Īfter Hugo's death in 1955, his wife, Mary, took over the day-to-day operations of the venture. The Lynch family operated the cave for nearly fifty years until a Chicago vacuum cleaner salesman, Hugo Herschend, purchased a 99-year lease on the cave in April 1950. When William Lynch died in 1927, ownership of the cave passed to his daughters and the name of the cave was changed to Marvel Cave. The cave has remained open since, making it one of the oldest continuously running tourist attractions in the Ozarks. The venture was not immediately profitable and was closed until Lynch raised additional capital to reopen the cave sometime after 1900. The Lynches began operation of the sightseeing venture on October 18, 1894. Lynch, with the aid of his family, proposed to open the cave to sightseers. In 1889, William Henry Lynch, a Canadian miner and dairyman, purchased the cave and a square mile around it for $10,000 (equivalent to $339,000 in 2023). By 1889 much of the guano had been mined from the cave, the marble wall proved to be limestone, and no lead ore was found. The company planned a town, Marble City, on the rough hilltop near the cave and in 1884 recorded a plat map at the courthouse in Galena, Missouri. Two years later Jones bought the property and formed the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company. Jones and Powell instead found huge amounts of guano and a flat wall which they also believed to be marble. Powell entered the cave in hopes of finding lead. The cave remained undisturbed until 1882 when a group led by T. They found no lead, but were convinced that the flat ceiling of one room was composed of marble, they originally named the cave Marble Cave. Blow, a lead mining magnate, explored the cave with six miners. Silver Dollar City is situated at the site of one of the Ozarks' oldest attractions, Marvel Cave. Main article: Marvel Cave The Cathedral Room's Entrance Staircase Tower as viewed from the landing area of the walkway near the bottom of the rubble pile. Silver Dollar City is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. Silver Dollar City's operating season runs from March until December, with the park closed for two months. Silver Dollar City opened on May 1, 1960. The park is located off of Missouri Route 76 on the Indian Point peninsula of Table Rock Lake. Silver Dollar City is a 61-acre (25 ha) amusement park in Stone County, Missouri, near the cities of Branson and Branson West.

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