Abandoned Heritage USA Theme Park Tour - What Remains of Failed PTL Attractions / Inside Main Street
Heritage USA Property Tour
Transcript
0:02
welcome everyone adam the woo here as a
0:02
recording of this tuesday february 15
0:04
2022. behind me is a coffee place by the
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name of chatty kathy where i got myself
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a piping hot caffeinated beverage i am
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standing on the former
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theme park
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heritage usa in fort mill south carolina
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just over the north carolina border into
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south carolina on the outskirts of
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charlotte
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quite a history i've not been here in
0:27
over a decade and since i was here 10
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years ago a lot of stuff has been
0:31
removed
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but a lot of stuff still exists so i am
0:35
back to cover the interesting history
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and relics of what still remains
0:41
of heritage usa
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fascinating place this place
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is is very interesting join me
0:50
shall you and also drinking uh yours
0:52
isn't piping hot though mine's popping
0:54
warm piping warm and warm and according
0:57
to here it just says mine says adam on
0:59
it yours says tony yeah the one and only
1:01
carolina
1:03
carolina tony you ever been to this this
1:05
property before uh briefly very briefly
1:09
but you haven't really
1:10
dove into the nooks and crannies of this
1:12
exactly and i'm kind of hoping that
1:14
maybe you can show me some of that okay
1:16
and we'll see there you are adam where's
1:18
your coffee oh it's over there but i ran
1:21
off to you all the whole way
1:23
don't leave me back like that again man
1:27
hey tony hey what's up you know what
1:30
what you got pretty mild i'm gonna start
1:32
here at the coffee shop called chatty
1:35
kathy
1:36
now this has been bricked over since the
1:39
park closed in 1989
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but this was the original registration
1:44
building
1:45
for the campground
1:47
log cabin
1:48
all on the inside there is a log cabin
1:50
in fact i will walk inside and show
1:52
where the log cabin interiors
1:54
are inside you see the log cabin that
1:57
was also the exterior is the same on the
1:59
inside as it was on the outside of the
2:02
of the coffee place so this is an
2:03
original building
2:05
from heritage usa and there used to be a
2:07
tram that would pick people up here as
2:09
well as take them all around the
2:11
property
2:12
should be able to find some remnants of
2:14
the tram stops as well so behind all
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this as i just showed inside
2:20
they place new brick i will also be
2:22
showing some old photographs
2:24
that i found
2:25
searching through old home videos and
2:27
things that are posted online
2:29
this is what it looked like this is the
2:31
building here and here is what it looks
2:33
like now modern day 2022 and just
2:36
adjacent these cabins are also original
2:39
cabins now a lot of stuff out here will
2:40
not be original
2:42
there is a some new people that own the
2:44
property a new organization
2:47
but one thing that is probably the
2:48
biggest landmark off in the distance is
2:50
the heritage tower that is unfinished
2:53
uh this is the place i've always i'm not
2:55
making a video from here i'm just along
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for the ride this is the place i've
2:59
read about and just wanted to come to
3:01
it's a fascinating story i'm just
3:02
listening to you i'm drinking in the
3:04
knowledge basking basking in the
3:06
woundness berm
3:08
and i use the disney reference because
3:10
even jim baker himself
3:12
who built all of this well there's a
3:14
whole story he hired a guy
3:16
to build this which the guy that built
3:19
all this property built a lot of epic
3:21
church buildings he ended up marrying
3:24
jim baker's
3:25
ex-wife
3:27
tammy afterwards the guy that built it
3:29
dude the same guy what's his name wrong
3:31
bro
3:33
is it messenger yeah he married tammy
3:35
the master family from kansas isn't that
3:37
wild yeah but an interesting thing also
3:39
about the disney correlation jim baker
3:41
himself said that he wanted a christian
3:44
disneyland there was a train out here
3:46
there was a water park there was all
3:48
kind of themed attractions very similar
3:51
and
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at the time at its peak it was the third
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busiest theme park
3:57
anywhere in the u.s
3:59
with the exception
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of you know walt disney world magic
4:03
kingdom and of course disneyland on
4:05
anaheim you just blew my mind i thought
4:07
that it never opened no it was open
4:10
it was very busy really i think they had
4:12
2500 employees this was a general store
4:15
this is the foundation of a big general
4:18
store that is now used as a makeshift
4:20
basketball court
4:21
but the foundation is still here
4:23
the front entrance would have been right
4:25
here
4:26
and you can see they used to have you
4:28
know some pillars or something right
4:30
there as well the parking lot for the
4:32
general store and little relics of the
4:34
past right down here you can still see
4:36
the theming
4:37
on top of the cinder blocks and most
4:39
likely probably had a kitchen or some
4:41
sort or some sinks back here
4:43
now you got the pipes for the water look
4:46
at this oldsmobile right here
4:48
wow there's not even a tag on it so this
4:51
was a tram stop
4:53
right here
4:54
you can see the roof of this thing has
4:55
seen better days
4:57
kind of decayed a little bit but this
5:01
right over here oh look at this fencing
5:04
as well there's a bicycle pump right up
5:06
there and the fact that there were so
5:08
many people here
5:10
just enjoying the day waiting for the
5:12
tram to go by here to give you the tour
5:14
of the property going along this little
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paved area
5:22
what a what an interesting story i'm not
5:22
even going to really get into all the
5:24
the nitty-gritty of it there's a lot of
5:25
stuff you know you could kind of do your
5:27
own research but yeah it's it's why did
5:29
they leave this one just this one thing
5:32
just wait for the tram guys yeah
5:36
i would say
5:38
you're going to ride the water slide
5:39
you're going to be like jerry falwell
5:41
remember jerry falwell did that no i'll
5:43
tell you that i'll tell you that
5:45
and as you can see a different company
5:47
has taken over the property not all the
5:49
property a lot of the acres are not
5:51
being utilized anymore but this portion
5:54
still has quite a few cars on it this
5:56
would be
5:57
the heritage tower
5:59
where
6:00
falwell who went down the water slide it
6:02
was a promotion that he did took over
6:06
for jim baker
6:08
and promised everyone if they gave the
6:10
money that they would have a stay here
6:12
in the heritage tower
6:15
of course you know because of the
6:17
controversy and everything that happened
6:19
that never took place but jerry falwell
6:21
still went down the water slide and
6:23
another
6:24
little gazebo here well a gazebo at
6:27
another tram stop you could even see
6:30
where the tram would pull off of the
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parking lot section past this little
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area and where this car is parked
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is where other people would wait for the
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tram stop
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a lot of those old ptl episodes
6:46
were all about promoting this
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heavily promoting
6:50
when this was the groundbreaking when
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this was being
6:54
built
6:55
they were giving updates
6:58
requesting those would
7:00
show their support by
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i believe it was a thousand dollars you
7:04
could almost get like a room here and it
7:06
would they would promise that you would
7:07
be able to stay here after it was
7:09
completed
7:11
and from what i heard
7:12
the thousands of people that donated a
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thousand each only got a very small
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percentage of
7:18
that money back it's probably gonna be
7:20
uh a walk way in
7:23
this bridge going this building was here
7:25
so this is the original building this is
7:27
the original hotel
7:29
and it was so popular they were going to
7:30
expand
7:32
and that's why they were building this
7:33
because so many people
7:35
wanted to wanted to come out here this
7:37
is definitely the walkway up there that
7:39
would lead in so this was the grand
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hotel here on through this entrance but
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this is around the back side of it but
7:45
that says grand cafe
7:47
so grand hotel here
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all original
7:50
and then this
7:52
is the tower the heritage tower
7:59
that are all rusted out
8:00
oh look at this
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wow that's look at that little relic
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first in faith
8:07
electrical controls
8:09
yeah take a look at this this this here
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the broken glass on there the the the
8:15
broken plexiglass fiberglass
8:18
rather i guess you know it's plastic
8:20
it's just made out of plastic
8:22
now right over here when i was here 10
8:25
years ago i believe i was here in late
8:27
2011.
8:32
i stood in front of this this was the
8:32
castle
8:34
this was a big castle
8:37
that has been completely bulldozed it's
8:39
not here anymore
8:40
yeah there was a castle right here
8:44
right on this giant concrete slide that
8:46
we're seeing on right this is the
8:47
foundation of where the castle was got
8:49
the parking lot there
8:52
in fact over here is even more kind of
8:54
foundation like the front of the like
8:56
maybe the tile work of the castle
8:58
again
8:59
you know the disney correlation sleeping
9:01
beauty cinderella
9:03
this was jerusalem's castle but very
9:06
similar
9:07
to what you would see something that
9:10
that walt had envisioned
9:20
you're standing on the castle floor
9:20
right now you know sometimes you never
9:22
know if something is true or not or if
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it's just a rumor but this would have
9:25
been an epic wendy's it was huge i'll
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see if i could find a photo what the
9:28
castle looked like now just to kind of
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line this up correctly i'm going to
9:32
stand in the parking lot you could see
9:34
someone in the parking lot there so the
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castle would have been across the
9:37
parking lot to try to match up this
9:39
angle there was a boat and there was a
9:40
bridge with the front being right here
9:42
parking lot
9:44
that photograph
9:45
that photograph was not me i just found
9:47
it
9:48
on the interwebs but this is the angle
9:53
of where the moat was leading to the
9:55
castle so castle was right there
9:57
and there would have been a bridge
10:00
going over this moat
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right about here take a look at this
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take a look at this this might have been
10:06
the old bridge
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i think this might have been the old
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bridge it's like been turned or maybe
10:12
part of the wall
10:13
but the bridge would have been here
10:14
going over the moat and look you can
10:16
even see the theming here
10:20
so this probably was like a pillar a
10:21
pillar there
10:23
bridge walked right over the
10:25
front of that
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i think it was part of the bridge i'm
10:27
thinking maybe it was the bridge shifted
10:29
around
10:31
but the entrance to the castle would
10:32
have been right here parking is over
10:35
and then you just walk right out so you
10:37
guys are in the castle
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you're the kings of the castle
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these big poles yeah i bet you this is
10:44
where the chains were that would lower
10:46
the bridge down the drawbridge and lots
10:49
of foundations out here this little
10:50
roundabout
10:52
went over there
10:54
you know one day all this will be
10:55
apartments all this land will be sold to
10:58
developers and it will be just like what
11:00
you're seeing over there now the island
11:03
was over right over here you see the
11:05
water tower off in the distance that was
11:06
where the main attraction was a water
11:09
park now also over here
11:12
original fencing here still with the
11:14
green paint on it
11:17
and i'm showing this because across the
11:19
way across this
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waterway is the old train tracks that
11:24
led over to the water park
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in fact there should be like
11:30
a piece of wood there that almost looks
11:31
like it would be from a train track and
11:33
they follow this concrete around
11:35
and you're going to kind of get the
11:36
grand reveal not no pun intended because
11:38
it's called the grand hotel
11:41
of one of the original building all of
11:42
this is original obviously this was
11:45
built towards the end of its days
11:47
in the late 80s but all along here
11:50
this was all original right here okay
11:53
yeah
11:54
so that's the original railroad bridge
11:56
here in the foreground in the distance
11:59
is the ticket
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main ticket area where you would pay
12:03
money to go on the island
12:06
to go ride on
12:07
you know the attractions at the water
12:09
park right over there now this doesn't
12:11
line up correctly but notice the big
12:13
building in the background with the
12:14
bridge up here that building still
12:16
stands so this was taken over on the
12:18
island that's the wave pool and here's
12:20
an image of a guide map of the park
12:23
so you got the tower over here kind of
12:25
i'm standing inland but right there is
12:27
the island you can just see how
12:29
monstrous the theming was
12:32
and this bridge here is partially still
12:34
there and the railroad bridge leading
12:36
from the inland onto the island i'm
12:38
gonna go over there and show that angle
12:40
too but this is from the guide map
12:42
this is all original most likely this
12:46
as well
12:52
very impressive looking structures here
12:52
to line up where the train tracks went
12:54
over the bridge in correlation to where
12:56
jerry falwell went down the water slides
12:58
those are the water slides behind and
13:00
this is the train bridge i'm gonna match
13:02
this up too from the same angle the old
13:05
railroad bridge
13:14
oh my gosh this is the same angle
13:14
the train would be going directly this
13:16
way doing a full tour of the property
13:18
around the water park around the island
13:22
you can still see here
13:24
looks like a train trestle
13:31
choo choo
13:31
how cool is that water slides
13:35
basically where people are living right
13:36
there
13:37
starting at the top all of this
13:40
was the water park stretching over there
13:41
you see that water tower you can also
13:43
see that bridge leading over which was
13:45
the ticket this was not
13:47
accessible you weren't supposed to walk
13:48
across us it was just for the trains
13:53
but that now
13:54
infamous footage of
13:56
jerry falwell
13:57
going down
13:58
live on television from the top
14:01
plummeting
14:03
fulfilling his promise for the 20
14:04
million dollars that was
14:06
that was given for the
14:08
supposed completion
14:10
of this tower and one of the locals
14:12
probably one of the residents now
14:13
walking across the bridge
14:15
with his dog
14:16
there's also some photos and an
14:18
interview with jessica hahn
14:20
when she showed up here
14:22
and there
14:23
you know about jessica hahn right i know
14:25
a lot about jessica you were on the car
14:27
ride over you're talking about
14:28
interviews with her on howard stern a
14:30
lot of because i'm a big heart surfing
14:31
like back in the day and um
14:33
she was so bubbly and so personable but
14:36
you just showed me those speeches they
14:37
blew me away right this place catered to
14:39
the
14:39
to people from their ministry donated
14:42
right and deeply religious people in the
14:43
air was it
14:45
a draw for people to come
14:47
even if they weren't absolutely yeah
14:49
there's a lot of you can find a lot of
14:50
stuff online people that that weren't
14:52
even into the ministry so much that just
14:53
wanted to go to a theme park and that
14:55
was part of the appeal yeah that's
14:56
really
14:58
there's also the photo here
15:00
of an interview with jessica han she
15:03
returned back
15:05
signing playboys
15:07
so take a look at this there is the
15:09
tower in the background and then there
15:11
is the little
15:12
cylinder little awning that she's
15:15
walking past she's in the jeans right
15:17
looking the other way someone's filming
15:18
with a big griswold style video camera
15:20
also a local resident just walked by was
15:22
chatting with him a little bit
15:24
he was saying that they are attempting
15:27
to reopen this and there's
15:29
you know the city and the town
15:33
there's a lot going on a lot of red tape
15:34
going on to try to reopen this but this
15:36
is structurally sound the tower
15:38
so one day according to
15:40
the locals
15:41
there might be residents in there now
15:43
the train track uh sata went across here
15:46
but it basically followed what is now a
15:48
sidewalk so the train went right along
15:50
the side of this waterway now you'll
15:52
notice how very theme park looking the
15:54
facades were but look at the tower in
15:57
the background and then also look at
15:58
this main building over here with the
16:00
brick
16:01
and then down below you'll see a fence
16:03
down here there is the same fence right
16:06
down here repaint it
16:08
but it is the same fence and there's the
16:10
side of that building
16:11
and there is the tower they have
16:13
repurposed the front it doesn't have
16:15
that kitschy theme park look anymore and
16:17
the tram would have gone right through
16:19
here as well
16:20
looped around
16:26
train would have gone down the side of
16:26
that little hill towards the water water
16:28
park over there
16:35
completely new facades
16:35
right here this was the main entrance so
16:38
whenever they would promote this hotel
16:40
or
16:41
you know on the ptl show
16:44
they would always show the front of this
16:45
building also another photo of jessica
16:47
hahn's signature said she was signing
16:49
her playboys on the hood of a car
16:51
look at the bill yeah true story
16:54
right over there in the background is
16:56
that building kind of angled that way
16:58
that building
16:59
is still here as well which was the
17:01
ticket area and
17:03
where you would walk across the bridge
17:05
to go to the water park then i walk over
17:07
and get this angle as well you can see
17:09
kind of all adorned with
17:11
all the festive looking items there and
17:13
that's about the angle right there
17:16
you're leaning on the same
17:18
wrought iron fence
17:20
that was used in the in those
17:21
promotional materials just repainted
17:23
obviously it's incredible
17:26
you feel like you're in the 80s the late
17:27
80s it was also used on the front of the
17:29
brochure the pamphlet the same angle
17:31
there with the family walking along the
17:34
little little rail with a little wrought
17:35
iron
17:37
yeah this is almost like the guide map
17:39
right of sorts and here's another angle
17:41
looking back across with all the little
17:43
kind of streamers and whatnot going
17:45
across standing underneath the vision
17:47
center which was the ticket booth that
17:48
led over to the water park to kind of
17:50
get this angle
17:52
now the bridge that led over to the
17:54
water park from the little main air this
17:56
is the only way you could access the
17:57
water park from like a ticketed area has
18:00
been cut off in half you cannot cross it
18:02
but i wanted to show this angle because
18:04
there is a photo from here back in the
18:06
day of the bridge extending across and
18:08
the water park off in the in the
18:10
distance there was also gazebo on the
18:13
other side right there on the island
18:15
where those houses are as shown here
18:17
there's the concrete pylons that have
18:19
the bridge of course the bridge was
18:20
fully across
18:21
there's the gazebo water park in the
18:23
distance those theme rocks are still
18:25
there those are not real rocks now i
18:28
would like to cross over there at some
18:29
point and walk over
18:31
and get a better peek at those that is
18:34
theming that is probably made
18:36
of a fake substance not non-rock-like
18:39
there are two photos jim was standing in
18:41
the same spot but you'll notice the
18:42
railroad bridge off in the distance and
18:44
then
18:44
this one i think maybe the cameraman
18:46
kind of like just walked around him so
18:48
you see in the bridge off the distance
18:50
leads to the water park and then the
18:52
other one that is the train trestle but
18:54
he would have been standing more or less
18:57
right about there so you got the first
18:59
one of him here
19:00
looking off in the distance with the
19:01
water slides in the background and the
19:03
train trestle camera person whoever it
19:05
was shifted this way
19:07
and got him from there as well
19:10
that is something else
19:13
i've seen those photos many many times
19:15
that was that was used heavily in their
19:17
promotional material adam and some of
19:19
the photos you were showing earlier
19:20
wasn't there a rock wall did you already
19:22
mention that the fake rock wall yeah i
19:24
want to walk a little i want to walk
19:26
over there you're walking right on the
19:28
railroad
19:30
tracks
19:32
this metal stuff
19:38
i mean that's real oh yeah but i think
19:38
this is fake down here i know
19:40
look at this
19:43
just don't fall in the water
19:45
i have nothing mud i'm good you know
19:47
what it's made out of it's just made out
19:48
of concrete
19:50
so i think it maybe it'd be like a
19:51
plasticky substance
19:56
don't follow that man don't get too
19:57
close
19:59
that's concrete
20:00
concrete
20:01
oh look this is falling over yeah
20:04
totally oh this pie line has fallen
20:07
wow
20:09
okay so this was the last one of the
20:12
bridge
20:13
that went across
20:16
they just cut the bridge off
20:18
this either fell on its own accord or
20:20
they pushed it over keepers come out
20:22
residents remember to sit at the top
20:25
right from there perhaps the water yeah
20:28
let's take trailing
20:30
back down
20:31
like a waterfall
20:33
illusion of
20:34
we're fixing to really have some fun in
20:36
this water park
20:38
they lived in a place called tiga k you
20:40
know don't hold me to it i'm just
20:41
thinking i remember you know yeah you
20:43
know here's the thing
20:45
the 70s to me
20:47
it was kind of foggy was it
20:51
what if this geese have any idea that
20:53
they're walking where the water park was
20:55
i can guarantee you how did they do not
20:57
because they are canadian geese
21:00
just like me and i do not like them i'm
21:03
an animal lover you know what they are
21:04
no
21:05
trust me i don't get too close to geese
21:06
this little embankment here
21:13
kind of like looking down
21:13
this bridge
21:15
now it has been bulldozed
21:17
quite a few years ago when i was here
21:20
10 or 11 years ago the amphitheater
21:21
which was kind of in this general area
21:23
where these houses are still stood i was
21:26
able to get in get inside and see that
21:27
but it's gone now this is a relic
21:31
for sure wow
21:38
and then the road just ends right here
21:38
thinking this was like a construction
21:39
road almost
21:44
to lead into the island it just ends
21:46
where these homes are now
21:48
yeah just look at all this just very
21:49
unusual if you didn't know the history
21:52
of all this you would think why is all
21:54
this these little concrete pieces and
21:57
broken sidewalk through here here's
21:59
another original
22:00
fencing with the green paint on it
22:03
right here along there the train would
22:05
run parallel to this so the train tracks
22:08
would go along side
22:10
of all of these sidewalks now this is an
22:12
older satellite image here back when
22:14
this pool was abandoned you can see but
22:17
they have cleaned it up a lot but notice
22:18
the angle of the pool walking along this
22:20
is this is adjacent water park is kind
22:23
of like
22:24
up there just a bit
22:25
but this pool
22:26
is still over here
22:28
off to the side because this is they've
22:30
built some new houses but they kept the
22:32
pool and cleaned it up in the pool
22:34
it's still here
22:36
here look at this
22:38
is this structurally sound
22:47
yeah look at this
22:47
old dock
22:55
there is a swan right there
22:56
going that's a very beautiful very
22:58
impressive looking big swan but over
23:00
here so these cabins are the original
23:02
cabinets kind of going full circle
23:04
that coffee shop went to earlier is kind
23:06
of over in that area and that gazebo
23:10
is from 89 as well so many very weird
23:13
unusual formations like this
23:17
like look at this is something this is
23:19
from left behind yeah but you would go
23:21
up here get a little you could take a
23:23
you know either a wheelchair or a bike
23:24
or anything up this little incline got
23:27
the drainage area but then there's some
23:28
stairs here
23:30
almost as if it was like a seating area
23:32
or a stage
23:38
you gonna describe a seat
23:38
you waiting for the show
23:40
what those things looks like when it's
23:41
not torn down there it is okay yeah it
23:43
has the power units on the side junction
23:45
box it was called junction box yeah
23:47
see i learned a lot from you carolina
23:49
tony if the door lifted up it would be a
23:51
switch box
23:53
okay so but
23:55
wow the door opened up it would be a
23:56
switch box or breaker boxes breakers
23:58
would be in but if it don't open it's a
24:00
junction box
24:02
there are
24:03
outlets on the side where you plug in
24:05
electrical
24:06
devices i think somebody disagrees with
24:08
you listen to them no no no no no no no
24:12
no wrong no no oh that cat's running
24:15
across there go cat go carolina go cat
24:18
go go cat go
24:23
okay we've walked all around this now
24:23
we're going to go inside
24:25
now you can see the little holes here
24:27
the fence used to be along there going
24:30
past my shadow here but i'm noticing
24:32
here you can see some slight remains of
24:35
where the railroad used to be
24:37
so if you just kind of use your
24:38
imagination you see here
24:40
this is where the slats here were these
24:43
little indentations
24:45
where the railroad went along parallel
24:48
to the sidewalk now i made a mistake
24:50
over there
24:51
when we first got here there was a
24:52
sidewalk along the front entrance
24:55
and i said that the sidewalk replaced
24:56
the railroad tracks i was looking at old
24:58
photos i was incorrect i could stand
24:59
correct the railroad track went beside
25:02
this is original sidewalk and original
25:04
railroad tracks yeah so take a look at
25:05
this with the castle off in the distance
25:08
so the track train tracks run parallel
25:10
to all the sidewalks it's just off the
25:12
side of that tree probably like an eight
25:13
scale train if i had to guess and
25:15
there's jim and tammy faye baker right
25:16
there on that small train
25:19
going around the tracks
25:21
i guess we should walk under the bridge
25:22
before we go in just just to see what
25:24
that looks like
25:26
we're gonna get to see main street usa
25:27
inside what remains of it now underneath
25:29
the bridge there is a stairwell that
25:31
leads up to it but this is what it looks
25:34
like underneath where all the guests
25:36
would be walking so they would walk up
25:39
across here
25:40
they'd be in their bathing suits had
25:42
their ticket their admission their
25:43
wristband whatever they utilized to
25:44
designate whether you were either paid
25:46
admission
25:47
or staying on property you would walk
25:50
across this bridge
25:52
and into
25:54
water theme park
26:19
very unusual history here
26:19
on the north south carolina line all
26:21
right going inside to see what remains
26:29
i'm really hoping i'm crossing my
26:29
fingers that when we get in here it will
26:31
look exactly the same as it did back in
26:33
the heritage usage maybe even see
26:34
something again it is now owned by
26:39
the fellowship morningstar
26:41
church
26:43
going in
26:45
oh yeah yeah i recognize this from a lot
26:48
of the holiday specials
26:50
a lot of stuff took place in here
26:53
jim tammy faye
26:55
right over in this area going up that
26:57
stairwell yeah so they have the chairs
26:59
there in front of the bricks
27:01
the tree is up between where the
27:03
elevator goes up and down then you got
27:05
the rooms beside it
27:07
but there they are standing right there
27:09
doing the ptl show they were using that
27:11
as a makeshift stage there
27:14
audience down here where these tables
27:15
are looking that way with the tree
27:17
right there over there where the
27:18
elevators are
27:19
they have this little timeline here this
27:21
in 87
27:23
so that's what the heritage hotel looked
27:25
like then
27:26
heritage usa this confirms what i was
27:28
saying was the second most visited
27:30
destination in the usa second only to
27:33
disney world
27:34
let's say probably disneyland it's
27:36
probably probably number two this is
27:37
number three but still
27:39
noted and then in 97 the hotel was shut
27:42
down and vandalism element elements and
27:45
neglect this is what it looked like
27:46
outside in 97 and then of course this
27:49
area of the property
27:51
is all now being utilized by a new
27:52
congregation
27:56
over here
27:57
i think i don't know if you caught on
27:58
camera we thought that was well i
27:59
thought it was optometry but it's
28:01
actually a place for prayer
28:02
oh vision center okay we were thinking
28:04
it was a place
28:06
okay all right here it is i have wanted
28:08
to see this
28:09
this is the first time i visited this
28:11
place for whatever reason i did not go
28:13
in here
28:14
this is what they consider
28:16
main street
28:18
usa it almost is very similar to walt's
28:21
vision that he based on marceline
28:24
missouri where he grew up
28:26
at disneyland california and walt disney
28:28
world magic kingdom in florida
28:31
what in the name of heck this is like
28:34
this is eerie
28:36
in a lot of ways
28:38
this is so
28:40
unusual i mean it's awesome but
28:49
i'm almost looking for like the main
28:50
street windows
28:52
there's the imagineers and whatnot i'm
28:54
not gonna find that here
28:55
but it's even addressed 120
29:00
looks like some of the congregation or
29:02
at least those who are here
29:09
are eating they're eating their dinner
29:09
as a recording of this it is a tuesday
29:17
look at this this is amazing
29:19
there's even a trolley down at the end
29:22
oh what the hell i had no idea this was
29:24
this elaborate in here
29:27
no idea
29:29
the main street little theaters over
29:32
all of these rooms are being utilized
29:35
for classes
29:36
the campus
29:48
now this is like i said this is
29:48
incredible but i feel like we've stepped
29:50
into a version of the twilight zone in
29:52
some kind of a way
29:54
someone lit up with it
29:56
classes on the bottom levels it's a
29:58
tuesday i was recording as i was saying
30:01
but this place is there's a lot of
30:03
people in here
30:08
and we are getting some interesting
30:08
looks on why we're filming however
30:10
someone that works here came out asked
30:12
what we were doing and they invited us
30:13
in to film so we do have permission to
30:16
film through here
30:19
so thank you to the new owners for
30:20
allowing us to walk around and document
30:22
this history
30:24
so over here oh
30:27
okay this just says
30:29
elevators now if anyone ever watched the
30:32
ptl club this doll
30:34
should be very familiar to you
30:41
oh there we go we finally found a
30:41
heritage usa
30:43
look at all this doll
30:45
in public form
30:48
here's an lp
30:50
jim and tammy present
30:57
incredible
30:57
there's that pool right there
30:59
no that's no that's the way pool that's
31:00
the way pool that was on the that's on
31:02
the island on the island there's all
31:04
there's all look at the heritage usa ptl
31:09
mary medicine
31:11
i am glad we went in here log cutting
31:14
ceremony
31:15
of the opening look at that wow ruler
31:19
jim baker eight jim baker's eight keys
31:21
to success
31:22
how'd that turn out
31:24
right
31:26
he probably didn't even read his own
31:27
book he didn't write his own work
31:31
this is incredible the whole backstory
31:33
in history is really a it's almost like
31:35
something out of a soap opera
31:37
and you know obviously there's just too
31:38
much to
31:39
go into detail here we do need to go
31:41
over this this is called the upper room
31:43
we're gonna try to find that on the way
31:44
out
31:45
what you got oh look at this
31:47
is this them building it well
31:50
or this is um
31:52
on on site while the construction people
31:54
are wow
31:56
there's tammy
31:57
right there and oh this one the tram
32:00
trams going by and of course during the
32:03
holidays they had an event called
32:05
christmas city
32:06
there's even a vinyl lp
32:08
and this so it was called the partners
32:11
partner center
32:13
which is what we're inside of right now
32:14
which was the heritage hotel so this is
32:17
even look at this this is even before
32:18
the water park was built
32:21
so this came first and then the water
32:23
park came afterwards oh they had a ferry
32:25
boat
32:27
look that's a fairy boat dock right
32:29
there yeah
32:34
that's kind of where we're over there
32:34
looking at the rock work and i'd just
32:35
like to say to your viewers that if
32:38
they'd like to come and visit the theme
32:39
park
32:40
sorry folks parks closed who's a
32:42
frenchman told you
32:50
even a trolley it's not horse-drawn
32:50
kind of something you'd see over it dca
32:52
you know
32:53
that style
32:55
number 33 five cent fair
32:58
the heritage transit
33:00
main street trolley
33:24
at the end of main street was the
33:24
conference center you could lead in
33:27
it's like it's still being utilized
33:30
as well and
33:32
even have like almost like an emporium
33:35
if you will here at the front this
33:37
little boutique
33:39
section over here
33:42
this is all indoors
33:45
indoors to make it seem
33:47
like outdoors
33:51
the trees
33:52
the fake trees on the side
33:59
and there was a bakery in a deli called
33:59
der baker
34:00
delhi
34:03
we're trying to find it looks like scott
34:05
has found it down here named obviously
34:08
after the bakers
34:09
you know baker bakery
34:16
and that sign was right there so this
34:16
was the deli
34:18
der baker deli
34:20
right there still looks the same though
34:21
that was just a clock where
34:24
their name was they've removed the name
34:40
okay this has been quite an experience
34:42
so far still one or two things i want to
34:44
show
34:45
outside but this main street area yeah
34:54
hey here's a closer view of the water
34:54
tower there once again the heritage usa
34:57
logo has been removed but it was kind of
34:59
mounted up there on the side of that
35:00
water tower okay see where it was you
35:03
can
35:04
i guess you kind of see where the
35:05
sticker was right
35:06
and what is now here on the same same
35:09
general vicinity and rv lot
35:12
this was also a tram stop
35:15
for back in the 80s
35:16
you have guests waiting here now it's
35:18
used for information check-in and
35:20
propane refill and definitely getting
35:22
our steps in
35:23
we've walked all the way from there to
35:25
here and we're looking for one building
35:27
that still should remain up here on the
35:28
left it still exists and from what i'm
35:31
hearing is still active
35:34
for those who would like to come here
35:41
meditate worship
35:41
but this was built
35:44
back in the ptl days
35:47
in fact this
35:48
little sculpture here
35:51
was back from the 80s as well when
35:54
the park and everything was in its its
35:57
day
36:22
now also over here laid to rest
36:22
is aubrey sarah
36:25
and i had to research this a little bit
36:27
thankfully someone has kept this up
36:28
because
36:29
a few years ago this building was in
36:32
quite disarray and this this property
36:34
was not in the best shape but now
36:36
it is looked over and kept up there are
36:39
some flowers down here
36:42
as well but aubrey sarah
36:44
after i was kind of researching it was
36:46
the mentor
36:47
of jim baker so jim baker
36:51
looked up to them
36:52
learned in memory of buddy yeah that's
36:56
why right up there yeah and then donna
36:59
sue lambright
37:01
bored in 47 passed away in 13.
37:05
it's weird it's hard to see if any of
37:06
these people are related because not one
37:08
last name is the same here so it's not a
37:10
family clock
37:12
loyal friend you are forever in our
37:14
heart buddy
37:16
and going down this incline kind of
37:17
below the bridge area here
37:20
is the slates of the ten commandments
37:24
oh okay here's the first documentation
37:27
that says the word heritage usa in the
37:29
little museum area they had inside
37:31
dedicated to the honor of partners
37:32
volunteers and employees who built the
37:35
upper room and
37:37
heritage usi
37:43
there it is now i cannot get inside
37:43
with this little
37:44
inscription right here acts 2 4
37:48
reverse leading up to appropriately
37:50
called
37:52
the upper room and from here going to go
37:54
over to one last spot
37:57
before heading over
38:03
heading over to the barn and then done
38:03
it's like a castle doesn't it
38:05
and down at the bottom of this hill past
38:08
this neighborhood
38:10
you got
38:11
apartments houses over here
38:14
a little relic of the past down the
38:16
middle and more apartments and houses
38:19
right there you see this cul-de-sac
38:22
extends out
38:24
down to this building where they did a
38:25
lot of productions now there is another
38:28
active
38:29
organization here
38:30
antioch but there are some remnants from
38:33
back in the day
38:41
right down the hill here
38:41
yeah you just imagine all the guests
38:43
here on property stay on on property
38:46
visiting the attractions waiting for the
38:49
tram
38:50
that has been me many times at many a
38:52
theme park when is the tram gonna come
38:54
through
39:04
out here shielded from the elements
39:04
though
39:09
there it is next to the got the blimp up
39:09
top there
39:11
and there is an artistic rendering
39:14
of the old barn they did a lot of the
39:16
productions and it appears as if from
39:18
the front angle that you can definitely
39:20
tell it looks like a barn there was a
39:21
sidewalk where people would walk from
39:23
one building into the front of the old
39:26
barn production studio
39:28
what's that sidewalk and here is that
39:30
walkway
39:31
called a sidewalk we had was just a
39:32
pavement walkway
39:34
that led up this
39:37
into something where people were staying
39:39
or maybe
39:41
get i don't know where they would be
39:42
walking from it's now a retention pond
39:51
what is the upper right oh the upper
39:51
room yes true good point
39:53
the upper room would have been that way
39:55
and then you turn around
39:57
and where that photo was taken
39:59
there is
40:01
the barn production studio
40:04
walking right down that
40:06
i just love history i love like matching
40:08
stuff like that up just so
40:11
so fascinating to me to think back to
40:13
the past
40:15
people walking right along here and
40:18
to watch jim tammy faye baker do their
40:24
very interesting so all those episodes
40:25
were produced inside here they did it in
40:27
about i think they did some in charlotte
40:29
which is like you know 30 miles north of
40:31
here oh really but they did a few here
40:32
as well so i know for a fact that this
40:35
was the studio building but if you look
40:36
to your left adam yeah that's known as
40:38
the mascara building that's where tammy
40:40
faye kept all over that's the mascara
40:41
yeah yeah
40:50
and the door's open so we just walked in
40:50
we're inside the barn
40:53
right now now uses the antioch church
41:01
is that
41:01
that is amazing to think about
41:13
all the telethons
41:21
oh there are some unusual sounds listen
41:27
frogs
41:32
now these are very interesting too
41:33
almost like flying saucer style houses
41:37
in the woods
41:38
these look like they could have dated
41:39
back to that era
41:41
as well these are cool
41:43
and that's going to do it for today back
41:46
where not only i but we began
41:49
carolina tony thanks for tagging along
41:52
thank you scott on tape
41:55
thanks for tagging along
41:56
well what else was i gonna do
41:58
i'll see you in the next video the vlog
42:00
this used to be a log cabinet i tell you
42:02
i haven't think i heard that where are
42:03
you from
42:04
uh it's canada down way down south way
42:06
down south the vlog
42:08
is over
42:17
you know what that little grassy thing
42:17
right there is called the hill it's
42:19
called the berm
42:24
what a berm
42:24
and way out on the outskirts of the
42:28
this is an original building as well
42:29
this pyramid-looking building i just
42:31
keep adding onto this bonus footage
42:34
something over here too next to this
42:38
another tram stop
42:45
i think it is