Heritage USA Site, South Carolina

A Christian-themed amusement park, resort, and residential community opened at this location in 1978, built by the famous televangelists Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker, the founders of the popular PTL (Praise the Lord) Club. For a few years, it was the third most visited theme park in the USA, following Disneyland and Disneyworld. It covered 2,300 acres, and included a 500-room hotel, timeshare housing, a conference center, PTL TV production studios, bible education schools, and attraction’s such as King’s Castle, and Main Street USA. The Bakker’s PTL club faced scandals in the late 1980s, and filed for Chapter 11. The site has seen many redevelopment attempts by religious groups since then, including the Morningstar Fellowship Church, and some of the grounds have been turned into housing. Most of the signature structures of the theme park, some abandoned for years, have been torn down.