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Tag Archives: Asheville History

Asheville Genealogy column: Rewards of city directories – Asheville Citizen

City directories were created as an aid to salesmen and businessmen in contacting residents of a given city or area. Almost all large cities in the U.S. had city directories for at least a period of time. These usually contain a business section with all the businesses in the area listed in alphabetical order.

Most important to family researchers are the names of all residents in alphabetical order by surname. If the person was married, his wife was usually listed; also included were his occupation and/or place of employment and the street name and number at which he lived.

Another feature was the alphabetical listing of all streets, avenues, roads, etc., in the city. In this section all households were listed in the order of the street

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2015/04/05/asheville-genealogy-column-rewards-city-directories/25337315/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

How Asheville became (and continues to be) the most exciting small city

Asheville, the most exciting small city (Rolling Stone)


Does anyone remember the early 1990s in Asheville, a time when Bill Clinton was president, Jim Hunt the governor of North Carolina, and there wasn’t a parking or traffic problem at all?

Asheville, the most exciting small city

Asheville (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Mountain Xpress
wouldn’t come into being until 1994, the year before Gannett Co. bought out the Asheville Citizen-Times. Fine cuisine? Mark Rosenstein had just begun that tradition in Asheville with The Market Place. You could enjoy coffee and a live mic at Beanstreets, savor some of the best vegetarian dishes at the Laughing Seed (an ingenious name for a restaurant), buy beads and bangles on Wall Street, hang out at the eclectic Malaprop’s Bookstore, come to a burgeoning outdoor festival oddly called Bele Chere, and enjoy gourmet sweets at the Chocolate Fetish. It was all just the beginning.

Within a few short years, Asheville had gained its “new age” identity, while North Carolina had lost its image as a progressive Southern state. When conservatives swept most state and national offices, the Mountain Xpress had grown to

Article source: http://mountainx.com/opinion/how-asheville-became-and-continues-to-be-the-most-exciting-small-city/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Asheville’s Southside

Asheville’s Southside

Asheville Southside 1960'sA note attached to one photo of a home on Asheville’s southside in early 1960 calls it an “illegal gambling/whiskey house,” or illegal bar.

“We really have to get beyond the nostalgia to say what was there, what was life really like,” Mathews said.

Interconnected

Many, many more structures in Asheville’s southside housed legitimate businesses.

“Many people who grew up here remember (Southside) and being as vital, if not more vital, a commercial district than The Block,” Mathews said, referring to the historic African-American business district around the intersection of Eagle and South Market streets near City Hall.

Mathews shows photo after photo of Asheville’s southside auto repair shops, restaurants, service stations, beauty parlors and hotels, including one where James Brown and

Asheville's Southside once hosted Aretha Franklin

Cover of Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin once played in an upstairs auditorium.

Some homes were small, but many had distinctive architectural features people would treasure today.

“The preservationist in me is saying I could have done something with these

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20140222/NEWS01/302220026/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Leaders want to keep Russia’s history in positive light – Asheville Citizen

MOSCOW – Russian authorities are growing increasingly testy over how the country’s past – particularly World War II – is publicly depicted, and some legislators are backing a law that would protect Russian history from negative portrayals.

Konstantin Ernst, who produced the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics, told Ekho Moskvy radio that he was disappointed that the International Olympics Federation urged him not to include elements about World War II in the production. The IOC said it would set a bad precedent.

Ernst said he found it extremely difficult and even painful to omit the segment, which he said could have been “the strongest moment of the whole ceremony.”

Now, a lawmaker wants to pass a law protecting Russian history from some perceived slights in the media.

“Our history and our point of view on historical events” is being deliberately distorted in Russia and abroad, Alexei Pushkov, who heads the State Duma Foreign Policy Committee, told the Russian news media.

“All of this is part of one chain. And when there’s such a battle for history going on, when EU countries pass laws protecting a certain point of view of history, maybe it’s time for us to think about legislation that will protect our

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/5511369 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Live Views of the Clinton Rally

Preparations for the Bill Clinton Rally - Asheville NCBill Clinton will be speaking today at around 12:30 PM in an effort to drum up some more voter support for Heath Shuler in the upcoming election. Asheville Live Cam is happy to bring you live streaming views of the rally, the preparations (going on now) and the aftermath. We’ve temporarily moved the East Cam to the front page, where it will remain for the rest of the day.

From the Asheville Citizen-Times:

Clinton is stumping for U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, who faces a strong challenge from Hendersonville Republican Jeff Miller in the Nov. 2 election. Hayden Rogers, Shuler’s campaign manager, said they’ve

Mountain Women in Fiction

Look Homeward Angel 365.153
Image by loonyhiker via Flickr

Blue Ridge Community College will be hosting a free program on Wednesday, March 17 at the Patton Auditorium in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Gwen Ashburn, chair of UNC Asheville

Annual Montford Music & Arts Festival

Just around the corner and its time for the Montford Music & Arts Festival. Come out and witness Montford come to life. Bring the kids, comfy shoes and be ready to enjoy some great music and good times. There are going to be some great performers at this year