Wild Bill's Western Town

This little western town is not well known. Shadowhawk is a real-life replica of a western town from old Hollywood films. It was built in 1996 by former actor William Drake in Smithfield, North Carolina. The attention to detail is amazing, from the woodwork down to the antique pianos.

Drake, known to many as “Wild Bill,” was a character actor who appeared in episodes of Bonanza and Gunsmoke, as well as several Western films in the 1970s. After several decades in Hollywood, Drake retired and returned to his home in North Carolina, where he spent several years building his dream western town on his property. Shadowhawk has a general store, two saloons, a blacksmith, a jail, a kitchen, a hotel, a bank, a post office, a barbershop, a billiard room, an assayer, an undertaker, and a church. It has been the location for several films.

For many years, if you visited Shadowhawk you might find Drake walking around the town he built with a sheriff’s star pinned to his chest. He did most of the building himself and was a regular fixture in town. But in 2017, Shadowhawk lost its sheriff when Drake died. His legacy lives on in the town, which is still welcoming visitors.