Pat Hall was once quoted as saying he wanted the state line to be visible from the air at night. So he lined the state line with gold lights which can be seen in this nighttime photo. This 1973 view shows the front entrance area known as Plantation Square as seen from the Eastern Airlines sponsored Skytower ride. You can see the old Meeting House as well as the Post office building directly behind it, both of which are long gone. Basically all the buildings on this side of the bridge have been removed. The area was transformed into "Paramount Plaza" in 2001 with a collection of contemporary deco style buildings. Today hardly any of these original buildings exist in what is now known as Carowinds Plaza.
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The Plantation House and entrance area look relatively the same between the 1980 photo (left) and the 2009 photo (top right). The state line, although clearly visible, is no longer painted the bright gold color it remained for so many years. Ironically, both photos were taken on Memorial Day and the tradition of flying the the flags at half mast is still honored.

bottom left photo: courtesy of Doug Garner
bottom right photo: courtesy of Doug Robinson
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