Hill's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1959], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1959
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > North Carolina > Buncombe County > Asheville > Hill's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1959] > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

INTRODUCTION

City Statistics-Total street mileage, 218.96, with 184.79 miles paved. Miles of gas mains, 94; sewers, 200. Number of water meters, 21,244; light meters, 50,256; gas meters, 3,405. Capacity of water works, six billion gallons; daily average use, approximately 11,000,000 gallons; flow by gravity; miles of mains, 500; value of plant, $10,400,000.00. Fire department has 90 men, with 7 stations and 12 pieces of motor equipment. Value of fire department property, $400,000.00. Police department has a force of 88 persons, with 1 station and 14 cruisers with radio equipment and two motorcycles.

Population

Asheville is the county seat of Buncombe County, and one of the principal resort centers of the eastern U. S. The city has a population of 53,000 according to the report of the U. S. Census of 1950, with a metropolitan area population of 124,403. Sales Management 1958 estimate for Buncombe County is 135,400.

History

Asheville was founded in 1797 by John Burton, and was known for about three years of its early history as Morristown. The name was later changed to Asheville, in honor of Samuel and John Ashe, noted men of that period.

The city has long been a resort center, the first resort hotel having been constructed near the Sulphur Springs in the western part of the city, west of the French Broad River. Later the tourist traffic increased and other resort hotels were built including the old Battery Park Hotel on the site now occupied by the modern structure. Other hotels have been constructed with the growth of tourist trade, through expansion of transportation facilities, including railways and highways into the highlands. Industry and agriculture also have developed in the mountain section, to the point that Asheville has become a marketing and shop- ping center for 20 counties of western North Carolina.

Government

Buncombe County is governed by a board of three commissioners. Ashe- ville has the council-manager form of government, which includes a mayor and six other councilmen and a city manager. The two governmental bodies are housed in the handsome City and County buildings which flank the central city plaza. The city has one of the lowest fire records of any city of its size in the country, due to an efficient fire department, and the police department has be- come highly effective with the aid of radio, cooperation with state and county law-enforcement officers and by means of the police cruiser system. Two police radio stations are located here, one atop the Buncombe County Building and the other, a State police radio station, on the Black Mountain highway.

Tourist Attractions

Scenic and other attractions of Asheville and western North Carolina are always of paramount interest to visitors. The historic Dogwood Trail, a scenic city tour, is open year round to the public. The famous Biltmore House and Gar- dens, located in the midst of the 15,000-acre Biltmore Estate in Asheville, have been open to the public view since 1930. The noted mansion, adjudged one of the finest private homes in the world, was constructed nearly half a century ago by the late George W. Vanderbilt. The House, built after the architectural pattern of the French chateaux, contains a vast collection of objects of artistic and his - toric value, gathered at great cost by Mr. Vanderbilt in all parts of the world. Notable among the priceless treasures on display are the chessmen of Napoleon, the ceremonial robes of Cardinal Richelieu, ancient tapestries which graced the tent of Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and a myriad of other rare and precious objects.

Surrounding the House, the vast expanse of gardens and landscaped park presents a great mass of flowers and superbly designed vistas to the beholder throughout the spring, summer and autumn seasons.

In Riverside Cemetery are located the tombs of the famous writer, O. Henry and Zebulon Vance, the Civil War Governor of North Carolina, and the now famous marker erected to the memory of 18 German sailors by members of the Kiffin Rockwell Post of the American Legion. This is the only monument ever erected by American Soldiers to the memory of their foreign foes.

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Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway, largest stand of rhododendron in the world.

Home of Thomas Wolfe, author of LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL, in Asheville, North Carolina

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Also in Asheville, in the city of his birth, is the tomb of the late Thomas Wolfe, internationally-known author of "Look Homeward, Angel," "Of Time and the River," "The Web and the Rock," and "You Can't Go Home Again." He spent most of his childhood at his mother's boarding house, the "Old Ken- tucky Home," at 48 Spruce St. This house is known to millions of American readers as "Dixieland," the boarding house operated by Eliza Gant in Wolfe's first novel, "Look Homeward, Angel." It is maintained by the City of Asheville and is operated by the City Parks and Recreation Department, and is open to the public during May through October. It contains the furnishings of the days when the author resided there.

Richmond Hill, home of the late Richmond Pearson (minister to Persia and Greece), is open to the public. It is filled with rare treasures collected from all over the world.

The famous Craggy Rhododendron Gardens, located on the crest of the Great Craggy Mountains near Asheville, are one of the noted scenic attractions of the region near the city. The gardens, which present the massed bloom of millions of purple rhododendron shrubs in June, are reached by means of a link of the famous Blue Ridge Parkway, and are the objective for many visitors in Asheville during the bloom of the flowers, which is generally around the middle of June, depending on the season.

In the surrounding highland region, the beauty of the Sapphire Country, Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, the Blowing Rock, Little Switzerland, Linville and Grandfather Mountain sections, the Tryon resort region, and the sections near Hendersonville, Waynesville, Brevard, Highlands and Whiteside Mountain are of interest to visitors.

Mount Mitchell, highest mountain in eastern America (altitude 6,684 feet), and Mount Pisgah (5,749 feet) in the Pisgah National Forest, may be climbed by the motorist.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Asheville is the eastern gateway city to the Great Smoky Mountains Na- tional Park, one of the nation's most popular playgrounds. This great scenic region with its majestic peaks and deep valleys, its vast expanse of virgin for- ests, its clear trout streams and tumbling waterfalls, is a center of interest for visitors. 2,943,732 visitors entered this park in 1957. Excellent highways con- nect Asheville with the Great Smokies, and on the eastern approach to the park is located the 57,000-acre reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Here live 4,000 Indians, occupying their ancient hunting grounds and pursuing their ancient crafts and customs under supervision of the Government.

The Blue Ridge Parkway

Through western North Carolina the "Blue Ridge Parkway" is nearing completion, connecting the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. This great touring route, when completed along the summits of highest of the Appalachian peaks, will be the most scenic motor-way in America, covering a distance of approximately 500 miles, with an average elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level. 5,048,236 persons traveled the parkway during 1957.

Sports

Asheville and western North Carolina comprise a region which is a para- dise for outdoorsmen. In Asheville, four golf courses, adjudged among the finest in the South, offer best grass greens and fairways to the golfer. These are the courses of the Country Club of Asheville, Inc., the Biltmore Forest Country Club, the Beaver Lake Golf Club, and the Municipal Golf Links. Over a score of excellent courses are to be found in the resort centers of the highlands.

Tennis courts, swimming pools and other recreational facilities are pro- vided in Asheville. The City Recreation Park, with its skating rink, and its amusement devices, is a center of attraction during the summer months.

More than 70 artificial lakes, located in all parts of the "Land of the Sky, " provide opportunities for boating, sailing and fishing. Through the mountains many hundreds of miles of trails are open to the hiker and horsemen. Streams of the region are well stocked in most cases with brook and rainbow trout, and of the five game preserves in the western North Carolina region provide good hunting for deer in the surrounding terrain during the open hunting seasons.

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Air View of Chimney Rock, parking space, entrance to the elevator and the Sky Lounge

The Blue Ridge Parkway with Mount Mitchell in Background

INTRODUCTION

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Golf Course in Asheville, North Carolina

Bear, Russian wild boar, grouse, rabbits and other small game also are plenti- ful in most of the mountain regions, and during the open season, nimrods from practically every state in the Union come to this section. For many years, deer, bear and boar hunts have been held in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Game Preserves.

Horseback-riding along the many enticing mountain trails is one of the favorite recreations among visitors. Horse shows at Asheville, Bent Creek Ranch, Tryon, Blowing Rock, Hendersonville and Linville each year are events of great interest to followers of equestrian activities.

In the mountain region near Asheville are located nearly 50 camps for boys and girls, which operate during the summer months and provide excellent sum- mer recreational programs for thousands of boys and girls of school age.

In Western North Carolina also are located the great religious assemblies, sites for summer recreation and conferences for the members of a number of denominations. These include the Baptist assembly at Ridgecrest, the Presby- terian assembly at Montreat, the Y. M. C. A. assembly at Blue Ridge, the Meth- odist assembly at Lake Junaluska, the assembly of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church at Bon Clarken near Hendersonville, and the Episcopal assembly at Lake Kanuga. Also, there are the Ben Lippen Bible Conference, and the Lutheridge Assembly at Arden, Christmount (Christian) and Cragmont (Free Will Baptist) at Black Mountain.

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Battto Square

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Buncombe County Court House and Asheville City Hall

Asheville Civic Auditorium

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Grandfather Mountain on Highway 221, temporary route of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Asheville watershed and North Fork Lake as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway

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Climate and Health

An unsurpassed climate, which combines light, cool, exhilarating summers and mild winters, a large percentage of sunny days, mountain-protection from severe storms and a dry atmosphere, has long been a principal attraction of Asheville and the western portion of North Carolina. The health-giving qualities of this climate have been a factor in luring here numerous health-seekers in search of surcease from many different afflictions. Many well-equipped sana- toria for the treatment of pulmonary and nervous afflictions are located in and near Asheville. Most notable among these are the U. S. Veterans Hospital at Oteen, just east of the city limits; the Veterans Hospital Annex, located near Swannanoa, and the North Carolina State Tuberculosis Hospital, near Black Mountain.

Industries

In addition to the large volume of tourist trade, Asheville is a center for diversified industries. Located near here are the great rayon and nylon plants, at Enka; the huge pulp and paper plant, at Canton; bleacheries, blanket factory, and numerous other plants manufacturing mica products, tool, hosiery, dimen- sion lumber, furniture, food products, barrel staves, rayon garments, elec- tronics, precision parts of machinery, heavy machinery equipment, parachutes, rugs, and other articles.

Near Brevard is located a cigarette paper mill, where fine cigarette pa- pers are made from Flax; cellophane plant and other small industries.

The native industries which produce homespun woolens, rugs, native pot- tery, native jewelry, native ironwork, and numerous other woven and manufac- tured articles, are noted throughout the country.

The Asheville Industrial Council is located on the first floor of the City Hall building.

Mineral Resources

A variety of valuable mineral deposits are present in the Asheville area- mica, vermiculite, feldspar, talc, kaolin, quartz, granite, marble, copper and iron of proven quantity exist in this region. Asheville is a mineral resources center, having a mineral laboratory operated by the N. C. State College of Agri- culture and Engineering of the University of N. C., in cooperation with the T. V. A. and the U. S. Bureau of Mines. More varieties of precious and semi-precious gems are found in this region than in any other area the same size in the United States.

Agriculture

Asheville is a large poultry, dairy and livestock center, over 500 dairies sell to Asheville milk plants. Three livestock auction markets with weekly sales. Large local production of broilers and hatching eggs. Twelve tobacco ware- houses in Asheville with over six million dollars in tobacco sales annually.

The Asheville Agricultural Development Council is located on the fourth floor of the City Hall building.

Shopping Center

Due to its large trade area and the many hundreds of thousands of visitors touring western North Carolina at all seasons of the year, the city has become one of the finest high-class shopping centers in the south.

Water Supply

Asheville's water supply is the purest to be found. The water, coming from the summits of the high peaks, is noted for its soft quality and its lack of im- purities. The city water system is one of the few gravity systems in existence, and Buncombe County is one of the few counties in the U. S. providing water by means of mains along most highways in the county.

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For further information regarding Asheville and vicinity,

write ASHEVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE P. O. BOX 7497 ASHEVILLE, N. C.

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Hill's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1959], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company. Publication date: 1959 Publisher: Hill Directory Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Hill Directory Company.
Publication date: 1959
Publisher: Hill Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 1196