Branson is not only known for great entertainment and exciting outdoor activities, it is also famous for many educational attractions. These educational attractions include Titanic Museum, The Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery, and Mt. Pleasant Winery. If you love books, the Harold Bell Wright Museum is an interesting educational attraction in Branson that features a number of best selling books of Harold Bell Wright. Shepherd of the Hills which is one of the most widely read books in early 20th century were authored by Harold Bell Wright.
Harold Bell Wright became a pastor in 1905 at the Christian Church in Lebanon, Missouri. He remained there until 1907 when he transferred to California for another pastoral position. After the success of the Shepherd of the Hills (his first book that sold one million copies), Write resigned as pastor of the Christian Church in Redlands, California and moved to a ranch near El Centro in the same state and devoted the rest of his life writing interesting stories.
In the museum, you can view a video about Wright’s fascinating life as well the chance to see up close his antique guns, furniture, saddles, and handwritten manuscript of Shepherd of the Hills. Wright was an American writer that has written many best-selling books of fiction, non-fiction, and essays during the first half of the 20th century. He is said to be the first American writer to make $1 million from writing fiction. There were about 15 movies produced and claimed to be made from Wright’s stories. Some of these popular movies included The Shepherd of the Hills in 1941, a John Wayne film and The Winning of Barbara Worth in 1926 that featured Gary Cooper.
Most of the books written by Harold Bell Wright were best selling books outside of the Bible, for many years and are still popular up to day. When you visit the museum, you can have the chance to read a letter from President Reagan to the Wright family expressing his appreciation for Harold Bell Wright and the influence he had in the early life of Pres. Reagan. Your visit to the museum will give you a glimpse about the life and career of this early 20th century best selling author through a number of exhibits such as his personal gun collection and many original manuscripts.
The tour to the Harold Bell Wright Museum takes approximately one to two hours and is open to visitors of all ages. The museum is handicap accessible and features gift shop that allows visitors a chance to shop for snack foods or souvenir themed items. The museum also allows visitors to use cameras and video cameras. The price of the ticket to the museum is from $8.87 to $12.22 for ages 18 and up and $5.52 to $7.76 for children ages 7 to 17. Children under six years old are free.
If you love books, visit the Harold Bell Wright Museum in Branson where you can see many displays of books and personal collections of the best selling author in the early 20th century.
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