The North Carolina Room, Pack Memorial Library currently has on exhibit through September, four exhibit cases highlighting Asheville Tourism Souvenirs. Of course, the exhibit set us on a research binge, trying to find out all that we could about the local souvenir trade. This is the second of an ongoing series, sharing some of the
A Social for the Friends of the North Carolina Room was held Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 at the Rankin House Inn. The oldest frame house in Asheville, it was built in 1848 by William Dinwiddle (1804-1879) and Elizabeth Lightfoot Roadman (1804-1908) Rankin. It was the perfect place for a gathering of people who love local history. The
“My Dear Father, Richmond is sad to day,” begins the letter that Major David Rankin wrote to his father, William Dinwiddle Rankin, on May 11, 1863. “The news of the death of that great and good man Stonewall Jackson was received at a late hour last night and spread universal gloom over the whole city. The
WLOS anchor Frank Fraboni was looking for answers to an ASK 13 question about what ever happened to the oversize coffee pots that used to be at the entrance to the Homeland Park Tourist cabins in East Asheville just past the WNC Nature Center. He landed on our HeardTell blog post we had written last November about tourists courts, so came to talk to North
If you missed hearing Jon Elliston back in March for the kick-off to our Brown Bag Lunch series, here’s your chance. Lots of people who couldn’t make it at lunchtime, thought we should schedule an evening event. The Brown Bag lunch was actually Jon’s idea, of a way to present to a small group in an informal
Malaprop’s Book Store and Cafe isn’t where it started out. The book store opened in 1982 at 61 Haywood Street. O’Henry’s Bar and Restaurant was next door at 59 Haywood Street. It might help newcomers to town to know that these two sites are the current homes of Southern Charm Boutique (which recently replaced Origami Ink) and Sensibilities Spa. As Malaprop’s owner
Local Asheville residents are hungry for history. Eighty-three people gathered in the Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library to hear new research about the life and family of Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908), the renowned Spanish architect known for his vaults and domes. Guastavino came to Asheville in 1894 for the construction of the Biltmore Estate. He purchased 1,000 acres near Black Mountain for his home,
Who can go on vacation and return home without some sort of souvenir? Not me: though I’m happy with a free shard of wave-tossed sea glass, better yet I like to make a special purchase of something-or-other to commemorate a trip. When I was a five-year-old, on a summer visit to Cherokee, someone bought me
The 1915 Asheville Board of Trade’s yearly booklet titled, Asheville North Carolina, America’s Beauty Spot, “Land of the Sky” boasts that “Asheville was the first city in the country–June, 1898–to pass an ordinance prohibiting expectoration on the streets, in street cars and public buildings. This ordinance has been copied by cities throughout the world.”