From GoUpstate.com:

Christmas Town USA came about by accident.

A long tradition of lighting up the North Carolina town of McAdenville began in 1954, when four Pharr Yarns employees – Harvey “Dick” Roberts, Dorus Woodward, Billy Alexander and Neil Hagan — decided to put up a few decorations near the mill.

Unbeknownst to them, the seemingly small gesture has become a Christmas phenomenon that brings hundreds of thousands of people through the tiny town each December….

Read more from GoUpstate.com here.