Missouri theme park modeled after 1800s town for sale

June 20 (UPI) -- An unusual property for sale in Missouri formerly served as an 1800s-themed tourist attraction and includes two cabins, a grist mill, a schoolhouse, a general store, a tavern, a blacksmith's shop and a jail.

Marion Shipman, 64,who owns the property in Warsaw, said he and his family began constructing the 19th century-inspired theme park in the late 1960s and the attraction opened to tourists in 1979.

For a $3 entrance fee, visitors were treated to a tour of buildings including a pair of authentic 1830s cabins and recreations of 19th century buildings including a post office, a blacksmith's shop and a jail.

Shipman said he and his family were constantly adding new attractions to the park.

"We'd tear down a building during the summer and build something with it during the winter every year," Shipman told KTVI-TV. "So, every year, we had this little circle of locals that would come at the beginning of every season to see what new thing we had built."

The park closed to the public in 1995, but Shipman and his family moved into the cottage intended for the park's operators in 2005.

Shipman is now hoping to find a buyer interested in restoring the park to its former glory. He said a previous attempt to sell the property in 1989 failed to spark interest.

"We listed it and never had a single person to come and look at it, not a single one," he said.

The property has an asking price of $295,000.