“Clocks all over Asheville, Western North Carolina, and the state will be turned up an hour at midnight tonight, or tomorrow morning, as this state goes on daylight saving time for the remainder of the summer, as a national defense measure,” The Asheville Citizen reported in its July 27, 1941, edition.
The Buncombe County Special Collections blog opens up to community submissions. Plus, local multimedia artist puts on augmented reality show, author chronicles history of the Toe River Valley, and photographers express experiences of queerness through visual autobiographies.
On Monday, June 20, historian and educator Kelly Dunbar and doula Cindy McMillan will present African American Women’s Midwifery and Doula Work in Buncombe County: Then and Now.
In 1923, both the city and county questioned the fairness of certain policies in place at Mission Hospital. The scrutiny provoked the ire of The Asheville Citizen’s editorial section.
For multiple days in August 1919, the city was without ice. During that time, the Asheville Ice Co. implored residents “to watch every possible source of waste and to make every pound of ice go as far as it can for the next two or three weeks.”
In 1909, Asheville launched Clean-up Day, which later evolved into Clean-up Week. Residents and city officials rallied behind it, going as far as to publish a poem about the advantages of the annual happening.
In 1916, the city of Asheville hired A.H. Vanderhoof as its first smoke inspector. Though an ordinance was quickly passed to reduce excess smoke, enforcement proved difficult.
Thirteen years after the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School’s fate was in jeopardy, individuals committed to its preservation have completed an extensive round of repairs.
“We try to bring a little soul, a little blues and jazz to the conversation,” says Darin Waters, co-host of “The Waters and Harvey Show,” on BPR. “We try to show that the life of a scholar doesn’t have to be, and isn’t, boring.”
To bring old buildings up to modern-day standards involves architectural assessments, electrical upgrades, plumbing revamps and structural repairs — challenges that many preservationists are now facing, and seeking to fund, as Asheville’s turn-of-the-century landmarks continue into their second hundred years.
Neighborhood residents had been asking for a new track as part of renovations to Memorial Stadium since 2017, after Asheville voters approved a $74 million bond issue in 2016.
On Thursday, March 24, 6-7 p.m., Western North Carolina Historical Association will host Katherine Cutshall for a live Zoom talk about her research, West End Women: Liquor, Labor and Love in New Deal Urban Appalachia.
For a few years in the 1940s, Asheville was home to one of the top Black professional baseball teams in the South. Here’s the story of the Asheville Blues.