BRANSON

city, Taney county, southwestern Missouri, U.S., in the Ozark Mountains near the Arkansas state line, on Lake Taneycomo (formed by the White River) and near Bull Shoals, Table Rock Dam, and Table Rock Lake and State Park. It was named for Reuben S. Branson, an early settler who opened a store there about 1800. The community and surrounding landmarks formed the setting for Harold Bell Wright's novel The Shepherd of the Hills (1907). Beginning in the early 1980s, country music stars from Nashville, Tenn., began building huge theatres along 5 miles (8 km) of road just west of downtown Branson. The popularity of these music shows has made Branson a family-entertainment and vacation centre. Silver Dollar City, a replica of an 1870 Ozark mining town, is 9 miles (14 km) west. School of the Ozarks (1906), where students pay no tuition but work in college industries, is 4 miles south, at Point Lookout. Inc. 1912. Pop. (1990) 3,706.