Timeline of Asheville, North Carolina

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 20th century

• 1792 – Settlement established (approximate date). ^[1]
• 1793 – Log courthouse built. ^[2]
• 1797 – Town of Asheville incorporated; named after politician Samuel Ashe. ^[2]
• 1800 – Population: 38.
• 1824 – Buncombe Turnpike built in vicinity of Asheville. ^[2]
• 1829 – Vance Circulating Library Society founded. ^[3]
• 1849 – Asheville News begins publication. ^[4]
• 1850 – Population: 502. ^[5]
• 1870
  • North Carolina Citizen newspaper begins publication. ^[4]
  • Population: 1,400.
• 1879 – Public Library opens. ^[6]
• 1880 – Western North Carolina Railroad begins operating. ^[7]
• 1882 – The first organized fire department is created, which will eventually become the Asheville Fire Department. ^[8]
• 1883 – City of Asheville incorporated. ^[9]
• 1889 – Streetcar begins operating. ^[10]
  • Construction of Biltmore Estate begins near Asheville.
• 1890 – Population: 10,235.
• 1893 – Young Men's Institute Building constructed.
• 1894 – Swannanoa Country Club founded. ^[11]
• 1895 – Construction of Biltmore Estate is completed. ^[12]
• 1897 – Zebulon Baird Vance monument erected in Pack Square. ^[2]
• 1898
  • Manor Hotel in business. ^[13]
  • Biltmore Forest School established near Asheville.
• 1899 – Appalachian National Park Association formed during a meeting in Asheville. ^[13]
• 1900 – Future writer Thomas Wolfe born in Asheville. ^[14]

20th century

• 1906 – Will Harris's murderous rampage
• 1909
  • St. Lawrence Church built. ^[9]
  • Palace Theatre in business. ^[15]
• 1913 – Grove Park Inn in business. ^[12]
• 1915 – Asheville Masonic Temple built.
• 1916 - The Great Asheville Flood
• 1917 –
  • West Asheville becomes part of the city of Asheville.
  • Nov. 16, a fire at Catholic Hill School for Colored Children killed seven and destroyed the building. Considered to be one of the worst disasters in Asheville history. ^[8]
• 1920 – Population: 28,504.
• 1922 – Imperial Theatre in business. ^[15]
• 1924 – Hi-rise Jackson Building constructed.
• 1925 – Memorial Stadium opens.
• 1927
  • WWNC radio begins broadcasting. ^[16]
  • First Baptist Church built. ^[2]
• 1928
  • Asheville City Hall and Buncombe County Courthouse built. ^[12]
  • Dutch-owned Enka rayon manufactory begins operating near city. ^[7]
• 1929 – Kenilworth becomes part of Asheville.
• 1930
  • Southern Mountain Handicraft Guild founded.
  • Population: 50,193.
• 1934
  • Bus begins operating. ^[2]
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park established in vicinity of Asheville.
• 1935 – Blue Ridge Parkway construction begins. ^[17]
• 1941 – Black Mountain College of art relocates to vicinity of Asheville. ^[12]
• 1948 – March 10: Highland Hospital fire; Zelda Fitzgerald among the fatalities. ^[10]
• 1952 – Western North Carolina Historical Association organized. ^[18]
• 1953 – WISE-TV (television) begins broadcasting. ^[19]
• 1954 – WLOS-TV (television) begins broadcasting. ^[19]
• 1959 – Asheville Industrial Education Center established. ^[9]
• 1961 – Asheville Regional Airport begins operating.
• 1971 – Asheville Mall in business.
• 1976 – Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County organized. ^[18]
• 1978 – North Carolina Division of Archives and Records "Western Office" headquartered in Asheville. ^[18]
• 1979 – Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society formed. ^[18]
• 1980 – Population: 54,022. ^[20]
• 1983 – James M. Clarke becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district. ^[21]
• 1990 – Sister city agreement established with Vladikavkaz, Russia. ^[22]
• 1991 – Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper in publication. ^[4]
• 1994 – Sister city agreement established with San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico. ^[22]
• 1996 – Sister city agreement established with Saumur, France. ^[22]
• 1998 – City website online (approximate date). ^{[23] [24]}

21st century

• 2000 – Population: 68,889. ^[20]
• 2003 – Asheville Film Festival begins.
• 2004 – Sister city agreement established with Karpenisi, Greece. ^[22]
• 2005
  • Terry Bellamy becomes first African-American in city elected mayor.
  • Patrick McHenry becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 10th congressional district. ^[25]
• 2006 – Sister city agreement established with Valladolid, Mexico. ^[22]
• 2007 – Asheville-Buncombe Libraries changed name to Buncombe County Public Libraries. ^[6]
• 2008 – Sister city agreement established with Osogbo, Nigeria. ^[22]
• 2010 – Population: 83,393. ^[26]
• 2013 – Esther Manheimer becomes mayor.
• 2019 – Population: 92,870. ^[27]
• 2024 – Asheville, along with the entirety of the western end of North Carolina, sustains catastrophic damage as a direct result of Hurricane Helene.

See also

• List of mayors of Asheville, North Carolina
• Buncombe County history
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Buncombe County, North Carolina
• Timelines of other cities in North Carolina: Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington, Winston-Salem

References

1. Powell 2010.
2. Federal Writers’ Project 1939.
3. Davies Project. "American Libraries before 1876". Princeton University. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
4. "U.S. Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America . Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
5. "1850 Census of Population: North Carolina" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-03-31.
6. "Library Time Line". Asheville: Pack Library. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
7. Ronald D. Eller (1982). Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930 . University of Tennessee Press. ISBN   978-0-87049-341-6.
8. Neufeld, Rob (2018-03-27). "Portrait of the Past: Asheville fire department, 1917". Citizen Times. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
9. Hellmann 2006.
10. North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. "(Asheville)". This Day in North Carolina History. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
11. "Visiting Our Past: Asheville Country Club's golf history", Asheville Citizen-Times, Gannett, April 19, 2015
12. "Asheville, NC". National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. Washington DC: National Park Service . Retrieved March 10, 2017.
13. C. Brenden Martin (2007). Tourism in the Mountain South: A Double-edged Sword. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN   978-1-57233-575-2.
14. Ernie Gross (1990). This Day in American History . Neal-Schuman. ISBN   978-1-55570-046-1.
15. "Movie Theaters in Asheville, NC". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
16. Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: North Carolina", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC   2459636
17. Whisnant, Anne Mitchell (2006). Super-scenic motorway : a Blue Ridge Parkway history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN   978-0-8078-9842-0. OCLC   676698370.
18. American Association for State and Local History (2002). "North Carolina: Asheville". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). Rowman Altamira. ISBN   0759100020.
19. Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: North Carolina", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC   10512206
20. Gregory 2010.
21. "North Carolina". Official Congressional Directory. 1991/1992- : S. Pub. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1983. hdl:2027/uc1.31158007157232 – via HathiTrust.
22. "Our Sister Cities". Asheville Sister Cities. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
23. "Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina!". Archived from the original on May 12, 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
24. Kevin Hyde; Tamie Hyde (eds.). "United States of America: North Carolina". Official City Sites. Utah. OCLC   40169021. Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
25. Civic Impulse, LLC. "Members of Congress". GovTrack . Washington, D.C. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
26. "Asheville city, North Carolina". QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
27. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Asheville city, North Carolina". www.census.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-23.

Bibliography

• "Buncombe County". Branson's North Carolina Business Directory (6th ed.). Raleigh: Levi Branson. 1884.
• Asheville City Directory. Southern Directory Co. 1887.
• Lindsey's Guide Book to Western North Carolina. Asheville: T.H. Lindsey. 1890.
• Asheville and Vicinity, a Handbook of Information, Containing an Exhaustive History of Asheville. Atlanta: J.D. Eggleston and J.S. McIlwaine. 1897.
• Foster A. Sondley (February 1898), "Asheville's Centenary", Asheville Citizen
• F.H. Richardson (1905). "Asheville, N.C.". Richardson's Southern Guide. Chicago: Monarch Book Company – via Internet Archive.
• "Asheville", United States (4th ed.), Leipzig: K. Baedeker, 1909, OCLC   02338437
• "Asheville"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 2 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 731–732.
• John Preston Arthur (1914). "County History: Buncombe County". Western North Carolina: a History (from 1730 to 1913). Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton. pp. 143–159. (Includes information about Asheville)
• "Everybody Helps: Asheville's Unique Method of Raising Money". Town Development: A Magazine for the Man Who Believes in Himself and in His Town. 13. New York. December 1914. OCLC   52158201.
• Asheville, North Carolina City Directory, Commercial Service Co., 1921
• F.A. Sondley; Theodore Davidson (1922). Asheville and Buncombe County. Asheville: The Citizen Co.
• "Asheville Builds a New City". American City Magazine. 35. New York: Civic Press. September 1926. OCLC   29653835.
• Federal Writers’ Project (1939). "Asheville". North Carolina: a Guide to the Old North State. American Guide Series. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 137+.
• City of Asheville (2003), Asheville 2025 Plan
• Paul T. Hellmann (2006). "North Carolina: Asheville". Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   1-135-94859-3.
• Chase, Nan K. 2007. Asheville, a history. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
• Lisa Gregory (2010), "Asheville", in William S. Powell (ed.), Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press
• William S. Powell; Michael Hill (2010). "Asheville". North Carolina Gazetteer (2nd ed.). University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-0-8078-9829-1.
• "Asheville, NC". U.S. City Open Data Census. Sunlight Foundation and Open Knowledge International. 2018. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.

External links

• "North Carolina Room". Asheville: Pack Memorial Library. Collecting and preserving the history of Asheville, Buncombe County, and western North Carolina
• Items related to Asheville, North Carolina, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
• Ramsey Library. "Appalachian Studies". Research Guides. Asheville: University of North Carolina. (Subject guide)
• Humanities and Social Sciences Division. "Resources for Local History and Genealogy by State: North Carolina". Bibliographies and Guides. Washington DC: Library of Congress.