Tuesday History: Martin Luther King’s historic Montreat speech, part I

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we bring you our regularly scheduled Tuesday History post, one day early. On Aug. 21, 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed an audience of nearly 3,000 people in Montreat Conference Center’s Anderson Auditorium. King, the keynote speaker for the Presbyterian Church’s annual Christian Action Conference, […]

Tuesday History: Police chief reflects on Will Harris murders, 66 years afterwards

On March 27, 1972, former Asheville Chief of Police (1905-1907), Silas G. Bernard, sent a 10-page letter to local attorney John C. Cheeseborough recounting the events of the night of the Will Harris murders, and the subsequent manhunt. Bernard was 96 years old when he composed the letter. Below are excerpts from Bernard’s written recollection. For those interested […]

Tuesday History: The sulphur springs of West Asheville

This week’s Tuesday History comes courtesy of Dr. David E. Whisnant. On his blog, Asheville Junction, the historian and Asheville native revisits West Asheville prior to the Civil War. He tells the little known story of Revolutionary War veteran Robert Henry, who in 1827 discovered a sulphur spring within the present-day boundary of Malvern Hills. By […]