[arby]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, PhantomCat.

Thanks for starting this thread and sharing that link billcollins531. Those pictures in the link that you sent solved a mystery for us. We're always looking for new places to go camping and when in Fort Mill a few years ago we saw a sign for camping alongside the road. We followed the signs and ended up at Heritage USA. We saw the tower, the castle, and a few other things but had no idea what it was. As you can see from the pictures, the place right now looks a little creepy so while we glanced at the campground, we decided we weren't going to camp there.

Here's a satellite shot of the area. I don't know how recent this is but it's been since we drove through there:
(update: I went back to bing maps and see that Carolina Cobra is at Carowinds and the water flume is being torn down. That would make it sometime in 2009 if I recall correctly)

HeritageUSA.JPG (171.15KiB)Viewed 3035 times

[formeryogi]

Interesting note: Heritage USA bought several of the original Carowinds parking lot trams and used them for several more years.

For those who don't remember, Carowinds had trams, much like the Disney parking trams, that carried people from the parking lot to the front gate. Of course this was before there was a back gate and you had to walk.

[PhantomCat]

I remember those trams as a kid, waiting with anticipation for the next one to arrive.
Most of the time we walked on to the entrance if we were fortunate enough to land a parking space close to it.



News update:
Teens were arrested recently and charged for trespassing on the old Heritage USA property.
The teens reported they were going to shoot a music video.
Authorities were not amused.

[TrojanCamMan]

Anyone have a picture of the old trams?

I thought I had seen one somewhere.

[PhantomCat]

I don't think they were all given away. I made a few trips to the campgrounds last season and I saw one there.

[PhantomCat]

billcollins531
Who took those pics that you posted a link to?
Looks like there were out there for quite sometime.

[billcollins531]

I have no clue! I found that website through the magic of Google.

[arby]

lol @billcollins531. Your comment reminded me of a site I like to use http://lmgtfy.com/. (Geek humor)

[PhantomCat]

billcollins531
I know what you mean. Looks like they were trespassing also.
Last I heard, the church, Morning Star was buying the property.

Arby
I love that site. I typed in the group, Swing Out Sister and got more than I asked for, lol.

[billcollins531]

It's pretty ridiculous that they're nabbing people for trespassing on that piece of property. I mean seriously, what could be done to make it look worse than it already does?

[TrojanCamMan]

Random Fact - That tower is the tallest building in York County.

It is shorter than the sky tower and the intimidator.

[PhantomCat]

I talked to someone who had a friend who used to work out there. She said it was amazing to look down from her office building and see a pack of different breed dogs - probably abandoned, run-a-ways, and such - all running together through the thick of the woods like their wolf cousins.

We have discussed these grounds to flame proportions (24 post). Wow! Who knew it would have gone this far?

[billcollins531]

I wonder if it's possible to acquire what's left of the land and renovate/recreate it back into a small family park? Surely it hasn't been rezoned yet?

[PhantomCat]

I seriously think someone else owns it now and they just haven't developed it yet. Which is probably why those teens were arrested for being out there.