When Joshua Darty moved to Asheville in 2006 with a freshly minted forest management degree from N.C. State University, an open position at the city’s Parks and Recreation Department seemed like a potential fit. But when he showed up for his interview at 53 Birch St., he was in for a surprise. “I’m like, ‘This […]
We are revisiting some of our best Instagram posts from 2018.
On May 23, 1885, The Asheville Citizen posed the following question to its readers: “What are we to do with our dead?” At the time, the city lacked a public cemetery. According to the newspaper, public health concerns led many religious organizations to privatize their burial sites, limiting the number of cadavers accepted at these […]
When the DOT finally decided on a design for Section B of the Connector project in 2015, many stakeholders thought they saw light at the end of a very long tunnel. Other residents, however, see serious flaws in Alternative 4B, questioning whether the project’s long-term benefits will justify the sacrifices their neighborhoods must make to see it completed.
“Thus far, the city has been blind to the obvious — that there’s nothing that can be done to minimize the impact of this flawed project. That’s why N.C. DOT won’t develop and share with the public any human-scale visuals that enable the public to know what this entire thing will look like once built.”
“There are over 150 people interred in the cemetery who are known to have become characters in Wolfe’s works,” says site manager Tom Muir.
“These efforts really are about protecting places for all Americans and for future generations,” notes Brent Martin of The Wilderness Society. The leaders of the national parks movement, he maintains, “all saw a much bigger picture, not only for all human beings, but for all living things.”
A revitalized volunteer push is underway to rescue Western North Carolina’s oldest known African-American cemetery from the ravages of neglect and obscurity. The effort includes a new website that features an interactive map of the cemetery and a digital guide to each of its graves.
