Ghost Town Village has been standing empty for more than 15 years on its towering location on Buck Mountain near Maggie Valley, North Carolina, having once been a bustling hub of life
A theme park built on top of a mountain stands in the clouds as an eerie relic of one man’s dreams.
R. B. Coburn bought Buck Mountain near Maggie Valley, North Carolina in 1960 with a distinct goal in mind. The attraction mogul had visited the ghost towns of the American West and had become enthralled by the eerie way in which they could transport visitors to a lost part of the country’s history.
Legend goes he bought the area from a landowner down on his luck after losing a flock of sheep in the caverns below, and then set about convincing the locals to invest their time and money in a theme park he would called Ghost Town Village.
Clearly R. B. Coburn had the gift of the gab as he’d soon raised $1 million for its construction and convinced more than two hundred locals to help build the 40 replica buildings that comprised the Western Town, located at the Mountain’s peak.
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About 120,000 square feet of building were constructed, using 91,000 metres of lumber, 60,000 metres of plywood, and 9,000 kg of nails.
A double inclined railway was also constructed to bring its passengers to the entrance of Ghost Town, located 1,050 metres up the mountain. That puts it just a couple of dozen metres lower than Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales.
Ghost Town Village was an immediate hit, attracting over 620,000 visitors annually. It was even a favoured destination for big Western television stars of that era, such as Laramie and Wagon Train, who made appearances and added to the park’s allure.
The attraction featured an expansive, replica frontier town which served as the backdrop for staged shootouts and saloon sing-alongs. It used the mountainous terrain it sat on to its advantage, with rollercoasters laid out in such a way that guests would plunge out of the station and directly into a vertical loop before a series of dramatic twists and turns along the mountainside.
During the 1960s, when anxiety from the Cold War and Vietnam was spreading across the US, a park that let people indulge in the nostalgia of a bygone era proved irresistible.
However, as the years passed, the park faced challenges under new management and a lack of proper maintenance.
Reports of frequently broken roller coasters and rides started to deter visitors, leading to a decline in attendance. By the time 2008 rolled around, the park’s annual visitor count had dropped to 340,000, a significant decrease from its heyday. As financial problems plagued the park’s owners, employees began to complain about not receiving their salaries, exacerbating the park’s downward spiral. These issues ultimately led to the park’s closure at the end of the 2009 season.
After its closure, Ghost Town in the Sky was left abandoned, with its buildings, rides, and attractions falling into disrepair. However, the park’s story did not end there. As of the current date in 2023, the park is still embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit to determine its future fate and ownership, with the legal battle expected to conclude in July 2023.
Jarringly, its once vibrant atmosphere, the park now remains eerie and silent, a stark contrast to its former lively state. Ben James, a visitor from Cambridge, captured images of the abandoned park, revealing empty streets, an accumulation of unclaimed tickets, and deserted buildings like the general store and saloon.
Ben said the place felt creepy and surreal. He compared the atmosphere to something out of “The Last of Us” or an apocalypse. During his visit, Ben also played on some of the abandoned stalls, reminiscing about the rides and the prizes still left on the shelves, despite losing in the games.