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October 3, 1977
receptive the public is to some of the ideas being looked into, and to the economics of the various projects.
This letter is our first attempt to contact historical societies on your feelings and ideas toward developing a theme park around the concept of the State's early lumber industry (or early to present industry). Several general questions come to mind immediately, and your response to them would be appreciated:
1.	from your knowledge of Mississippi's early lumber industry, do you feel the State justified in pursuing the development of a theme park depicting a lumber industry theme;
2.	do you have any preference as to which of the following
theme concepts the park should follow:	(1) a replica
logging camp; (2) a museum; (3) an interpretive center; and/or, (4) an interpretive trail;
3.	from your experience as a historical society, what procedure would you recommend to follow in obtaining artifacts, equipment, replicas, etc., of the early lumber industry;
k. can you provide the names of any individuals who should be contacted for their special expertise on the turn-of-the-century lumber industry;
In your response to the preceding questions, please feel free to add additional comments and raise questions. I would like to add here that inquiries have been sent to all state park agencies in the U. S. requesting information on similar theme parks in their respective area. To date, only two Lake States have responded that they have developed a park along the ideas suggested here. This would mean that such a park in Mississippi would be the first of its kind in the South. The nature of the park theme, including the amount and kind of displays, would largely determine the visitor rates and market area -- local, state, multi-state.
Your response to the general questions raised in this letter and any additional thoughts would be most appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Dr. Robert W. Wales
Resource Manager
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