Miller's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1951], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company.;Piedmont Directory Co.
Publication date: 1951
Publisher: Piedmont Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 672

USA > North Carolina > Buncombe County > Asheville > Miller's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1951] > 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

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, includ- ing railways and highways into the highlands. Industry and agri- culture also have developed in the mountain section, to the point that Asheville has become a marketing and shopping center for 20 counties of western North Carolina.

Government

Buncombe County is governed by a board of three commis- sioners. Asheville has the council-manager form of government, which includes a mayor and six other councilmen and a city man- ager. 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 de- partment has become highly effective with the aid of radio, coop- eration 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 famous Biltmore House and Gardens, located in the midst of the 15,000- acre Biltmore Estate in Asheville, have been open to 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

Buncombe County Court House and Asheville City Hall

INTRODUCTION

the late George W. Vanderbilt. The House, built after the archi- tectural pattern of the French chateaux, contains a vast collection of objects of artistic and historic value, gathered at great cost by Mr. Vanderbilt in all parts of the world. Notable among the price- less treasures on display are the chessmen of Napoleon, the cere- monial 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 land- scaped 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, 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.

Also in Asheville, in the city of his birth, is the tomb of the late Thomas Wolfe, internationally-known author of "Look Home- ward, 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 Kentucky 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 has been purchased and restored by the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association and is open to the public. It contains the furnishings of the days when the author resided there. His birthplace is located on Woodfin St.

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 gar- dens, which present the massed bloom of millions of purple rhodo-

One of Asheville's Fine Golf Courses

INTRODUCTION

dendron shrubs in June, are reached by means of a link of the famous Blue Ridge Parkway and a forest motor road via Barnards- ville, 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.

Mount Mitchell, Highest Peak East of the Rockies

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

A Scene in the Smokies

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

INTRODUCTION

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Asheville is the eastern gateway city to the Great Smoky Moun- tains National 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 forests, its clear trout streams and tum- bling waterfalls, is a center of interest for visitors. 1,744,000 visitors entered this park in 1950. Excellent highways connect Asheville with the Great Smokies, and on the eastern approach to the park is located the 60,000-acre reservation of the Eastern Band of Chero- kee Indians. Here live 3,000 Indians, occupying their ancient hunt- ing grounds and pursuing their ancient crafts and customs under supervision of the Government.

The National 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 Ten- nessee and North Carolina. This great touring route, when com- pleted along the summits of the highest of the Appalachian peaks, will be the finest motor-way in America, covering a distance of ap- proximately 500 miles, with an average elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level. Between Roanoke, Va., and Asheville, N. C., 250 miles of the Parkway are open to travel.

Sports

Asheville and western North Carolina comprise a region which is a paradise for outdoorsmen. In Asheville, five golf courses, ad- judged among the finest in the South, offer grass greens and fair- ways to the golfer. These are the courses of the Country Club of Asheville, Inc., the Malvern Hills Golf Club, 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.

Polo games are played from early spring through late fall at Fletcher Field, near the city. The Western North Carolina Polo Club, sponsored by the Asheville Junior Chamber of Commerce, brings outstanding teams to the city from all sections of this coun- try and from abroad.

Tennis courts, swimming pools and other recreational facilities are provided in Asheville. The City Recreation Park, with its huge outdoor pool, its lake for boating, its skating rink, and its amuse- ment devices, is a center of attraction.

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 horseman. Streams of the region are well stocked in most cases with brook and rainbow trout, and the five game preserves in the western North Carolina region provide good hunt- ing for deer in the surrounding terrain during the open hunting seasons. Bear, Russian wild boar, grouse, rabbits and other small game also are plentiful 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 Pre- serves.

Horseback-riding along the many enticing mountain trails is one of the favorite recreations among visitors. Horse shows at Ashe- ville, 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 summer recreational programs for thousands of boys and girls of school age.

In western North Carolina also are located the great religious

INTRODUCTION

assemblies, sites for summer recreation and conferences for the members of a number of denominations. These include the Baptist assembly at Ridgecrest, the Presbyterian assembly at Montreat, the Y.M.C.A. assembly at Blue Ridge, the Methodist assembly at Lake Junaluska, the assembly of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church at Bon Clarken near Hendersonville, and the Episcopal assembly at Lake Kanuga.

Climate and Health

An unsurpassed climate, which combines light, cool, exhilarat- ing summers and mild winters, a large percentage of sunny days, mountain-protection from severe storms and a dry atmosphere, has

View of Lake Lure and the Valley. The Top of Chimney Rock Is in the Foreground

long been a principal attraction of Asheville and the western por- tion of North Carolina. The health-giving qualities of this climate have been a factor in luring here many health-seekers in search of surcease from many different afflictions. Many well-equipped san- atoria for the treatment of pulmonary and nervous afflictions are located in and near Asheville. Most notable among these sanatoria 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 industries. Located near here are the great rayon plant, at Enka; the huge pulp and paper plant, at Canton; bleacheries, blanket factory, tannery, casket factory, and numerous other plants manufacturing mica products, hosiery, dimension lumber, furniture, food products, barrel staves, rayon garments, and other articles.

Near Brevard is located the cigarette paper mill, where fine cigarette papers are made from flax.

The native industries which produce homespun woolens, rugs, native pottery, native ironwork, and numerous other woven and manufactured articles, are noted throughout the country.

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

Mineral Resources

A variety of valuable mineral deposits are present in the Ashe- ville 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 Agriculture and Engineering of the University of N. C., in cooperation with the T. V. A. and the U. S. Bureau of Mines.

INTRODUCTION

Asheville Senior High School

Agriculture

Western North Carolina is noted for its production of apples, Tryon grapes, cattle and burley tobacco. Asheville is a marketing center for these products, the city having eleven sales warehouses for tobacco and an auction center for cattle and other farm animals. The region is a general farming area also, and many crops are produced. Timber also is a noted product of the highlands.

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

Craggy Rhododendron Gardens

INTRODUCTION

Large Stands of Virgin Timber Are Found Throughout Western North Carolina

INTRODUCTION

Biltmore Estate

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 impurities. 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.

INTRODUCTION

Rhododendron Blossoms in the "Land of the Sky"

For further information regarding Asheville and vicinity,

write ASHEVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, FIRST FLOOR, CITY BUILDING ASHEVILLE, N. C.

When You Want to Know:

-where a person lives.

-what his occupation is.

-who lives at a certain number on a street.

-where a street is located.

-the correct spelling of a name.

-the officers of a corporation.

-the partners in a firm.

-the solution to any of scores of prob- lems that pop up unexpectedly to annoy and baffle you.

-you can quickly find the answer in the City Directory.

This Publication Is The Product of a Member of

PHO P. BONO BLICO ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICAN

KITACITY KITY

189

ANIZED

DIRE,DIRECDIREC

Miller's Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1951], Part 2

Author: Hill Directory Company.;Piedmont Directory Co. Publication date: 1951 Publisher: Piedmont Directory Co. Number of Pages: 672

Author: Hill Directory Company.;Piedmont Directory Co.
Publication date: 1951
Publisher: Piedmont Directory Co.
Number of Pages: 672