Old Western Cowboy Town In United States Does Not Allow Cars
Apr 08, 2020 by apost team
If you’ve ever wanted to travel back in time to an old western cowboy town without the noise and distraction of modern life, Love Valley, North Carolina might be the perfect place for you. Tucked in between the foothills of the Brushy Mountains, Love Valley is a small but authentic cowboy town, which was founded back in the 1950s. And not only does it look like an old western town straight from a John Wayne movie, but cars also aren’t allowed.
The story of Love Valley begins back in 1954. That year, a 29-year-old contracting business owner from Charlotte, North Carolina by the name of Andy Barker left behind his normal life to fulfill his dream — to live in a western town, according to Love Valley’s website. So Andy packed up his bags and moved his family to what would become Love Valley. In what must have been a considerable downgrade, Andy’s wife and young children moved into a one-room shack on the new land.
“He fell in love with [the land],” Andy’s daughter, Tonda Barker Trivette, told the Winston-Salem Journal back in 2011. “He went back to his perfectly kept upscale home in Charlotte and mother and they moved from that into a one-room cabin with no running water.”
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But it wasn’t long before Andy got to work to transform that one-building property into a fully functioning town. Working with his contracting business’ construction crew, Andy began to build his dream town, starting with the Love Valley Presbyterian Church, according to Love Valley’s website. From then on, Andy helped build both a post office and a rodeo arena, which was originally the town’s center. Despite the town’s tiny size, as Andy’s new town grew, it needed a leader, so for all but six of the town’s decades of incorporation, Andy led Love Valley as its mayor. A year before Andy’s passing in 2011 — even after the man had retired from his mayoral duties — Andy just couldn’t get enough of his town, and so he ran for mayor again at the age of 87, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
If you visit Andy’s Love Valley legacy today, you can still enjoy the access to over 2,000 acres of land. That means whether you’re six or 60, you can live life like a cowboy, riding on horseback through the brush, prospecting at the Emerald Hollow Mine and visiting the town’s general stores for a variety of local, handmade souvenirs. And what’s a western town without a rodeo? Surrounded by rolling hills, visitors can visit Love Valley’s Arena, which is home to a variety of equestrian events. But just because you’re out in what seems like the middle of nowhere, that doesn’t mean you’ll be roughing it outside — though that’s also an option. In line with the authentic experience, visitors can either camp on-site or stay in a variety of rustic cabins and rooms, according to the town website. Suffice it to say that in the years since he found that empty plot of land in North Carolina, Andy fulfilled his lifelong dream.
Even after Andy’s passing in 2011, his descendants continues to keep his legacy alive. “Our family fully intends to keep Love Valley thriving and to carry on a tradition that Andy started,” his daughter told the Winston-Salem Journal.
Would you visit Love Valley? Do you know of any other interesting western towns? Let us know and pass this fun and interesting story on to friends and family members.