Ghost Town Village (formerly "Ghost Town in the Sky at Ghost Mountain Park") is an abandoned Wild West-themed amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, United States whose status is currently, as of March 2023, the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. It sits atop Buck Mountain, with a top elevation of . Ghost Town was promoted as "North Carolina's mile-high theme park."
History Location
The park is located on a ridge extending from Buck Mountain border, an extension of the Cataloochee Divide, to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park's entrance is located on U.S. Highway 19, the main road through the town of Maggie Valley. An unusual aspect of this park is that it is located atop a mountain which originally could only be accessed by visitors via a chair lift or an inclined funicular railway. Attempts to move visitors to the park by bus proved problematic.(At one time visiting the closed park was possible via an abandoned road, but it is a private property and as of October 2019 the new owners have increased security and limited access.) These methods of transport to the park started at the parking area beside Jonathan Creek at an elevation of , climbing to the lower level of the park at , a climb of . The recreated "Ghost Town" sits at , with the highest elevation in the park being about .
Folklore The land to build the park was purchased from a local land owner named Uncle Dan Carpenter in 1960. The story is told that R.B. Coburn had overheard a story of Uncle Dan Carpenter losing his sheep in a large cavern on top of Buck Mountain. R.B. approached Carpenter so he could show him the caverns. R.B. Coburn thought it would be a tourist draw to add mountain cavern tours along with his idea of a western town. They attempted to find them again but when they got to the general area where he had heard his sheep crying, the land had closed up and no cavern entrance was found. Since the park's construction in 1960, this very same area of land continues to collapse between the Indian Village and the main Frontier Town which was later named Mountain Town. Starting in 1960, R.B. Coburn began filling in the area between the two entertainment sections and eventually paved over making it a stable area to place rides. Even as recently as 2007, the park experienced a minor landslide from this paved area of the amusement rides. The existing retaining wall that holds up this paved area was rebuilt with great care by experienced contractors. Then in 2010, the park experienced a major landslide and collapse of the retaining wall. Some people have discounted this story as folklore and others think this is due to the caverns swallowing up land mass slowly after rainfalls.
Construction Ghost Town was the brainchild of R.B. Coburn, a Covington, Virginia native who moved to Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Originally, it was planned that the park would be placed between the towns of Waynesville, North Carolina and Clyde, North Carolina, but future owner Alaska Presley suggested the mountain top locale. Local investors provided much of the needed capital for the park in the form of debenture bonds, beginning in 1959. The name of the park was provided by the child of one of the investors. The park was designed by Russell Pearson and constructed for approximately $1 million in 1960, and inspired by Coburn's trips to the western United States. Over two hundred locals help construct the 40 replica buildings that comprised the Western Town, located at the Mountain's peak. About 120,000 square feet of building were constructed, using 300,000 feet of lumber, 200,000 feet of plywood, and 20,000 pounds of nails.
Opening The park opened on May 1, 1961, and quickly became one of Western North Carolina's most popular tourist attractions. It showcased a double incline railway to bring park visitors to the top of Buck Mountain, a journey of more than 3,300 feet. The park added a two-seat chairlift, which at the time was the longest in North Carolina and the second longest in the USA. In the early 1960s, the park hosted several stars of TV Westerns, such as Laramie and Wagon Train. Hourly staged gun fights on the main street were a big draw as well.
1960s-1986
At one point, 620,000 people visited Ghost Town each year.Bill Studenc, "Maggie Valley Considers Loan for Ghost Town," Asheville Citizen-Times, May 14, 2009. It averaged about 500,000 visitors per year, with the chairlift moving 1,200 people per hour. The park became a major economic driver for the town.
The park was sold in 1973 to National Services for a stock swap. One source stated that the park suffered under this ownership as the small park was not a major concern for the company.
In 1982, performers from the park performed at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1984, a roller coaster was planned, sponsored by Coors Beer at a cost of one million dollars. The name of the coaster was a nod to the sponsor. The area was cleared for the coaster.
In 1986, Coburn bought it back and constructed the park's famous Red Devil roller coaster.
Decline In its later years under Coburn's ownership, the park suffered from mismanagement and a lack of maintenance. The Red Devil, Goldrusher, Sea Dragon, Monster, Mountain Town Swings, Undertaker, Dream Catcher, Casino, Round Up, Lil Devil and Silver Bullet rides were regularly breaking down and rarely opened. The chairlift and incline railway also required constant maintenance and repair. Coburn spent thousands of dollars maintaining them. The attendance number declined to 340,000 by 2008.Andre Rodriguez, "Ghost Town Back in Business," Asheville Citizen-Times, May 28, 2009.
Initial closure On July 16, 2002, the chairlift stopped, stranding passengers for over two hours. With fewer people visiting Ghost Town because of the bad condition of the park, Coburn closed Ghost Town a few days after the chairlift failure and put the park up for sale. The park remained closed and unmaintained for the next four years, leading many to believe that nobody would buy the park because of the bad condition of the rides.
Re-opening
Ghost Town was sold in August 2006 to Ghost Town Partners, LLC and reopened on May 25, 2007, after $38 million was spent on renovations and improvements.Jason Sandford, "Ghost Town in the Sky, one of WNC's most unique tourist attractions comes back to life", Asheville Citizen-Times, July 7, 2012. Loans of $10 million were obtained from BB&T; All of the rides were reopened except the incline railway, the train and the Monster. The opening of the park in May was scheduled closely by Dean Teaster and Hank Woodburn so the motion picture Dean Teaster's Ghost Town, which was filmed in the western town could premiere that same weekend. While attendance numbers were not announced, tourism to Haywood County increased 22%. Plans were announced to restore the railway, the train and the monster in the next season.
The 2008 financial crisis had a negative effect on tourism and attendance at the park.
In 2009, after more than $11 million had been spent, $6 million of that on the Cliffhanger roller coaster, Ghost Town filed for bankruptcy. The economy and high gas prices the previous year were blamed for the park's problems, but managing partner Lynn Sylvester said reopening was planned for May 15 and the park would continue to operate.Andre Rodriguez, "Struggling Ghost Town Files for Bankruptcy," Asheville Citizen-Times, March 12, 2009.
By mid-May 2009, the park's rides had not been inspected and Ghost Town claimed to need a $330,000 loan in order to reopen for the summer on May 22. The park asked the town for that money. Failure to secure the loan would have probably meant the loss of 200 jobs and a $2 million payroll, as well as impacting local businesses who benefited from park visitors. An anonymous investor provided the money, according to park president Steve Shiver, so a vote by the town on the loan request became unnecessary and the park opened as planned except for rides that had not been inspected. The park also added a new ride, Geronimo Drop, which had been at Libertyland in Memphis, Tennessee and was bought by Ghost Town in 2007. Shiver said the park had a $27 million plan to improve the park over four to five years, including moving and adding rides and introducing new events.
Ghost Town continued to struggle financially until the end of the 2009 season, when the park closed while the owners dealt with bankruptcy issues amid complaints that employees were not being paid. Owners of the Smokey Mountain Railroad in Bryson City attempted to purchase the property, but were unable to obtain financing.
Attempted re-openings 2010 On February 5, 2010, a massive mudslide occurred when retaining walls on the Ghost Town property gave way. Although there were no injuries, more than 40 homes had to be evacuated and three homes were damaged around the mountain. The park itself sustained damage, but to what extent is not publicly known. This led to speculation that the park would not open at all for the 2010 season. Shiver announced on a local news program that the park was still slated to open on Memorial Day weekend, but this did not happen. Federal funding was granted to the park in the amount of $1.3 million for the clean-up of its main access road, Rich Cove, which was buried in the slide.
In early March, 2010, a judge ruled in favor of the park's largest creditors, SunTrust and BB&T, to proceed with foreclosure on Ghost Town and sell the property to begin paying off the park's $9 million debt to SunTrust and $5 million debt to BB&T. Ghost Town partners negotiated a separate deal with SunTrust and BB&T which gave them until May 31 to come up with an alternate plan to allow the park to continue operating if funding was obtained. On May 4, a judge approved a takeover bid by American Heritage Family Parks, who pledged to pay SunTrust $7 million of its debt, BB&T its entire $5 million of debt and pay $100,000 in back taxes to Haywood County. The park was said to be allowed to open for the season while details of the sale were worked out."Company makes bid to buy Ghost Town," Asheville Citizen-Times, 2010-05-04. Instead, the park remained closed.
2011 In April 2011, the bankruptcy administrator recommended dismissing the case, citing the failure of Ghost Town partners to submit a sufficient reorganization plan to pay its debts. This allowed foreclosure proceedings to continue as the park was no longer protected under Chapter 11.
2012 In February 2012, the park was purchased at public auction by Alaska Presley for $2.5 million. Presley, a Maggie Valley businesswoman involved with the park since its beginning, hoped to have at least a portion of the park open for the end of the 2012 season.
On June 29, 2012, the park's A-frame entrance opened to the public for the first time in four years for gifts to be sold. The chairlift was also open and tours of the town could be taken.
2013 A limited opening of the park was planned for 2013. During the four years the park was idle and without security, the property was subject to vandalism and theft. In addition, damage from the 2010 retaining wall failure had to be repaired.
New laws required millions of dollars to be spent on labor and time lost due to state inspections. Wells for private water were condemned because they were too close to potentially unacceptable objects. Four new wells were drilled and all were failures except one of limited output. The option of city water was decided and virtually every piece and part of an old system had to be replaced.
During the Winter, Presley began plans for Resurrection Mountain, a replica of the Holy Land.
2014 In February, Presley attempted to develop a winter attraction for the area but funding was an issue.
In July, the park opened later than planned after having issues with ride inspections.