York County vs Evangelicals: The Battle Over 'Heritage USA' Ruins

[SecularMotion]

If you’ve been in the area long enough, you’ll remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, the televangelists who built a sprawling religious theme park in Fort Mill in the 1980s. A scandal led to the park closing its doors. Now, a new evangelical ministry is hoping to restore parts of the old theme park, but as WFAE’s Nick de la Canal reports, there’s a fear that history may repeat itself.

If you drive down the interstate in Fort Mill, South Carolina, you’ll come across the remaining vestiges of the old Heritage USA theme park. In the mid-80s, when the park was in its heyday, nearly 6 million people visited a year.

Televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker wanted their theme park to be like a Christian Disneyland. There was a miniature railroad, costumed characters, a water park, a big castle. There was even a Main Street USA area conspicuously similar to the one in Disney’s theme parks. Plus, the park served as an oversized stage for the Bakkers.

Ben Martin, a local resident and lifelong fan of Heritage USA, fondly remembers attending the park growing up. He now collects Heritage USA memorabilia.

http://wfae.org/post/york-county-vs-evangelicals-battle-over-heritage-usa-ruins

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. A Face in the Crowd.

I was maybe 12 when that movie hit the theaters.
Never ever forgot it.

Seems like the new batch of sheeple shellig out their $$$$ do not have as long a memory.