Chuck Cummings photograph by Tim Robison
Editor’s Note (October 2024): We love and celebrate our mountain communities; however, following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, many areas remain inaccessible for travel. Please check DriveNC.gov’s travel map for the latest on traveling to these areas.
Chuck Cummings can’t help but chuckle at the wayward tourists who call to tell him that they can’t seem to find his business, Country Time Swings in Maggie Valley, nor the huge red rocking chair that sits out front. “How in the world can you not see an 11-foot-high, safety-red rocking chair?” asks Cummings, who has owned the business for 25 years.
How, indeed. The remarkable rocker, one of western North Carolina’s most lovable man-made landmarks, has been beckoning to passersby for more than 30 years, inviting them to not only slow down for a better view but also, in mountain vernacular, to “come sit a spell” — at least long enough for the obligatory photo op.
“Everyone wants to sit in the thing and have their picture made, so we used to take a ladder out there every time to help them climb up,” Cummings says. “I finally built some steps to make it easier.”
Pictures of tourists and the generations of folks who have stopped to sit in the giant red rocker are showcased in Cummings’s scrapbook. Photography courtesy of Chuck Cummings, Pla2na/iStock/Getty Images Plus, FabrikaCr/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Cummings isn’t aware of any celebrities who’ve sat in the rocker, but the list of people who have includes a reunion of Playboy bunnies — fully clothed, mind you — as well as motorcycle gangs exploring the Cherohala Skyway, newlyweds still in their tuxedos and wedding gowns, an Elvis Presley impersonator, fully garbed snow skiers, a 91-year-old woman who was writing a story about rocking chairs, and countless busloads of church groups.
The chair has accommodated as many as 27 people at one time, though Cummings admits that they weren’t just on the seat, but also hanging off the arms and anywhere else they could find a spot to stand or sit. He also remembers a photo shoot with 13 burly bikers — a memorable feat.
Many of those who posed in the rocker have sent copies of their photos to Cummings, who’s dutifully saved them in a scrapbook. That’s his way of documenting what has become a time-honored tradition in Maggie Valley.
What most folks don’t know — or at least don’t remember — about the big red rocker is that it used to be a big white rocker. That was in 1993, when former Country Time Swings owner Ron Hooker built the chair, modeling it after a similar one he’d constructed at the store’s first location in Florida. When Cummings took over the business in 1999, he moved it to the current location on Soco Road and brought the colossal rocker with him, but the chair wasn’t visible enough. “Nobody could see it because my building was white,” he says. So he painted it red.
In the Smokies, leaf peepers pull over to take in captivating views — like this one off Soco Road. photograph by Robert Stephens
The other thing that people might not realize is that, for liability reasons, this giant rocking chair doesn’t actually rock. Cummings once had a hard time convincing a motorcycle gang of that fact, physically chasing them away when they tried to force it to rock.
Most of his interactions, though, have been positive ones, and the roadside curiosity has certainly been good for business. “Oh, absolutely — that’s the reason we built the thing,” Cummings says. “People stop to see the chair, and then they mosey on inside to look around.”
It’s been a fun diversion for Cummings, too. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years now,” he says. “I’ve had people who took their picture in the chair with their kids, and now they’re taking pictures in the chair with their grandkids. That’s been really neat to see.”
Those who haven’t seen this attraction need to visit Maggie Valley and sit a spell. Just look for the 11-foot-high, safety-red rocking chair. You can’t miss it.
Big Red Rocking Chair
411 Soco Road
Maggie Valley, NC 28751
(828) 734-6834
ctswings.com
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