This installment offers a look at the life and career of the fifth of the five original teachers at Asheville’s first black city school, Beaumont Street. We’ve saved one of the best teachers for last. We’ve also included information on the members of her family because of their prominence in Asheville and their connections to … Continue reading Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Students, Part Four: Builders of Black Schools (concluded)
A painting of the N.W. Woodfin house by John Holland. It is presumed that the figure on the porch is N.W. Woodfin. The home stood at what is now the corner of Broadway and Woodfin St., the approximate location of HomeTrust Bank. His property reached into where the UNC Asheville botanical gardens are today, this … Continue reading Confronting the Legacy of N.W. Woodfin: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
"Skatemobiles" by Andrea Clark. ACC 57-08 Henry Robinson wrote in 1992 about his childhood community of Southside--a mournful eulogy really, to a place that no longer exists--that the sprawling community "stretched over 400 acres from Biltmore Avenue westward to the French Broad River." Robinson informs us today that it was "the largest residential area for … Continue reading Southside: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
"Asheville from Beaucatcher," published by Taylor & Jones, Land of the Sky, Beauties of Western North Carolina and Northeast Georgia, Class D. The photo was taken before the original Battery Park Hotel was built in 1886. A200-5 In our last post in this series on early black public schools, we looked at the lives and … Continue reading ASHEVILLE’S FIRST CITY SCHOOLS FOR BLACK STUDENTS, Part Four: Builders of Black Schools (Continued)
I volunteered this week to create the post for Swannanoa in part because it has been my home for the majority of my life. I was educated in grades 1-12 in “the Valley” (as you will hear natives often call the community including Black Mountain and Ridgecrest). In the 20th century, Swannanoa was transformed by … Continue reading Swannanoa: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
The Creation of a Public School System for the City of Asheville, 1887-1888 Looking down on Asheville with a distant view of the first Battery Park Hotel built in 1886. Eagle Street is in the center of the photo curving around a stand of trees. L473-8 Setting Up the System and Hiring the Teachers Asheville … Continue reading ASHEVILLE’S FIRST CITY SCHOOLS FOR BLACK STUDENTS, Part Three: Builders of Black Schools
When I went searching our database for sources to write this edition of 52 Weeks, 52 Communities I had one thought when the results came back: “This cannot be it.” Alas, this seems to be the only historical image of the Shiloh Community in the North Carolina Collection here at Pack Memorial Library. "Shiloh Baptist … Continue reading The only historical image of Shiloh? 52 Weeks, 52 Communities.
Unlike most of the communities we’ve covered in this series, the community of Ramoth is in reality, no longer. Once a rather large, and even incorporated suburb of Asheville, most folks living in Buncombe County today have probably never heard of this North Asheville community. Indeed, at one time, Ramoth was so large, they intended … Continue reading Setting the Record Straight in Ramoth: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
If you grew up in Buncombe County any time after 1960, chances are you took a trip either with your school or your parents to the Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace State Historic Site located in the Reems Creek community near Weaverville. The reconstruction of a late 18th, early 19th century mountain plantation has hosted thousands … Continue reading On a Staircase in Reems Creek: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
