Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

Oldest Building at Tweetsie Destroyed by Fire

Story by Kathleen McFadden

For years, the old depot at Tweetsie was the all-purpose structure at the theme park, the place where visitors bought their tickets, purchased a hot dog and selected a park souvenir. Constructed in 1957, the old depot was the only building on Main Street until 1961.

Now that historic structure is gone, destroyed in an early-morning fire on Sunday, March 16. While the cause has not been determined, speculation is that lightning caused the blaze that leveled the building, despite fast response from the Blowing Rock and Boone Fire Departments.

As the park grew, the depot building became a park gift shop and museum that displayed early memorabilia from the park, historic photos, an old ticket machine, vintage tickets and historic items from the days of the ET&WNC rail line. For history lovers, nostalgia buffs and people who have a respect for tradition, the loss of such artifacts is heartbreaking. And while Tweetsie General Manager Chris Robbins acknowledges the loss, he said that Tweetsie has plenty of additional artifacts in storage that will supply exhibits in a rebuilt museum. In addition, Robbins said, “We’ve received a lot of calls from people since the fire who would like to donate items for museum exhibits, and that’s very heartening.”

One loss to the fire, however, is irreplaceable—Fred Kirby’s parade saddle. The saddle was on loan to Tweetsie from his estate and displayed in a Plexiglas cube in the museum. “We had a whole section devoted to Fred,” Robbins said.

Kirby, born in Charlotte in 1910, was a talented cowboy singer and string band player in the historic days of the recording industry. Later in his career, he became a popular Charlotte television personality through his children’s show. Kirby was a major fixture on Charlotte's channels WBT and WBTV, as well as a star on the WLS Barn Dance. He spent many of his last years performing at Tweetsie.

Robbins said the structure will be rebuilt to provide even more guest services, but will not be completed during the upcoming season.

The good news is that Tweetsie will open as scheduled on Friday, May 2. “This should be a great season,” Robbins said. “We’ve got some great new attractions lined up.”