The Ultimate Guide To Asheville and the Western North Carolina Mountains

The Online Version of the Best-selling Regional Guidebook
 

Home    Western North Carolina    Asheville    Hendersonville    Other Cities & Towns    Real Estate & Relocation    Outdoor Recreation
   Arts & Crafts    Festivals & Events    Attractions    Museums    Day Trips & Itineraries    Kid's Activities    Wineries    Spas    Golf in the Mountains  

Western North Carolina Cities & Towns
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Advertising On This Site

Historic Asheville   Downtown Neighborhoods   Asheville Urban Trail   Historic Designations   Local History Resources   Historic Asheville Churches

Historic Districts
Downtown   Montford   Chestnut Hill   Albemarle Park   Grove Park   Biltmore Village   Asheville School 
 Eliada Home   Oteen VA Hospital   Asheville High School   Biltmore Industries   Other Historic Sites
                                                                                  

One encounters Asheville today as a modern city that is rapidly growing and expanding out into the surrounding Buncombe County. Asheville today does not look at all like the Asheville from before the turn of the century. Regrettably, much of the best of that time has vanished, including the elegant Queen Anne style Battery Park Hotel and the very hilltop on which it stood and dominated the city landscape. Only scattered buildings remain from that period.

Much of the city landscape remains, however, from the early days of the century through to the present day, especially downtown Asheville, which retains a strong presence from the early third of this century. Asheville’s slow recovery from the Great Depression did not allow it to wholesale demolish these early buildings as did so many American cities, and because of that, they have been preserved intact to this day. Within the central downtown district for example, one can find excellent examples of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Georgian, Commercial Classical, Art Deco, Romanesque Revival and other style structures that make up the most extensive collection of early twentieth century architecture in the state. They remain an open-air museum, reminders of the optimism and unbounded investment that characterized Asheville in its boom period. Asheville is the only city of its magnitude in which such a urban landscape survives almost intact.

Asheville, through the efforts of local preservation and historic resources organizations, as well as the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, has been divided into a number of historic districts. These districts form the basis for this chapter and also the framework for a series of self-guided tours using this guidebook as a reference, should you wish to experience some of the wonderful and diverse architectural heritage of Asheville during your visit. Another way to see the historic districts is to take a tour on one of two replica trolleys. See Asheville Tours for more information.

Historic Districts of Asheville