iiipopes wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 9:45 am
bloke wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 7:44 am
History has wallpapered over this, but a month or two before Martin Luther King came back to Memphis - and ended up being shot by a kook from Illinois, he came to Memphis to lead a march which deteriorated into a riot downtown. People died, businesses were destroyed, and that riot defined an abrupt ending to Memphis downtown commerce. All sorts of subsequently-spent federal money - over the years - were spent on all sorts of schemes to bring it back. People - who see pictures of downtown Memphis through the mid-1960s - are astonished at the hustle and bustle. Today, whatever business is going on down there is basically synthetic. Riots have consequences, which is why subversives engage in them, and why billionaires hire people to instigate them.
South of where I live is a quaint resort called Rockaway Beach. In a similar manner, it used to be the go-to getaway on the eastern arm of Lake Taneycomo, twenty to fifty years and more before Branson became a destination. Then, there was a biker brawl/riot in 1965 which killed its tourism. The location essentially died, and only now that the Branson Strip has been up and running as a tourist destination these last @ 40 years has there finally been some renewal for Rockaway Beach. So I agree with your conclusion completely.
https://www.ozarksalive.com/stories/ann ... ns-history
Semi-related trivia no one asked for:
You aren't too far from my uncle and cousins. They have cabins/resort on Table Rock Lake on Indian Point.
My dad, uncle, brothers, and I have been going up there fishing on Table Rock, Taneycomo, and trout fishing float trips below the dam on the White River since I was a kid. I think Branson had a 1-2 theaters back then? (late 70's) My uncle loved it so much, he sold his car dealerships in Valparaiso and bought the place. He owned the Branson Chevy dealer for a few years. Tradition being strong with such things, we hired the same fishing guide every year (even after he retired) to take us out, even though we knew our way around and my uncle fished on the lake daily.
I don't recall every being in Rockaway Beach, but I'm sure we were all around it at some point or another.
Of course, we had the annual obligatory side trip to Bass Pro headquarters once we learned about it, especially the outlet store next door, and the occasional trip to Mountain Home because... God's country.
Branson, for better or worse, ain't the same as it used to be. We don't go much anymore (everyone is old, spread out, dad is gone), but we learned a long time ago to go through Kimberling City to Branson West and bypass the strip. And we all had to stop for a snack and dip our feet in Roaring River Springs on the way up. It was tradition, of course.
