Timeline

The park opens under founder R.B. Coburn, with a double incline railway climbing more than 3,300 feet up Buck Mountain. Wikipedia gives the opening date as May 1, while The Mountaineer says June 1961.[1][2]

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The two-seat chairlift is added in the spring, running beside the incline railway on a 3,370-foot course. Visitors can ride either one up. At the time the chairlift is the longest in North Carolina.[3] Admission is $2.50 for adults and $1.50 for children. Stars of Lassie, Laramie and Wagon Train draw crowds, along with hourly staged gunfights.[2][1]

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Photographer Hugh Morton photographs the chairlift, the visitor center and a staged gunfight. The images are now in the UNC Libraries collection.[4]

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Coburn sells his parks to National Service Industries, Inc. in a stock swap. The Mountaineer dates the sale to 1970 and Wikipedia to 1973. Reports said the small park got lost inside the larger company. A 1986 state appeals court opinion names the company as National Service Industries, Inc., doing business as Ghost Town in the Sky.[2][1][5]

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The name Ghost Town in the Sky is registered as a federal trademark for amusement park services. The registration later expires in 1993.[6]

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Coburn buys the park back. He runs it through the 2002 season.[2]

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The Red Devil roller coaster, built out over the side of the mountain, opens in September. It is later renamed the Cliffhanger.[7][8]

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On July 16 the chairlift stops and strands riders for over two hours. With attendance already down, Coburn closes the park a few days later and puts it up for sale.[1]

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The park stays closed and unmaintained for four years.[1]

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Ghost Town Partners LLC buys the park from Coburn in August, backed by two loans from BB&T totaling $10 million.[2]

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The park reopens on May 25. The film Dean Teaster's Ghost Town, shot in the Western town, premieres the same weekend. Tourism to Haywood County rises 22 percent that year.[1][2]

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The park opens again, but the recession hits and the year's major goals are not met.[2]

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In March the owners file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while continuing to operate. The park closes in October.[2]

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On February 5 a retaining wall on park property fails and a mudslide comes down Buck Mountain. About 40 residents are displaced. The owners go into default on the mortgages.[1][2]

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Alaska Presley, a longtime Maggie Valley businesswoman, buys the park out of foreclosure in February for $2.5 million. On June 29 the A-frame entrance opens for the first time in four years, with gift sales, the chairlift and tours of the town.[2][1][9]

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Opening is delayed again by failed inspections. Two days after opening, gunfighter Robert Bradley is shot in the leg with a gun that was supposed to fire blanks, and the gunfighters walk off the job. The state fines the park $2,000.[2]

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In December 2015 Presley announces a relaunch as Ghost Town Village, with an Appalachian village theme, a vendor marketplace and adventure attractions. The official site at ghosttownvillage.com advertises zip lines, the chairlift, shops, restaurants and stage shows. By May 2016 there are reports of trouble between Presley, vendors and staff.[2][10]

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In May 2018 Lamar Berry forms Ghost Town Adventures to take over the park, but investors pull out. In December 2018 Spencer and Valerie Oberle, who had worked with Berry, form Ghost Town Maggie Valley LLC. According to The Mountaineer, their effort is abandoned in December 2019 after the expected $10 million investment never comes through.[2]

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In October 2019 the property goes under contract with a developer who speaks to Smoky Mountain News without being named. The closing is put off several times. The developer is later identified as Frankie Wood.[11][12][13]

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Presley places the park and about 250 acres in a new company, Ghost Town in the Sky LLC, in an equal partnership with developer Frankie Wood, whose Coastal Development LLC manages it.[14][15]

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Presley dies on April 7 at age 98. Her half goes to her niece, Jill McClure, who sues in August to dissolve the company.[16][15]

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The N.C. Business Court dismisses McClure's suit, leaving Wood as managing partner. Wood dies that fall, and McClure becomes the sole owner.[15][17]

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McClure says a Florida entertainment venue operator is a potential buyer, with no contract in place. An appraisal values the property at $6.4 million with 285 acres.[18][19]

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As of October 2026 we have not found a report of a completed sale. See Latest news.

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