Silver Dollar City's operating season runs from mid-March until early January, with the park closed for two months.

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.

In 1889, William Henry Lynch, a Canadian miner and dairyman, purchased the cave and a square mile of the surface around the entrance for $10,000 (equivalent to $339,000 in 2023).

The themed frontier town was named Silver Dollar City and originally was the site of five shops, a church, a log cabin, and a street production reproducing the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys several times daily.

In October 2024, Silver Dollar City announced a 10-year plan to expand into the surrounding area, starting with a resort hotel expected to be completed in late 2026.

[17] The Clampett family of CBS-TV's The Beverly Hillbillies decided to pay a visit to Silver Dollar City (treated as an actual town, rather than a theme park) to start off the 1969–1970 season.

The plotline involved Granny (Irene Ryan) attempting to find a husband for Elly May (Donna Douglas) back in the hills, while Jed (Buddy Ebsen) socialized with hotel clerk Shorty Kellems (Shug Fisher).

They visited the blacksmith Shad Heller, soapmaker Granny Ethel Huffman, and woodcarver Peter Engler, and Miss Hathaway (Nancy Kulp) was seen in the Ozark woods.

The Hillbillies were from the area surrounding Silver Dollar City and Branson, and references to Jim Owens and his White River float trip business and some Missouri mountain locations were made throughout the show's nine-year run.

The park was featured as part of the show's segment called “Good Morning America Lights Up the Holidays.”[19] Silver Dollar City is divided into ten districts.