Ghost Town in the Sky
| Location |
Maggie Valley, North Carolina,  United States
|
|---|---|
| Theme | Wild West |
| Opened | May 1, 1961 |
Ghost Town Village (formerly "Ghost Town in the Sky) is a Wild West-themed amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, United States that is currently on hiatus. An unusual aspect of this park is that it is located atop a mountain which can only be accessed by visitors via a 3,370-foot-long (1,030 m) chair lift or an inclined funicular railway. These start at the parking area beside Jonathan Creek at an elevation of 3,150 feet (960 m), climbing to the lower level of the park at 4,400 feet (1,300 m), a climb of 1,250 feet (380 m). The recreated "Ghost Town" sits at 4,600 feet (1,400 m), with the highest elevation in the park being about 4,650 feet (1,420 m). 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. Ghost Town is promoted as "North Carolina's mile-high theme park."
Ghost Town was the brainchild of R.B. Coburn, a Covington, VA native who moved to Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The park was designed by Russell Pearson and constructed for approximately $1 million in 1960. The park opened on May 1, 1961 and quickly became one of Western North Carolina's most popular tourist attractions. Pearson also opened another Wild West theme park: Six Gun Territory in Florida.
At one point, 620,000 people visited Ghost Town each year. This number declined to 340,000 by 2008.
The park was sold in 1973 to National Services for a stock swap, but Coburn bought it back in 1986 and constructed the park's famous Red Devil roller coaster. 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, causing many visitors to tell others not to go. The chairlift and incline railway also required constant maintenance and repair. Coburn spent thousands of dollars maintaining them. 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.
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