News: Ghost Town in the Sky founder dies

Posted at 7:58 AM EDT (1158 GMT)

Apr. 4th, 2008 -- Via Press Release: Ronald Braxton Coburn, better know as R.B., passed away in Palm City, Florida on Tuesday, April 1, 2008.  Businessman R. B. Coburn, who was the inspiration behind Ghost Mountain, later changed the name of his park to Ghost Town in the Sky.  He was instrumental in the growth and development of Maggie Valley.  Ghost Town has been a landmark for Haywood County generating hundreds of thousands of fans annually.

R.B. Coburn was born in November, 1919 in Covington, Virginia.  While attending Beckley College as a pre-med student, he met his wife Jeannette Meadows and began working at a chain store in 1941.  Several years later, R.B went into the U.S. Air Force as a pilot instructor and was stationed in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  In 1945, he started his business ventures by opening a company in Knoxville, Tennessee and a grocery store in Beckley, West Virginia.  He moved back to Orangeburg soon after and started to expand his enterprise, which included a car business, taxi company and construction business.  Later R.B. owned a finance business, clothing store, furniture business, restaurant, and became a partner in a Holiday Inn all in his beloved Orangeburg.

After returning from a family vacation out west where they visited several old western abandoned ghost towns, R.B. got his inspiration and vision to build Ghost Mountain.  Familiar to the Maggie Valley area, R.B. purchased Buck Mountain at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains for the site of his theme park.  Construction began in September of 1960 and was completed in May of 1961. 

Ghost Town closed its doors in 2002 after 41 years of successful operation.  Coburn sold the property to its new owners in August 2006, who re-opened Ghost Town on May 25, 2007.  As a tribute to R.B. Coburn, the new ownership is in the process of creating a Memorial Ceremony and Founders Day celebration for the 2008 season.   R.B. is survived by three children; Jeannie Coburn, Kathy Benton and son David Coburn, along with four grandchildren and many great grandchildren.  R.B. Coburn will be truly missed but his legacy will continue at Ghost Town in the Sky. 

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