An eight-story, skeletal form of poured concrete reinforced with steel (upper right) stood on the corner of North Main and College Street for about 6 years as infighting among the Smith Estate’s heirs halted construction. An original drawing of the hotel (RSS0709) is dated January 1906. This was quite an embarrassment to the architectural firm of Smith &
The YMI Cultural Center is currently exhibiting a diverse cross-section of 52 portraits from the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait project. The portraits, painted by artist Robert Shetterly, form an extraordinarily powerful and inspiring civic engagement/traveling art exhibition. This collection of paintings now contains portraits of 210 courageous truth-tellers, both historical and current day. These include
North Asheville Neighborhood History Program Finale Date: Wednesday October 25, 2017 Time: 6:00-7:30 PM Place: Pack Memorial Library, Lord Auditorium, lower level Pat Fitzpatrick, a North Asheville resident of 40 years, and an interviewer extraordinaire, will tell about some of the most interesting and surprising stories uncovered through the 2017 North Asheville History Project.
Standing on one corner of Asheville is an excellent place to learn about the ever-changing face of our town. Do you recognize this corner and are you familiar with its curious history? James McConnell Smith was born in 1787. According to historical accounts he was the first white child born west of the Blue Ridge.
Tempie Avery was a young girl purchased in Charleston in 1840 by Nicholas Woodfin. During her time on his plantation she became a midwife delivering both black and white babies in Asheville. After the Civil War, Mr. Woodfin deeded property to Tempie at 26 Pearson Drive, the current site of the Montford Community Center. On
The North Carolina Room received a call from someone–with both musical and local history interests–asking if there really was a collapse of the Swannanoa Tunnel, as the song, “Swannanoa Tunnel” relates? I said I would send him an article about it, thinking in a free moment I would just slap the article on the scanner and have it off to him.
The Western North Carolina Railroad was chartered in 1852 by the North Carolina General Assembly. A railway was to be constructed from Salisbury to some point on the French Broad River beyond the Blue Ridge. By 1859 the road had reached Morganton, a distance of 84 miles. [Asheville News July 14, 1859.] The Western North
Title: Anne Penland, Asheville Native, W.W. I Nurse Anesthetist Speakers: Symposium with Keynote Speaker, Sandra Oullette, Past President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetist. Also, the American Red Cross and Penland Family Members. Guest appearances by Actress Callan White and the Asheville High Brass Quintet. Date: Saturday September 16, 2017 Time: 1: PM to 3:00 PM followed by
North Carolina Room staff and volunteers are coming to North Branch Library Saturday, September 9th from 11 am to 4 pm to scan your photographs. Your photographs will be digitally archived and added to the North Carolina Room’s Photograph Collection, AND become a permanent part of Asheville’s history. The North Asheville History Project 2017 presently contains over