When Jim Bakker resigned from his PTL Ministries amid mounting scandals in March 1987, there was still hope in York County, South Carolina, that whatever came next for Heritage USA wouldn’t derail the economic engine that had fueled phenomenal growth and development across the region.

At the time, PTL’s plans included $2 billion in additional investment at Heritage by 1990, and Bakker himself had projected his sprawling complex with condos, hotels, golfing and amusement parks would eventually be home to 30,000 people.

That wasn’t to be.

While the Bakkers and their PTL Ministries put York County on the map in the 1980s, the ministry’s collapse brought on tough times, including “real hardship for employees, investors and the many people who placed their trust in it,” as a Fort Mill spokesperson put it.

Today, the Fort Mill-Rock Hill region is one of the fastest growing in the country. But many people who now live and work in the region don’t realize how Bakker, who died Monday at 86, paved the way with an empire stretching from Charlotte to the former mill towns of York County.

Some of Bakker’s land purchases and developments are still switching hands today.

PTL and Fort Mill growth

Bakker developed the first-ever Christian satellite network in the 1970s, The PTL Club, which at one point was broadcasted from a studio in Charlotte. PTL stood for “Praise the Lord.”

Later in 1978, Bakker and Tammy Faye broke ground on Heritage USA in Fort Mill. Dubbed the “Christian Disneyland,” the 2,300-acre project attracted millions of visitors. In 1986, The Charlotte Observer reported that more people were visiting Heritage than Carowinds theme park.

At its peak, Heritage USA employed more than 2,700 people. Heritage contributed to a surge of development along Interstate 77, mainly from Bakker purchasing land along the highway to expand Heritage.

The Charlotte Observer reported in 1985 that Bakker, through PTL, had a reputation for paying more money for more land than anyone else in northeastern York County.

Between 1983 and 1985, Bakker spent over $9 million on land purchases near Heritage, The Observer reported.

Property values and construction in Fort Mill also increased because of the national attraction. It quadrupled property values in Fort Mill over five years from under $20,000 to more than $80,000 per acre, the Observer reported in March 1987.

Christians deserve the best retreat facilities, Bakker said at the time.

A ‘complicated’ history

In a statement to the Observer, the town of Fort Mill said Bakker and PTL brought a vision that felt new and different from the historic textile mill town.

“Heritage Village was welcoming to Fort Mill residents, and many of our families have memories of visiting its farm, browsing its shops, and enjoying the beautiful Christmas lights displayed each holiday season,” the town said.

Fort Mill also recognized the economic mark PTL and Heritage USA left on the region. This includes hiring thousands of people at its height and bringing millions of people to the area.

But the town said the Heritage USA story is also “a complicated one.”

“The Town recognizes that the ministry’s collapse in the late 1980s caused real hardship for employees, investors, and the many people who placed their trust in it, and that part of the story should not be overlooked.”

While PTL remains part of the region’s history, Heritage USA was never within Fort Mill’s town limits and it was only one chapter in the community’s story.

“Fort Mill’s identity was shaped long before PTL arrived, by generations of families who built this community through its textile heritage,” the town said. “That history, and the people who carry it forward, are what define Fort Mill today.

“As we reflect on this chapter of our region’s history, the Town of Fort Mill extends its sincere condolences to the Bakker family.”

PTL scandal and downfall

In early 1987, Bakker made plans to break ground in Fort Mill on a 1.25 million-square-foot ministry center that was to be a replica of London’s 19th-century Crystal Palace. With a cost of $100 million, it would have been the biggest church in the world, according to author John Wigger, who wrote a book on PTL.

Construction started on a sandcastle with a 10-story turret that would house the world’s largest Wendy’s restaurant, as well as a 500-room high-rise hotel to be called the Heritage Grand Towers.

But also around that time, Bakker and PTL faced financial troubles.

In 1985, PTL television ministry began laying off staff at its Heritage headquarters. It also began pulling out of land deals.

In March 1987, Bakker resigned from PTL. It was right before the revelation of a 15-minute tryst in 1980 with Jessica Hahn, a 21-year-old church secretary. It was reported that she received more than $250,000 in “hush money.”

Two years later, Bakker was sentenced to federal prison in 1989, where he spent about five years for swindling PTL followers.

What’s left of PTL in Fort Mill

Heritage USA and the Heritage Grand Hotel closed in 1989. The following year, evangelist Morris Cerullo and a group of Malaysian businessmen bought the property for $42.5 million. The resort reopened in 1992 as New Heritage USA and was renamed Radisson Grand Resort in 1994. The hotel closed in 1997 but has since been repurposed as a conference center.

In June, MorningStar Fellowship Church announced it would tear down the more than 240-foot tower in Regent Park that was once intended for Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s scandal-ridden Praise the Lord ministry, The Herald reported.

MorningStar plans to build a 340-unit senior living complex beside the tower site, the church confirmed to The Herald.

Laurel College of Technology now owns the former PTL Building at 7000 Regent Parkway in Fort Mill. The building is a pyramid-shaped construction that’s set to become a large, modern campus for the school.

The college will expand the building to 50,000 square feet and allow for classes in nursing, cardiovascular technology, electrical systems and heating and air systems.

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