Category Archives: Asheville History

Mountain Moonshiner, Popcorn Sutton

Published in Asheville History on March 19, 2009

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This week a mountain legend took his last breath. Marvin

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A Fleeting Chance to Purchase a Unique Piece of Asheville's History

Published in Asheville History on March 3, 2009
Historic Asheville Trolley

Historic Asheville Trolley For Sale

Asheville was the first city in the US to employ Trolley Cars. Here is your chance to own a piece of American history! Today is the last day for an eBay auction to buy the 1927 Asheville trolley car. This J. G. Brill Company trolley car was one of just ten cars operating on the streets of Asheville eighty years ago.

The citizen-times has the story:

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Evolution of Asheville – Part 3 of 3

Published in Asheville History on January 27, 2009
Downtown Asheville as it looks today

Downtown Asheville as it looks today

On Nov. 20, 1930 the Central Bank and Trust Company closed its doors. Financial ruin fell upon the city. Asheville retained the highest per capita debt of any city in the country. While many cities chose to default on their loan Asheville city swore to pay back every cent which it finally did in 1977.

Asheville’s recovery from the Depression was slow and arduous. Because of the financial stagnation there were no new buildings and the downtown district remained unaltered. This however has allowed Asheville to be a great collection of Art Deco and truly a style all its own. Read & Discuss »

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Evolution of Asheville – Part 2 of 3

Published in Asheville History on January 21, 2009
1850s - The Wealthy Come by Stage Coach

1850's - The Wealthy Come by Stage Coach

In 1828 a road following the French Broad River was completed to Tennessee, which brought wagons and herds moving through town. The Asheville and Greenville Plank Road was built in 1851, and the wealthy aboard four and six horse stages began to come to Asheville as a health resort.

During the Civil War, out of the ten companies of North Carolina Regiment seven of them were Buncombe county men. The Buncombe Rifles marched forth on April 18, 1861 with a flag made of silk dresses of the ladies of the town. Captain Zebulon Vance organized the Rough and Ready Guards. Enfield Rifles, the gun manufacturer, was a flourishing industry here in town. Read & Discuss »

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Evolution of Asheville – Part 1 of 3

Published in Asheville History on January 17, 2009

Cherokee Indians - Asheville NCAsheville has always been at the crossroads. Here, the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers flow together and the Blue Ridge, Great Craggies and Black Mountains on the East meet the Appalachian Mountains on the West.

Cherokee country surrounded Asheville before the arrival of Europeans. The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto came to the area in 1540 in search of gold. His arrival also brought disease, guns, wild dogs and chains. The Cherokee fought to withstand Spain

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Grove's Longest Lasting Tonic: The Grove Park Inn

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville History on January 5, 2009
Grove Park Inn - Asheville NC

Grove Park Inn

The Grove Park Inn began as a dream of restoration. Edwin Wiley Grove owned a pharmaceutical company and made a fortune on his

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Asheville's Historic Battery Park Hotel

Published in Asheville History on December 31, 2008
Battery Park Hotel - Asheville NC

Battery Park Hotel

Colonel Franklin Coxe, one of the major investors in the railway of 1886, purchased the highest hill in Asheville to be the site of The Battery Park Hotel. He commissioned Wagner to landscape and construct the regal hotel which would become renowned worldwide. Franklin Coxe

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