February 1980: The Demoliton of an Entire City Block
When did Asheville’s renaissance begin?” We are often asked that question in the North Carolina Room. It is also the topic of a lot of published articles. Most responses turn straight to the 1990s. But native Ashevillians and those who lived here in the 1970s and 1980s usually see it differently. In just a few weeks, Pack Memorial Library’s
This year the North Carolina Room is featuring a series of programs on the 1980’s – a time that helped define what Asheville was to become. But, 100 years prior to that, Asheville was in the midst of an earlier Renaissance. The train had arrived in 1880 and Asheville became a true destination and was
Last month’s post on “Grace: A Community That Got Absorbed by an Avenue” featured a photograph of the Grace Supply Company. According to Miller’s City Directory, the location was numbered 637-641 Merrimon Avenue in 1931. In 1932 the avenue underwent a new numbering system which gave the building its present address of 853-855 Merrimon Avenue.
Robert Henry, Forgotten Pioneer and the Sulphur Springs Hotel (Malvern Hills, West Asheville) Bring a brown bag lunch and go back in time with local historian Richard Russell. Wednesday, February 24, 12 noon–1 pm Pack Memorial Library, Lord Auditorium (lower level) 67 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC The event is free and open to the public.
ON DISPLAY NOW: Black History Month. The North Carolina Room at Pack Memorial Library is exhibiting four special exhibits for the month of February. ASHEVILLE’S EAST END, 1970: Photographs from the Andrea Clark Collection. (Main level library exhibit area) Andrea’s powerful photographs show the story of a community and its collision with urban renewal. *** The
Buncombe County led the state in the early 1920s in fighting adult illiteracy. Its adult literacy program was copied throughout the south and even received national recognition. From 1917 to 1920 Buncombe County adult community schools, often called night schools, taught over 3000 adults to read and write. However, a newspaper article from February 1925
Real photo postcard of the blizzard of March 17, 1936 showing cars and snow along intersection of College and Patton. Sign for Brown Book Co. on right and the Palmer-Lipe Paint Company on left in clear view. Here’s an image for everybody who’s snowed in this weekend. One of the worst snowstorms of the century swept
The loaded question is when did Grace begin, what area did it include, and where did the community get its name? Where was Grace? My best guess is, if you are driving north on Merrimon Avenue, after you top the hill at the intersection of Gracelyn Road at the Avenue M restaurant, from that point and looking out at the beautiful