History of Maggie Valley, NC

Maggie Valley, NC takes its name from a mountain girl with long blond hair and blue eyes who once called the area her home. Maggie’s true life story is recorded in Maggie of Maggie Valley, NC, a book written by her daughter Patty Pylant Kosier. You’ll not only find a true account of Maggie Mae Setzer Pylant’s life but mountain life as well. At that time, Maggie’s home was part of an isolated wilderness settlement.

On December 21, 1890, ten years after Maggie was born, her father, Jack Setzer began tossing the idea around of the formation of a post office. More so, Setzer wanted a post office to be built in his own home. The nearest post office, the Plott post office, was located five miles from his home and someone had to be paid in those days to take and pick up mail for the valley. Soon thereafter, Setzer was contacting officials with the US postal department in order to get permission to establish a new post office in his home that all the people of the valley could use.

For the next six months he was instructed to provide the service that was needed in the area. He also kept careful records during the time. The post office made up a corner of Setzer’s room – a wooden box used to file incoming letters and newspaper.

Jack submitted his records to the U.S. post office department after six months and they accepted his application asking him to submit community names to the postal service. Setzer’s first three submissions were rejected because they we already being used for other post offices in North Carolina. Following that, he submitted the names of his daughters Cora, Mettie and Maggie Mae plus the name Jonathan Creek, the creek which ran through the Setzer’s home. He kept it from his daughters that he had submitted their names.

On May 10, 1904, Jack received an official letter from the US Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock that the post office authorities had made their decision. The official name of the mountain settlement post office was to be Maggie, NC. Maggie was embarrassed when she was told the news. She burst into tears and ran up the mountain to the old log cabin where she had been born. At the age of 17, Maggie became the bride of Ira Pylant of Nashville, TN. They moved to Texas, but she came back to her beloved valley several times before her death in 1979 at the age of 88.

Wheels Through Time Museum

Wonder how we got to the point of everyone having their own form of transportation, whether it is a car, a truck or a motorcycle?  Well, then you might want to step into the Wheels Through Time Museum in beautiful Maggie Valley, NC.  Celebrating all the ways that we get around and of course focusing on the motorcycle.  Yes, ladies and gentleman this is a motorcycle museum tucked into the corner of the Smokies.

The Wheels Through Time Museum boasts more than 300 classic and rare motorcycles from America’s past.  Harley Davidson, Indian, Excelsior, Henderson, Crocker and many more are lined up and cared for to show off the shine of the chrome and the paint jobs that might make you go back to the car for your sunglasses.  This is one of the best niche museums that you will find in the Smokies.

Among the motorcycles you will find:

  • 1917 Henderson Special
  • 1917 Traub
  • 1914 Hedstrom Prototype
  • 1914 Flesher Flyer
  • 1948 Panhead
  • 1949 Hot Rod Panhead ”Revised Modified”

Wheels Through Time MuseumAmong the classic automobiles:

  • 1932 Clobes
  • 1954 Cadillac
  • 1954 Eldorado Convertible
  • The Locomobile

Again, you are looking at a transportation museum, there is something here for everyone.  Bring the bike enthusiast, bring the car enthusiast, bring the family and get ready to learn enjoy and have a great time at the Wheels Through Time Museum.

Wheels Through Time Museum
62 Vintage Lane
Maggie Valley, North Carolina 28751
(828) 926-6266

Ghost Town in the Sky

Information on this page was written in 2012 and remains here for historical purposes.

North Carolina Smoky Mountains Headquarters for Fun!

Ghost Town in the Sky sits high above Maggie Valley and has been an area attraction since the 1960s.  Its incline railroad and the site on top of Buck Mountain are part of the scenery and part of the history of the Smokies.  Though it closed for sveral years, it is now open again and the new owners are planning on adding on to make this a first class attraction and continue the tradition of delighting thousands of visitors each season.

Ghost Town in the Sky opened for business in 1961.  It was the brainchild of RB Coburn who had recently spend some time in the South West and he really enjoyed the ghost towns that he toured while he was there.  He came back to Western North Carolina and with the help of some investors he purchased Buck Mountain and in a little over a year, Ghost Town in the Sky was open for business.  With a wild west theme, Ghost Town in the Sky had 40 replica buildings, shows, and eventually rides as well.  41 years and millions of visitors later, Ghost Town in the Sky was forced to close its doors in 2002.  It was reopened from 2006 until 2009 when it closed again.  In the spring of 2012, Alaska Presley, one of the original investors from the 60s, purchased the park and reopened it to the public.  Ghost Town in the Sky is once again an attraction in the Smokies and the plan is to open new phases of the park over the next few years.

Right now, the phase one part of Ghost Town in the Sky is open.  This includes the chair lift, carousel, kiddie rides and the Ghost Town Museum.  Phase 2 which is supposed to open in 2013 will be the Wild West portion of the original park re-envisioned.  Gunfights, can-can dancing and the replica buildings will be on display and ready for guests to walk through the town and enjoy the sights.  The final proposed phase will be the Holy Land.  The Holy Land Phase will be built on the highest level of the original Ghost Town in the Sky and will be a replica of the Holy Land during the time of Christ.  Presley had a vision of this when she went to the Holy Land on a tour of Israel.  When finished, this will be a full fledged theme park again, bringing in loads of tourist each season and providing jobs to the Maggie Valley area.

Located right on the main drag in Maggie Valley, Ghost Town in the Sky is not hard to find.  When you arrive, you park at the base of Buck Mountain and ride the incline railroad to the top.  With this theme park being revitalized, people from all over the country are going to be able to have the same experience that people had for 40+ years in the Smokies: a trip to the Wild West in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains.

Maggie Valley, NC

Maggie Valley is not only a stop along the Blue Ridge but a bustling tourist town with plenty of activities for your day in the mountains.  Whether you are coming in the colder months to ski at Cataloochee or if you are looking for a quick bite to eat after a trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Maggie Valley might just be the place to stop for you and your family.

Maggie Valley, NC

Maggie Valley was named after Maggie Mae Setzer, whose father was Jack Setzer who founded the first post office in the area.  This town became the a stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway after its founding and of course the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has brought visitors to the area ever since.  Maggie Valley has embraced its role in the Smoky Mountains as a tourism town and great, quiet place to stop while you are in the Smokies.  Plenty rooms and cabins for lodging and several great attractions make Maggie Valley a destination.

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