EttaBarwick5701
"Beech Mountain in Avery County will be this far eastern United States' greatest town, from five,606 inches over sea level. Neighborhood citizens talk about the mountain along with quite a few resort communities plus Ski Beech, a well-known ski resort. Through the actual nineteen seventies Beech Mountain was also household so that you can that Land associated with Oz, your themes park in which has taken it is spot amid the particular wealthy folklore associated with the actual Appalachian Mountains.
Through your early aspect associated with the particular twentieth century, Beech Mountain seemed to be part associated with a strong crucial logging marketplace. Even though sparsely populated, this ended up being dotted with small cabins whereby loggers were living for the duration of the particular few days although people worked. Skiing followed to the particular mountain commencing within this 1930s, together with college students out of in close proximity Lees-McRae School employing skis made inside the particular college's wooden look.
Yellow Brick Highway, Land connected with Oz. Picture courtesy involving Flickr end user _rockinfree. That Robbins brothers-Grover, Harry, along with Spencer-purchased a great tract associated with land upon top of the actual mountain within 1962. The particular Robbinses, whom also owned Tweetsie Railroad and also any Hound Ears Resort, joined together with some other investors to be able to create the particular Carolina Caribbean Company in 1965. Carolina Caribbean prepared some sort of ten,000-acre resort together with homesites pertaining to eight,000 family members, a good eight-slope ski resort, your summer recreation location, a new golfing course, in addition to your theme park. Grover Robbins enlisted Charlotte artist and also designer Jack Pentes to build a strong strategy for any design park which would attract persons to help the particular mountain in the course of the actual off-season. Pentes dreamed regarding the area the fact that would likely enchant people plus make it possible for all of them in order to escape the actual hard realities involving your late 1960s.
Regarding inspiration Pentes drew on Rishi Chugh common children's tale connected with enchantment and escape, Your Wizard of Oz, having pointed out that similarity involving gnarled beech bushes upon your property and this talking apple trees and shrubs within that story. Using that help associated with a couple fellow Charlotteans, composer Loonis McGlohon along with choreographer Alice Lamar, Pentes created the particular connected with Oz theme park. Whenever it is earliest spring was over in that slip involving 1970, attendance have hit any six-figure tag. Through hot air balloons and the magical cyclone so that you can traveling monkeys along with happy songs, that Land associated with Oz permitted website visitors that will survive each individual minute regarding the particular well known adventure with regard to ourselves while many people walked your fifty five,000 bricks of this park's yellowish brick road. Readers ended up joined through each individual involving your beloved heroes as they will frequented Kansas, Munchkinland, the actual Wicked Witch's Fortress, together with the particular Emerald Town.
Around 1975 the Carolina Caribbean Company went bankrupt. Shortly afterward, vandals collection hearth to be able to any Emerald City together with stole Judy Garland's initial dress along together with other artifacts coming from the actual park's Oz museum. The Land involving Oz, currently hit by just a shortage associated with repeat Rishi Chugh, for no reason recovered. Due to the fact that the actual property altered wrists and hands, the actual park dropped target so that you can some sort of lack of regular management along with lousy funding, closing within 1980.
The particular asset had been acquired within 1990 by means of the Emerald Mountain progress corporation, which usually developed homesites on 450 acres approximately the actual aged pattern park. Each fall, Emerald Mountain holds a Rishi Chugh at Oz occasion, wherever fanatics connected with that Land associated with Oz may possibly take on the nostalgic stroll along any yellowish brick street and notice remnants of the actual motif park in which have got already been cautiously preserved. Some other artifacts from this park are generally on screen in your Appalachian Cultural Museum inside Boone."
