Chronology of Western North Carolina

CHRONOLOGY- 1700's \| 1800's \| 1900's \| 2000's
1730’s	African Americans traveling through East Flat Rock with the Cherokee as both slaves and free men.
1776	William Bartram travels through Western North Carolina and records his encounters with Native Americans.
1781	Samuel Davidson along with his wife, child, and a female African American slave crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains into Cherokee territory and settled east of Gudger’s Ford of the Swannanoa River. Davidson was killed by the Cherokee. His wife, child and slave returned through the wilderness to Old Fort.
1792	January 14, the creation of Buncombe County from Burke and Rutherford Counties. Created by William Davidson and David Vance. The county was named after Colonel Edward Buncombe’s fatal Revolutionary battle at Germantown in 1777. (Wheeler, p.51)
1793	First School was opened on Union Hill by Robert Henry, a surveyor and lawyer who ran the school through a subscription system of tuition. Many students paid with farm goods and livestock.
1793	John Burton laid out 42 lots of ½ acre each along ‘main street’ in Asheville, now called Biltmore and Broadway.
1795	Asheville, originally named Morristown, was changed to Asheville in honor of Governor Samuel Ashe of New Hannover. Asheville was named Buncombe County seat. (Wheeler, p.51 and Ready, p.19)
1827	Work progresses on the Buncombe Turnpike between Greeneville, Tennessee and Greenville, South Carolina.
1828	The Buncombe Turnpike was completed after four years of labor. Primarily used for cattle drives throughout the 1800’s, the Turnpike helped to shift the economy to corn and livestock. The construction of the Turnpike marks the first large African American migration to Western North Carolina as labor for road construction. (Ready, p.21)
1837	Central Methodist Church built in Asheville.
1840	1840 Joshua Roberts a local lawyer in Asheville founded The Highland Messenger, one of the first local newspapers. (Ready, p.22)
1840	According to the census Asheville’s total population was 600 and of those, 240 were slaves.
1840-	In October prominent white families such as the Patton, Chunn, More, Hawkin, and Whiteside families donated land for the creation of the First Presbyterian Church, which became the dominant church in Asheville.
1848	Smith-McDowell House is built, possibly the first large family dwelling constructed of brick in Buncombe County. Trescott House is built in Greek-Revival style, one mile east of Biltmore Avenue.
1850	Sometime just before 1850 Sherrill's Inn, at Hickory Nut Gap is built. The Inn is the earliest lodging for traveler's into Buncombe County and western North Carolina.
1857	Dr. Elisha Mitchell, naturalist and scholar fell to his death while climbing Mt. Mitchell. The mountain was subsequently named in his honor. (Ready, p.22)
1861	Civil War erupts with strong secessionist feelings in both Asheville and Buncombe County.
1862	Asheville becomes a training center for Confederate soldiers. (Ready, p.28)
1865	April 6, the Battle of Asheville, a Civil War battle is fought. The local Silver Greys along with other confederate sympathizers forced Union General Kirby into retreat. George T. Spear House is built on Orange Street, Asheville.
1865	April 26. Civil War. Asheville was sacked by three regiments of Union forces despite her surrender to Union General Gillem on April 24.
1865	Upon Emancipation many African Americans moved further west towards Tennessee while others moved to Henderson County to establish their own community, “The Kingdom of the Happy Land.”
1867	Nazareth First Baptist Church created for African Americans.
1868	Asheville had a population of less than 1200 and was still recovering from the Civil War.
1868	Hopkins Chapel created due to discrimination in the Central Methodist Church. The congregation was led by W.J. Walls the “Boy Minister.” Walls founded Camp Dorothy Walls in Black Mountain.
1870's	A time of general isolation as bad roads and Civil War destruction cut Western North Carolina off from the rest of the state.
1876	Christian Reid published *Land of the Sky*
1879	Bank of Asheville is established
1880- 1920	The African American population of Asheville grew rapidly with all of the service industry jobs available as Coxe, Grove, and Vanderbilt opened tourist resorts and made Asheville the premiere health resort for the Victorian wealthy.
1880	October 2, completion of the Western North Carolina Rail Road. The vast majority of the labor for this project came from African American chain-gangs and free laborers.
1880	Swannanoa Hotel opens on S. Main Street (now College).
1880	Telegraph line established across Swannanoa Gap to Old Fort.
1881	Calvary Presbyterian Church created and led by Charles B. Dusenbury for the African American community.
1881	Western North Carolina Rail Road is completed to Best (now Biltmore Village).
1881	Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church created and led by Robert Rumley for the African American community.
1882	Asheville Board of Trade established
1883	First telephone exchange in Asheville.
1883	Asheville to Spartanburg railroad is opened.
1883	First City Directory is printed for Asheville and population of Asheville is recorded as 3,874 (2,408 white and 1,466 colored). In three years the population increased by 48% (since the 1880 census).
1883	Asheville established the first public hospital.
1884	1 Calvary Presbyterian Church opens a small private school in the basement to accommodate the overflow of children from the Beaumont School and stayed in existence until 1927.
1884	Reservoir is completed just north of the end of the current Beaucatcher Tunnel, for Asheville's first public water system
1884	Land for the establishment of Public Square (later Pack Square) given by newcomer and wealthy lumberman, G.W. Pack, and additional land is donated by him for construction of Aston Park and Montford Park.
1885	First Sanborne Fire Map is drawn for Asheville and first public phone lines are begun to be hung in city.
1886	July 12, Col. Frank Coxe (1839-1903) opened the Old Battery Park Hotel.
1886	The first recorded comprehensive map is created for downtown Asheville and the water-pumping station is built for the reservoir on the opposite side of Beaucatcher Mountain.
1887	Isaac Dickson was the first African American appointed to the school board demanding public education for African American children.
1887	George Vanderbilt relocates and makes Asheville his new home. Creates Biltmore Estate.
1887	Allen School opens. Created by the Women’s Home Missionary Society for the Methodist Church. By 1924 the school had become a High School for African American Women with a classical and vocational orientation.
1887	First electric street car line is laid in Asheville. It ran from Public Square (Pack Square) via South Main and then Southside to the passenger depot near the French Broad river.
1888	January 16. The first public schools open for grades 1- 5 with 450 white students and 380 African American students.
1888	Beaumont Street School opens for African American children but too small to accommodate all the children.
1888	Second set of Sanborne Maps (73 &77 - Bailey) are drawn. Asheville's sewer system is laid.
1889	Board of Trade formed to promote Asheville’s modernization. Western North Carolina Bank is established in Asheville.
1889	Asheville improves streets with electric rail cars. Becomes the first city in North Carolina to with an electric street car public transportation system.
1889	After his visit to Asheville in 1897-98, George W. Vanderbilt returns to Asheville and begins to purchase vast tracts of land on which to build an estate.
1890	Asheville’s population now stands at 10,240 people. The number of students enrolled in school is counted at 580 white students and 520 African American students.
1890-5	Construction begins on the Biltmore Estate of George W. Vanderbilt under to direction of Richard Morris Hunt and with assistance of Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect, Richard Sharp Smith, and Rafael Guastavino. Smith and Guastavino remained in the area and established homes.
1890	Rapid development in Asheville results in the establishment of suburbs and the rapid segregation of residential and commercial areas.
1891	The Catholic Hill School opens for African American children.
1892	The Young Men’s Institute (YMI) was created by George Vanderbilt as a recreation center for his African American workers. The original idea for the YMI was the brainchild of Edward Stephens who influenced Vanderbilt and who realized that there were no public places for African Americans to gather in Asheville.
1894	Thomas Walton Patton re-elected Mayor of Asheville for a year and carried with him Henry Redwood, Wm. A. Blair and Fred A. Hull, the Aldermen on the Reform ticket W.D. Hall elected Mayor of West Asheville. The Democratic ticket in West Asheville was elected by a small majority.
1895	George Vanderbilt donated the land for the creation of Saint Matthias Episcopal Church because African Americans were not allowed in All Souls Cathedral.
1902	The first city auditorium called the Asheville Auditorium, opens its doors at the intersection of Haywood and Flint streets. A privately owned facility, it was built by popular subscription.
1903	The Asheville Auditorium burns following a performance of Sergeant Kitty.
1904	The first Gymnasium for African American schools was built by John H. Michael. The Asheville Auditorium is rebuilt.
1906	The African American community purchased the YMI from Vanderbilt.
1906	Compulsory schooling made law for children ages 8- 14. YWCA founded in "Henrietta House," a Patton Family home on Biltmore Ave Later sites: Cherokee Inn on Woodfin and Oak and the Platt home on Merrimon Avenue.
1907	Rafael Guastavino builds the Saint Lawrence Cathedral [now St. Lawrence Basilica].
1907	William Sidney Porter (O. Henry) in Asheville (1907-08) . Eventually buried in Riverside Cemetery. Wrote Let Me Feel Your Pulse while here. Articles of Incorporation written for the YWCA.
1907	The American Library Association holds annual conference in Asheville, May 24-26 - only the second conference by the Association held in the South. Approximately 450 members were in attendance, including Melville Dewey.
1909	Kenilworth Hotel is destroyed by fire but later re-built. The city assumes ownership of the Asheville Auditorium and the venue welcomes major entertainers over the next twenty year, including Sarah Bernhardt, Lionel and John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson and Will Rogers.
1912	The Langren Hotel on what is today Broadway was completed in 1912.
1915	Hill Street Baptist Church opened for an African American congregation.
1915	Second Annual Convention of the Equal Suffrage Association of North Carolina Held at Battery Park Hotel Asheville, N. C. October, 29th, 1915. Equal Suffrage Association of North Carolina [Proceedings printed 1916, by Henderson, N. C., Jones-Stone Printing Co.
1916	The Great Flood destroyed much of the property along the French Broad River. The railroad Depot and Biltmore Village were particularly hard hit. Twenty-nine people died as a result of the flood.
1917	Catholic Hill School, the first public school for Black children burned, killing seven children. The school was replaced in 1922 and was known as Stephens-Lee, the first four-year high school in Asheville. Named after W.S. Lee who promoted vocational training, self- help, and Shakespeare.
1917	West Asheville annexed into Asheville.
1919	'Overlook', the home of Fred Seely is completed on Sunset Mountain. Also known as 'Seely's Castle,' it later became the home for Asheville-Biltmore College, a precursor of UNC Asheville.
1920	Lillian Exum Clement, a Buncombe County native, was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly by a landslide victory. Called "Brother Exum" by her colleagues, she was the first woman elected to the legislature in the South. Her election came just prior to the passage of the 19th Amendment.
1920	Asheville's population is c. 28,000. In the 1920's Buncombe County grew from 64,000 to almost 98,000. (From 1920 to 1930)
1923	Ronald Greene, architect, designs and builds the Jackson Building on the site of W.O. Wolfe's Monument shop. William Stoddart, architect, designs and builds the Battery Park Hotel for E.W. Grove. Lindley Training School for Girls (Lindley Home) bought by the city in 1923, later became part of Asheville's first junior college.
1924
1925	The Great Gatsby, is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in April of 1925 McCORMICK FIELD Thirty-five acres of land cornering at the intersection of Valley Street and Biltmore Avenue were purchased for development as a park and athletic field. The cost of this land and the modern baseball stands and diamond built on it amounted to $250,000. [Four Years in Review] PACK LIBRARY A-new Pack Memorial Library building was erected on South Pack Square at a cost of $125,000. The third floor of this building was set aside as the home of the O. Henry Memorial Library. PINK BEDS. SURVEY The sum of $35,000 was expended in a survey or the rink Beds or Pisgah National Forest, to determine the capacity and utility of this area for use as a watershed.
1926	BEAUCATCHER TUNNEL A Joint Project between the City of Asheville and the County of Buncombe /, to drive a tunnel highway through Beaucatcher Mountain was entered into, the entire cost being estimated at $390,000, and the purpose of this tunnel being to form a connection with an extension of Woodfin Street to College Street and thence by county highway to State Highway No. 10
1927	Douglas Ellington, architect, designs and builds the First Baptist Church FINANCIAL SUMMARY The gross bonded debt of the city, including $2,000,000 of bonds sold on April 9th, amounted to $16,983,975 at the close of the administration. Deducting sinking fund, water bond debt, electric light and power bonds and un-. collected street assessments, these items being proper deductions as defined by State law, the net debt of the City of Asheville was $10,350,718.69. The gross bonded debt brought forward from the previous administration was $4,175,000.00. The 1923 valuation of property subject to taxation in Asheville was $85,093,203.42. The re-valuation of real estate required by law for the year 1927 is expected to bring the total assessment of the City of Asheville to $100,000,000.00 or more. As of May 16th, 1927, uncollected taxes due the city amounted to $504,957.67. On the same date cash balances in banks to the city's credit totaled $3,727,787.51
1927	Buncombe County Jr. College created. In 1963 this would become a 4 year institution.
1927	American ENKA Corporation comes to Hominy Valley. A Dutch company, that specialized in the production of the new fiber rayon, ENKA became the largest employer in Buncombe county. Asheville's ad valorem tax rate of 1.24% is the lowest among two hundred and sixty-four American cities of nearly equal or larger size.
1928	Work on Beaucatcher Tunnel is completed.
1930	Asheville's population is over 50,000.
1930	November 1930 saw the collapse of the Central Bank and Trust Company and the crash of Asheville's economy. Over-extension in the real-estate market through unwise loans and investments were unable to be recovered. City government went bankrupt and city officials were faced with enormous debt not fully repaid for some thirty years.
1930	In the early years of the Great Depression, the music and dance events once part of the Rhododendron Festival had eclipsed the parent festival and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was launched as an independent event.
1930	Asheville's economy begins a long and slow decline that would remain for some thirty years. Buncombe county saw a boom in tobacco production which gave the local rural economy some support. Creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Public Works Administration programs provided some relief for individuals following the 1930's crash, but urban dwellers fared far worse than the rural population.
1930-1931	The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created. North Carolina purchased some 150,000 acres as their contribution to the park and turned the land over to the US government. Construction on the park began in 1931. Lumber companies and some local residents who were removed from the park boundaries strongly resisted the creation of the park.
1931	June 1931, the Asheville City Council issues a report calling the Asheville Auditorium a "serious menace" and a "dangerous trap" because of fire hazards. The Council votes to condemn the building.
1932	William Dudley Pelley relocates to Asheville, North Carolina where he establishes Galahad College and offers courses from economics to astrology. Capitalizing on the poor economic climate of the Depression, Galahad College offers correspondence courses that become very popular.
1933	William Dudley Pelley founds the Silver Rangers of America on 31 January 1933. The organization soon becomes known as the "Silver Shirts". and engages in racist and anti-Semitic activity'. He rails against Roosevelt's New Deal, which he calls the "Jew Deal.". Asheville Central Bank and Trust Company falters and finally fails. Black Mountain College founded. Western North Carolina "A State Within A State" 1933 (?) An Economic and Social Survey of the Eighteen Counties Comprising This Rich Empire of Industry, Resorts, Agriculture and Mining
1934	Albert E. Manley the Principal of Stephens - Lee High School receives his PhD at Stanford. He will go on to become President of Morehouse College in Atlanta.
1935	September 11, 1935, construction on the Blue Ridge Parkway is begun.
1936	The Negro Welfare Council was organized in 1936 and was charged with the representation of Asheville's black community. In 1936 African- Americans comprised nearly one-third of the total population of Asheville. The Negro Welfare Council, which was comprised of seven black citizens, was the forerunner of the Human Relations Council. Silvershirt Chief William Dudley Pelley promotes his candidacy for President of the United States, with the call, "For Christ and Constitution!"
1937	Wilma Dykeman enters Biltmore College at the age of 17. The Negro Welfare Council was in full operation and had served 72,453 people in the African American community since its inception. Thomas Wolfe returns to Asheville and finds that the once hostile reception following publication of Look Homeward Angel in 1929, has diminished. He is recognized as one of America's outstanding authors.
1938	*Eugene Smith created The Southern News,* the only African American newspaper to circulate through 6 states until 1966.
1939	World War II (September 1, 1939- August 15,1945) begins
1940	Impact of WWII on Asheville is seen in the conversion of the Grove Arcade to a Weather and Communication center for the Army Air Corps. The Grove Park Inn became a retention center for enemy nationals and later a rest and recuperation center for US navel officers.
1940	January 1940, the new Municipal Auditorium opens. The structure is funded in part by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and gives a boost to the city during poor economic times. The new design is poor, at best, as the acoustics pick up the noise of wooden chairs on wooden floors and the loud steam radiators and the large flat floor makes viewing the performers difficult. William Dudley Pelley comes under government scrutiny for his seditious remarks and he leaves Asheville for Noblesville, Indiana. .
1941	Street car lines are u pulled up and used for scrap metal in the war effort. Rationing is in full effect.
1942	USS Asheville under fire from Japanese Task Force, March 3, 1942. Pelley is arrested for sedition and is imprisoned.
1944	YMI renovated by Dr. Robert M. Hendrick.
1947	Asheville and western North Carolina, like much of the country experienced a downturn in the economy and industrial growth began to put pressure on the environment. Pollution is evident and discussed in the news. Tourism continues, but includes middle-income families who look for convenience motels and short stays.
1953	1953, Dave Steel Co. celebrates 25th Anniversary at Battery Park Hotel
1957	Asheville-Hendersonville Airport is constructed through a bond initiative approved by the voters on May 4, 1957. Air transportation gives rise to new and greater number of visitors to area.
1957	Black Mountain College is dissolved.
1959	AB Tech created as a vocational center for adults.
1959	The Mountain Street School was renamed the Lucy Herring School in honor of Lucy Herring a devoted African American teacher and community leader.
1959-1972	These were years of controversy in Asheville as integration was forced throughout the south. Stephens - Lee school had functioned as a community center for African American citizens for years and represented black accomplishments. Stephens- Lee finally closed because of integration issues.
1963	YWCA holds a series of workshops on "The Challenge of Integration" (11-12-63). Report recommends adult education and job training for both Negro and white First integrated swimming classes held in Grove Street pool.
1963	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute (now A-B Tech College) was opened to provide industrial education and training for local area students.
1964	Frank E. Ratzell, pastor of the First Congregationalist Church, Asheville, North Carolina (1951-1964), and active desegrationist, dies.
1964	National Civil Rights Act is passed.
1967	Voters pass a $5.3 million bond issue to fund construction of a scaled-back version of a proposed Civic Center and convention center.
1968	Full integration of the Asheville YWCA occurs.
1968	Blue Ridge Parkeway was decicated. The planning and construction of the Parkway over a twenty-two year history, was originally called the "Appalachian Highway." During this same period the HWY 240 extension was completed and provided rapid access to Asheville and with HWY 26 and HWY 40 helped to relieve the growing congestion in the downtown area.
1969	Buncombe County Jr. College became the University of North Carolina at Asheville City Council decides that the Civic Center plan is too expensive and vote to renovate the existing building and create an arena.
1970	May 27, 1970, Voters narrowly reject a $2 million supplementary bond issue designed to cover the increased costs of a new Civic Center, but on May 30, 1970 Mayor Wayne Montgomery vows that a sparse Civic Center will be built (no seats and no air conditioning). Fall, 1970, George Coggins files a lawsuit to block the construction of the the Civic Center, when his hopes to relocate the Center to the Westgate Shopping Center, which he owned, fell through. The North Carolina Supreme Court rules against Coggins.
1971	Dec. 14, 1971, Voters pass a $3 million dollar Civic Center bond by a margin of four to one following a promise by the Rev. Billy Graham to hold a crusade in Asheville. Graham had not held a crusade in Asheville in some 20 years due to the lack of a large facility. The contractor for the Civic Center project, Ranger Construction Co., files a $300,000 claim against the city. Mayor Richard Wood signs an official policy statement for the City Council, that states: "The Civic Center has had a long and troubled history. The debate over its contents and location has been extensive. Unfortunately, this delay and debate has been a very negative influence on the civic pride and cooperative spirit of our community."
1974	The auditorium is redesigned and named the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. June 23, 1974, The new Civic Center opens its doors.
1975	July 22-24, 1975, Elvis Presley plays three nights at the Asheville Civic Center. Tickets are scalped for $50.
1981	Buildings on Pack Square were torn down and the Akzona Building was constructed. The dedication was July, 1981. A symbol of Asheville's new prominence as the financial center of western North Carolina, Akzona was a consolidation of the Dutch company, American Enka Corporation and other associated companies.
1981	75th Anniversary of the Asheville YWCA. Thelma Caldwell speaks at the YWCA Annual Meeting on April 14, 1981, in celebration of the organization’s 75th anniversary.
1990
2000
2001
2002
2004	Dave Steel Company celebrates 75th Anniversary on July 31st at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort.
2005
2006-2007	Asheville YWCA celebrates 100 years of the Asheville YWCA
2007
2008
2009
2010	Blue Ridge Parkway celebrates its 75th Anniversary. UNCA mounts an exhibit, "Not So 'Back of Beyond': Urban Echoes on the Blue Ridge Parkway," On view, June 20 - August 14, 2010
	Information regarding the Asheville Civic Center history is from the Aug 31, Asheville Citizen Times 2005 / vol 12 iss 5, From Hope to headache An Asheville Civic Center time line, by Brian Sarzynski