A Country Town
by Cynthia Guinn
Title
A Country Town
Artist
Cynthia Guinn
Medium
Photograph
Description
Love Valley is a small, unique town located in a remote valley in the Brushy Mountains of northwestern North Carolina. Its creation in 1954 marked the fulfillment of a dream for founder Andy Barker. Barker developed two visions as a young man—he wanted to build a Christian community, and he wanted to be a cowboy. In 1954 he combined those visions to create an authentic, Old West-style village in the hills of northwestern Iredell County. The town was chartered in 1963.
Modeled after the Old West towns seen in countless Hollywood films, Love Valley boasts a saloon, general store, hitching posts, and rodeos. Automobiles are not allowed inside the town limits; people still use horses and horse-drawn vehicles to travel in the town. A small, nondenominational Christian church sits on a hill overlooking the town, thus emphasizing Barker's vision of a Christian utopia. However, the town also garnered its share of controversy in the 1960s and 1970s; among the controversies was the "Love Valley Rock Festival", which local farmers complained brought drug addicts and other "troublemakers" to the area during the festival. However, over the last two decades the town has settled down considerably and is now known as a popular gathering spot for horse-lovers and horseback riding. There are miles of horseback riding trails in the surrounding Brushy Mountains.
Thank you for looking at my Photography!!!
Uploaded
October 22nd, 2018
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Comments (16)
Allan Van Gasbeck
Congratulations! Your outstanding artwork has been chosen as a FEATURE in the “The Gray Scale Outdoors” group on Fine Art America — You are invited to post your featured image to the featured image discussion thread as a permanent place to continue to get exposure even after the image is no longer on the Home Page.