Heritage USA Fort Mill, SC.

I don't have a ton to say about Heritage USA in all. I should admit that I think it is fascinating. There is a lot of odd history tied to the place.

I knew we would be driving through the area late one night, but I still put the address on our travel map. I would hate to be close and not drive by.

Growing up in a very religious area, Jim and Tammy Bakker were household names. Everyone knew about them, and many families watched their show. I remember it being on our TV very early in the morning before I would get ready and catch the school bus. In our area, PTL was a respected program.

It was a bit mainstream too. I remember celebrities being on the show. I recall Tammy doing an interview with Mr. T.

You can find the history of Heritage USA all over the net. You can also find all sorts of recent photos of what was once known as Heritage USA all over the place. Here are mine.

We stopped by here well after dark one evening, and even though I had looked at some of the photos online, I was not sure of what to expect.

The main hotel was purchased by a group called Morning Star Ministries in 2004. They have tried to market it as a Christian type event center starting around 2007 and an assisted living facility. Here are their links:

http://www.morningstarministries.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000011803

and

http://towerlife.org/

It seems that the buildings current status is in limbo.

We stopped by and took a couple of photos. We were quickly approached by a very stealthy security guard who frankly scared me at first. She was a little suspicious of us taking photos at this time of night. I explained to her that I grew up watching Jim and Tammy, and I just wanted to stop by and get some pictures. We ended up chatting a bit with the very pleasant security guard, her name was Becky. She told us where the Upper Room was still located, and she encouraged us to come back during the day, as much of the place is easier to see. I think the security there spends a lot of time chasing kids away, especially in the later evening and night. Becky ended up being very nice, and I am glad we met her.

We did go by the Upper Room. There is a for sale sign in front of it. There is a group trying to preserve it. Check out their site:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeritageUSA/

This is one of those things that I have a little trouble wrapping my head around. I remember Jim Bakker's vision of Heritage USA being a sort of Christian Disneyland. A lot of people contributed a lot of work, time, effort and hope into seeing this place become a reality. You can look at it as a fantasy place that almost materialized, or as a lie that was doomed for failure from the beginning. Either way, a lot of people tried to make it work, and I think it is amazing that over 20 years after it formally closed up, there are still hopeful people trying to revive it.