time, Pelsor aims to see if he can make it happen. Click here to order your copy! Look forward to visiting in May I plan on coming down in May. Will probably make it a three day week-end and camp somewhere close.

I am delighted to see some of these memories. As a former cast member in , I spent a lot of time at the park. So excited to get the opportunity to take my family to dog patch. Taking them all if they want to go. I spent many days at dog patch as a child and I want them to go at least once to see what has been some of my favorite memories. Shell feel free to email me midtownmiscreant live. Plus I'm always interested in stories about the patch. I lived there in the late 60's it was a nice place, walked at nights a lot, never had any problems every one was nice and minded there own business.

I am sure it has changed a lot since then. I have a couple of question for you Harley K. Do you have a family? Have you ever even been there? Do you know anything about it other than what your have read? I live there now and its better than blue springs by far!!!!!!! Now lock your door and dont make eye contact. Dog patch is a great place to live good people and yes Hillbilly's and yes I grew up in a Nice area as a child but, dog patch is much better, at least you know who dog patch people are and not fake's like some are putting on a showing means of life!

I was raised in Blue Summit from the time I was 11 mo old. Sure there are some problems. I have friends in Blue Springs and they had a meth house next to them.

Drugs are not just a problem in the poorer parts of town. I lived here most of my life and recently moved back. I never took drugs. Never drank except socially on special occasions. This doesn't make me better than anyone else here it is just true. My father worked 50 years at the same place. The last 10 in a wheel chair. He rode his chair all over the patch.

He fell over a few times and the scary people of the area gently picked him up and helped him. I think that people who are willing to stay and make the place better, to actually help their neighbors should be applauded and helped.

There is a lot of good here and we need to keep helping each other. I wonder if any of you remember Jess. I don't remember his last name. We kids could go to his house and he would tell us the best stories. He was born in He knew the most amazing things and we were always welcome there. He had tons of musical instruments and he would play them for us. He would even show us how to play.

These are just 2 of the wonderful people from the patch. I'm sure other people can tell more. I am not ashamed of where I came from and I'm not ashamed to be back. Hey my mother in law used to talk about the Clevenger family so I assume you were one of them I stayed there the first seven years of my life. The next three years I lived a block north in a house now abandoned at the bottom of the hill.

I remember my grandpa letting out the dogs. Two guys decided to come onto the property The other, thinking he got by The low bark followed by a yelled "oh shit" He stepped out on the porch and let off one barrel of his double barrel shot gun saying "the other barrel has rock salt". Good times. One of the most classist accounts of a neighborhood I've read.

You're doing a terrific job of sharing an outsider's view of the poor, and sustaining ignorant preconceptions of how "they" live. Consider how your fun little accounts reproduce stereotypes and malign your subjects. And then enjoy yourself! Yes, it is an unincorporated part of the county.

No city wanted to annex it when the cities expanded to gobble up the area. It had a difficult terrain, and lower tax value properties, so KC and Indep. So the area has struggled ever since with volunteer fire protection, county Sheriff as their only police service, not covered by any of the many civic services most of us enjoy.

The only codes in force are ones applying to the county. One would think, that in this economic climate, Indep. In several statements you declared that up to three houses burned down due to meth lab disasters. Can you cite actual news stories that confirm these? Such would have been reported in print.

Anyone's house that catches fire in that area has to depend on the volunteers getting there in time, and lately they have been underfunded, so I am not surprised that houses don't seem to make it if there is a fire of any origin. I have lived near the area but not in it all my life, and apparently I am much older than most of you, and I have never heard it referred to as Dog Patch.

We've always called it either Blue Mills or "the unincorporated part of the county. At one point they had their own newspaper, their own trolley stops, even their own beauty pageant. As small towns like Maywood incorporated and took parts of the territory away, the unincorporated part shrank. Obviously the adult stores took advantage of the county laws to exist there when they were run out of Independence proper.

Yes, it is the area where the cemetary containing Charlie Parker Bird grave resides. There are six ancient cemetaries in the first mile from Truman south along Blue Ridge, and ten altogether by the time you reach I Before that it was called the old Lexington road, before that it was an Indian trail. Wagon trails from Indep. Square to Westport wound through Blue Mills, so did Indian trails that we call warpaths. There is a revolutionary war hero buried along there, Ledstone Noland, whom Noland Rd.

There was a bridge over the Blue from Blue Mills to what we call Blue Valley Park, for many years and eight iterations before the civil war.

Quantrill burned it down. Many of the oldest families that settled Jackson County chose land along Blue Ridge so they had a great view of what we call Kansas City, and they were on the highest elevation along the Missouri River valley in state. Even higher than Lees Summit.

Look past the current socio-economic situation, which will just be a blink of the eye, and learn about the rich past, the heritage of the people, and the possible bright future if Indep. Dogpatch is a trademarked name belonging to the family of a cartoonist. They vigorously defend their property, having caused an area at Bagnell Dam MO to stop using the name, due to it's licensed use at a park in Arkansas. If the Blogger wants to research an even more interesting blighted area, why don't you look up "The Notch" that existed in Indep.

I think everyone needs to calm down, sit back, appreciate each other, and afterwards, we'll all go the the International House of Pancakes. Probably way too late to get a response, but can you give some detail on The Notch, or point out any online resources that might talk about it?

Thanks Anonymous on Tuesday, May 17, for the informative post. I have just one quibble in that the road going along the ridge through this area is the boulevard, Blue Ridge Boulevard, rather than the Cutoff. Thanks again Great place to live grew up in the Subs, same problem with crime as in Dog patch and good people do live in the patch along with the bad but it is like any part of the city good and bad any where. In fact the biggest Drug dealer ever busted lived in Dear Overland Park, Kansas By the way they lived in south Overland Park and geuss what kind of people live there.

Anonymous, would you allow me to reprint your story in an upcoming street paper? I have a solution for what's wrong with you it has to barrels and a couple of hamers. In reference to your comment, "to barrels. Everything is relative, isn't it?

The people from this area seem to take pride in being dirty, uneducated and classless. They look down on those of us who are clean, educated and work hard to better ourselves. I just don't understand it. I am a nursing student and have lived there for as long as I can remember, it not a bad place to live. I go from dog patch to blue springs every weekend.

I would have to say that the people of dog patch are a lot more down to earth and honest. They have chosen to live here for there lives. Just like you have chosen to live ware you live for your life. Clearly being a student has done little to teach you how to spell properly. As far as how it relates to how you live? If you act ignorant and live in an area which is seen as ignorant, all you are doing is promoting the stereotypes.

Not saying it maliciously, but if you want to be taken seriously, be sure to use proper spelling and grammar. Some of us who are educated find misspellings and poor grammar difficult to read. Are you really judging someone on their spelling?!

I'm an educated person and I didn't have any problem reading her comments. Being judgmental and pretentious doesn't prove anything. I was dumb enough to be persuaded to attend a party in this shithole area.

Lucky i didnt get robbed or killed. I spent a lot of my childhood weekend's and summers in "Dog patch" as it was called back in the days. A lot of great memories, My grandma lived there as did some of my aunt's, uncle and cousins. But they kept there's self's clean and there house's. Many didn't have much but what they did have they kept it neat and clean. They were hard workers and very proud people. I have a cousin who still live's there and from the way she talks they have less crime than other area's of K.

Mo and Independence Mo. I am also from Dog Patch and would love to tell you all about what my son's and I lived ,I know the Newton's as well and it was a horrible place and you are right about it but you have left a lot out I grew up hanging around people from dogpatch and went there often.

Not one time did I not feel safe. In fact they would've have protected me from harm. They were always nice and respectful. Yes they didn't have much but what they did have they appreciated. And would help anyone that needed it. My mom lived in Dog Patch as a kid. Then I found this page. It was a hellish existence according to her.

Full of drug addicts, murderers, outlaws, starving children living like her who were abandoned and lived as orphans in shacks with no doors Full of prostitutes. This place still exists like this?

It should be razed to the ground with all of its terrible memories. Razed why? I honestly don't know who your mom is but this is not the community that I have come to know in my life.

Now lock your doors and don't make eye contact. His asshole had become so worn and abused that he could no longer hold his shit in. After a long night of being on the receiving end of greaseless butt sex, he decided to do something about it.

Then my abused butthole will finally have justice! Lived in that area, in the late 50's and 60's. Dog Patch is bigger than you describe.

You are exaggerating some when you talk about rolling up windows and all of that. You want to die just walk Independence Avenue in the Northeast after midnight, or 27 and Van Brunt across from the police station.

That will do it for you. I lived in the Northeast 21 years, you name I saw it. Crud you want trouble or to see some strange stuff? Go to Mid-Town. I didn't live there but I knew a family that did, I was a stupid very young teenager who walked everywhere in the wee hours of the night, hundreds of times through Dog Patch, never did I feel unsafe but I also knew you better be a bad ass to walk those streets.

Hilarious article, the folks I knew would find it extremely funny and mostly accurate. Great writing! I had recently lost my husband to suicide I was struggling trying to take care of my family and home I left my former life and all the problems behind and found Dog Patch My mama in law lived here 65 years and she told me many a story about the patch She said the land here was cheap and back than its all a lot of folk could afford Her and her husband bought a lot here and built a shanty one room shack where they and their 5 kids lived till they built their basement which they lived in than built their house on top.

Which is how a lot of folks from here did. Yes there are places here run down but there are a lot of people who do take care of their homes as we do. I took care of my Mama in law the last 15 years I had to move her in with us the last 6 weeks I miss her terribly I am proud to say I live in Dog Patch The taxes are cheap here I dont have to worry about my grass getting a little tall Oh and yes by the way I do work and make my own way and am sure there are also a lot of other people here in Dog Patch that do I would much rather live here in Our little slice of heaven a little poor and happy I just stumbled on it recently and I just think he was making light of it I found it kind of amusing Loving it here happy to be a forever Dog Patcher Enjoyed your story i do live here thanks and it is not as bad as people think.

Hey these are poor people and being poor does not make you dangerous. The people in Dog Patch are not as bad as you portray, yes there are some bad eggs but most of them are just poor. I would rather walk through Dog Patch at night, than through a bunch of Washington politicians at night.

Great writing but not exactly true. Look my name is Tony Meyer I'm from the patch and do are slot of other good ass honkeys that includes are no shit taking females all of you that read this and talked shit probably don't have one fucking solid person to tide with you tell the wheels fall off!!!

And to you I say stay the fuck out before your brakes get best off! If your not from there you probably can't see the good but we,I dure as fuck can. Take my pic shit I will even sign it just roll up on me and ask. Now to my dog Mike Creason you want to say something to these bitches? Fruckin rite I've got something to say to these bitches.

You pussys better be careful next time you come thru taking pictures because your gonna those fucking cameras! I grew up in DP and Im proud to say that. And you can tell em Mike Creason said that. Monday, March 3, Take a ride with me through Dog Patch. So you think you know Kansas city. You have lived here your entire life and pride yourself on being somewhat of an expert on this town.

How many of you know about the picturesque little village officially known as Blue Summit, and I'm not talking about a JOCO school district where all the kids drive better cars than I do. No, the Blue Summit I am referring to, is a wooded area comprised of about 6 square blocks, nestled between Kansas City and Independence.

It features rolling hills, quaint homes and tight knit residents. Its more well known by another name , Dog Patch. Just east of off of Truman road, bordered by a couple of adult bookstores , a liquor store and a few run down commercial buildings. Dog Patch is notorious for the breed of people who live there.

So for those of you who never knew the place existed , or knew it was there but wouldn't dare go near it, sit back, relax and take a ride with me through Dog Patch. Lock your door and fasten your seat belt while your at it. Back in the day when I was an entrepreneur crook , I knew a few people who grew up in Dog Patch. They were small time petty criminals, car thieves, boosters shoplifters , and low level dealers.

All of them were drug addicts and or alcoholics. I didn't run with them, or hang out in the same circle, but , I knew them just the same. Dog Patch has the distinction of producing crime families. Even though it sits in the center of Jackson county, you would never know it by the look of the place and a good portion of its residents.

Most of the women seemed to be in a perpetual state of pregnancy, and usually had a brood of 3 or more future Dog Patchians running around in a yard that was mostly dirt and occupied by cars in various stages of disrepair. So when I was working today and Blue Summit came up on my maps, I knew what to expect.

When you first turn off of Truman road and enter Dog Patch, you are greeted by a sign informing you that you are entering Blue Summit. There should also be a sign with a skull and crossbones that says "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter", instead the next sign you see is this one. I'm not sure if this admonition to keep your dog on a leash is to cut down on child mauling's by the numerous pit bulls in the area, or to insure that Fido doesn't end up being BBQ or a new set of snow boots. One of the first and most striking things you notice is what appear at first glance to be abandoned, run down shacks, but upon closer inspection turn out to be occupied.

Not only are they occupied, but they must have the same outsider trespassing detectors as most trailer parks. The more bold lookouts would stick their heads out the door and glare at me. I glared back and pretended to talk in to a microphone so they would think I was five O. On a couple of streets there were charred remains of houses, the police tape still attached to trees surrounding the premises.

While the criminal element of Dog patch has remained steadfast and thriving for decades, the face has changed. In the 70's and 80's, the drugs of choice in Dog Patch were Crank and heroin. Crank, was similar to today's Meth , but it wasn't cooked by some chuckle head with a case of cold tablets and an Internet recipe. Crank was controlled and distributed mainly by Motorcycle gangs. While these guys were ruthless and slinging poison with no regard for the damage it caused, they knew the golden rule.

You don't shit where you eat. So there wasn't anyone manufacturing dope back then. All of that changed when home chemists discovered how easy it was to cook today's Meth.

The results weren't always successful, unless your definition of success was turning yourself into a human fireball and burning down the shack that your car thief Pappy bequeathed you when he OD'd on junk or died of liver disease.

I should say that in all fairness there are some normal hard working, albeit underprivileged folks who live in this armpit off of and Truman road.

But I would wager there are virtually none who have not been touched in a major way by the scourge of the Meth craze of the 90's and 's. Here are some tips for any of you adventurous types who have a hankering to see if this place exists, or want to check up on me and see if I am taking literary liberties and pulling your leg. Never drive through Dog Patch at night. Its dark as my first wife's heart.

There are a few street lights, but I cant promise you they work. Try to have a cop like appearance. Talk in to an imaginary police radio from time to time. If they think you might be a cop they wont throw molotov cocktails at your car. On the other hand if they think you might be a bounty hunter looking for Bail Jumpers, you can expect to run over some roofing nails at the very least. If your car breaks down, do not attempt to walk out of Dog Patch.

If you leave the safety of your car you may end up tied to a tree, while some guy with a single tooth that looks like a 2 pencil eraser tells you you have a purty mouf and calls his buddies to come share his new found friend. Last and not least, don't pull down any dead end streets, which is most of them. There is something unnerving about driving your car in reverse while a group of anorexic but WIDE awake hillbillies chase you with hand held napalm bombs. But you cant really see quite as much detail.

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