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]
• 1890 – Population: 10,235.
• 1893 – Young Men's Institute Building constructed.
• 1894 – Swannanoa Country Club founded.^[11]
• 1895 – Biltmore Estate (residence) built near Asheville.^[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.
• 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]

See also

• List of mayors of Asheville, North Carolina
• 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. . Archived from the original on May 12, 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
24. Kevin Hyde; Tamie Hyde (eds.). . 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.
• . U.S. City Open Data Census. Sunlight Foundation and Open Knowledge International. 2018. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Asheville, North Carolina.

• "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.