Dinosaur World (Arkansas)

For other uses, see Dinosaur World.

Dinosaur World
Location	Beaver, Arkansas, USA
Coordinates	36°26′31″N 93°50′32″W / 36.441965°N 93.842232°W / 36.441965; -93.842232Coordinates: 36°26′31″N 93°50′32″W / 36.441965°N 93.842232°W / 36.441965; -93.842232
Opened	1960s
Closed	2005
Previous names	John Agar's Land of Kong
Area	65 acres (26 ha)

Dinosaur World, earlier known as John Agar's Land of Kong, was a tourist attraction in Beaver, Arkansas. It was a theme park covering 65 acres (260,000 m²), which contained a hundred life-size sculptures of dinosaurs, cavemen, and other prehistoric creatures. The park closed in 2005. It was the largest dinosaur park in the world.^{[citation needed]}

The park was started in the 1960s when Ola Farwell built a 40 feet (12 m) tall statue of King Kong known as the "World's Largest King Kong". Farwell's partner was film actor John Agar (who would later appear in the 1976 version of King Kong).

The sculptures were created by Emmet Sullivan, who also designed the dinosaur statues in Dinosaur Park and Wall Drug in South Dakota, and the Christ of the Ozarks statue in nearby Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Along with the nearby Beaver Dam, a few of the park's dinosaurs are featured briefly during the opening scenes of the 1968 horror movie It's Alive. The tyrannosaurus is featured in the 2005 film Elizabethtown and is shown on the film's cover. As of 2006 the park was intact but completely grown over. Oddly all the shelves in the gift shop were still stocked.^{[citation needed]}

On August 3, 2011, a fire destroyed the park's main building. The fire was suspected to be arson.

See also

List of defunct amusement parks

References

• Roadside America
• Secret Fun Blog features a visit to the site with images