Running Water Farm was the location of several gatherings of the Radical Faeries movement between 1978 and 1989.
[1][2] In 1978, Mikel Wilson, inspired by the Southeastern Conference for Lesbians and Gay Men, began annual spiritual retreats at Running Water, a remote mountain farm near Bakersville, North Carolina.
In 1979, Ron Lambe and three others, John Jones, Rocco Patt, and Peter Kendrick, purchased the farm from Wilson.
They formed a for-profit corporation called Stepping Stone, Inc., to manage the equity each of them was investing.
Soon, twice-yearly gatherings were scheduled and Running Water became one of the sanctuaries of the Radical Faerie movement.