Thirty-five years ago today, on July 16, 1986, Dolly Parton opened her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Dollywood began as Rebel Railroad, a small tourist attraction, in the early 1960s. The Civil War-themed attraction morphed into Goldrush Junction, then Goldrush, as it changed owners, before becoming the popular Silver Dollar City Tennessee in 1977. In 1986, Parton bought into the theme park, in an attempt to increase employment for her family and fellow East Tennessee natives.