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© 2021 Buncombe County Special Collections. All rights reserved.

In June 2007 Pack Library acquired the negatives of more than 500 black and white photos taken by Andrea Clark in the late 1960s.

Andrea’s grandfather James Vester Miller was a brick mason and contractor whose construction company built many Asheville churches, homes and public buildings.  Andrea grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and moved to Asheville when she was in her twenties.  She lived on Valley Street with her father James Howard Clark, son of James Miller.  Andrea began taking photographs of the segregated neighborhood known as East End.  Her subjects, accepting her as one of their own, allowed her to look unblinking into their faces and their homes.

The 1970s were a time of great change in Asheville.  Attempting to integrate social and cultural institutions and to improve living conditions in the Black community, the City of Asheville, with Federal assistance, began an ambitious program of Urban Renewal.  Hundreds of homes in the Black community around Valley Street were removed, and residents of that area were scattered across the city.  Sadly, along with deteriorating houses, the East End community also lost beloved neighborhood schools, Black-owned businesses, and a nurturing sense of community.  Andrea Clark’s powerful images document that African-American community and preserve a place and way of life that no longer exists.

Can you identify the people or places in the photos with missing captions? Please contact us at library@buncombecounty.org or 250-4740 and help us preserve the history of the East End.

Davidson Street at intersection with Eagle Street, Stephens-Lee High School in the background.
Valley Street Coal Company, 81 Valley Street, Ragan Beard at right.
March 1971
March 1971
Backyards of Velvet St., Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in the background
Intersection of Eagle and Valley Streets
Crown Williams Service Station, Pic-N-Pay Grocery at the intersection of Valley and Eagle Streets
Minnie Lynch, 80 Valley Street
Velvet Street with Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The Jackson Building in the background.
Ace Billiards, 22 Eagle Street
Valley Street
Hattie M. Sinclair, 119 Valley Street
Side of Savoy Hotel on Eagle Street
“Dirty Eagle,” the unpaved extension of Eagle Street
Pic-N-Pay Grocery, 98 Eagle Street
Home of Sylvia Boston, 63 1/2 Eagle Street
March 1971
March 1971
Feldman’s Grocery, 91 Eagle Street, March 1971
Linda “”Peanut”” Clark
Essie’s Confectionary, 87A Eagle Street. “Miss Essie Smith” at left.
April 1971; Charles Davidson at top left.
April 1971
April 1971
1971. Early Skateboards, i.e. roller skates nailed to boards.
Velvet Street.
Velvet Street
Death Alley, side of James-Keys Hotel, 409 Southside Avenue.
James Macon Barber Shop, 89 Eagle Street. (l-r) Levi McLean, James “”Big Barber”” Macon, Jr.
Valley Street
Montford
Montford
Andrea Clark
Andrea Clark
Stephens-Lee High School, taken from Davidson Street
Eagle Street
YMI Building, corner of Market and Eagle
Asheville Skyline
March 1971
Valley Street Coal Company, 81 Valley Street
Valley Street Coal Company, 81 Valley Street
Vernon Miller, Do-Drop-In Barber Shop, 26 S. Market Street
Eddie Anderson, Valley Street Laundromat, 138 Valley Street
March 1971
Pack Square Women’s Restroom
Outside Feldman’s Grocery, corner of Eagle and Valley, March 1971. (l-r) John Clark, Monk Ware, Vernon “Dooney” Smith, Cleveland “Buckaroo” Rice.
Velvet Street
Felix Splawn, 2 Velvet Street, April 1971.
James Macon Barber Shop, 89 Eagle Street. James “”Big Barber”” Macon, Jr. pictured.
Thomas Gage, 163 Valley Street
Pansy G. Johnson, 149 Valley Street, lived with 40 cats.
Pipe-smokin’ Daddy
“Nasty Branch”, flowed beside Southside Avenue
Minnie Lynch, 80 Valley Street
Savoy Hotel, 35 Market Street, Eagle Street Entrance
Side of Savoy Hotel on Eagle Street
Minnie Lynch, 80 Valley Street
Home of man who owned mule pictured in “Montford” slides.
Valley Street
Pansy G. Johnson, 149 Valley Street, lived with 40 cats.
Valley Street
East End Neighborhood with County Courthouse in the background.

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18 Comments to “ Twilight of a Neighborhood: Asheville’s East End circa 1970”

  1. Rhonda says :Reply
    September 8, 2016 at 12:12 am

    I have to find a picture of my Dad’s Jewelry store across from YMI.

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  2. Rhonda says :Reply
    September 8, 2016 at 12:14 am

    I have to find a picture of my Dad’s Jewelry store across from YMI.
    Oops gone by 1970’s

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  3. Evelyn Maffett Smith says :Reply
    July 29, 2017 at 10:34 am

    This is great. My hometown. Great memories.

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  4. Paula Watts says :Reply
    July 29, 2017 at 11:24 am

    I would like to speak with someone regarding over 500 pictures my aunt has for the south side of asheville.

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  5. Reginald says :Reply
    July 31, 2017 at 12:05 am

    Great job thanks for the pictures.

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  6. Virginia Gibson says :Reply
    August 3, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    one lady was miss labeled her name is Josey McCullum she is a family member she sat on that nporch every day. She worked at Asheville Laundry until she got burned on her lower extremeties and couldn’t get around any more.. Thats Aunt Joe They got her labeled as Minnie Lynch.

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  7. Cheryl Bridges says :Reply
    September 7, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    I remember all of this area as a child to growing into a young woman. I see faces of people I have long forgotten their names. Thank you for preserving these memories.

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  8. AI HALLUM says :Reply
    September 19, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    Great history of EastEnd.

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  9. Aaron Rhodes says :Reply
    November 10, 2017 at 1:10 pm

    Amazing. I grew up in Asheville. My parents moved the family to Los Angeles in 1969. My father the Late James E. Rhodes passed 19 years ago grew up in that area. I’m sure my mother remembers the area. I will surely forward to her. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Abdul says :Reply
    January 11, 2018 at 9:52 am

    Deep. Thank you!

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  11. Michael Miller says :Reply
    February 4, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Brings back a lot of memories attending Lucy S. Herring School. Thank you for posting

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  12. Phillip Williams says :Reply
    February 5, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    Wow – I remember going thru there several times back in the late 60’s – early 70’s. It was a rundown old neighborhood – but I always wondered why the City didn’t try to refurbish and improve what was there instead of tearing it all down…

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  13. Stephen Redmon says :Reply
    February 5, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Was that Mr. Holmes in the Montford photo?

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  14. David Ferguson says :Reply
    September 22, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    Remember the section my father is in one picture a city that looked out for each other it was a place where you was safe everyone looked out for each other it was a rich environment with many friends and loved ones it was. Neighborhood or a village

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  15. Stefani Porter Nwachukwu says :Reply
    June 2, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    Mother Porter left me thousands of pictures of Asheville mainly of South Side,East End , North Side and Eagle Street. She even donated some pictures to the Library.

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  16. Longterm, Self-Sufficiency in Asheville’s Black Community – Ashley Cooper says :Reply
    June 7, 2020 at 10:10 am

    […] Renewal in the late 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, and its side effects, took the economic floor out from underneath Asheville’s Black […]

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  17. Marcia Robinson Hawkins says :Reply
    August 18, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    Marcia Hawkins
    Thank you for sharing the history and pictures of my hometown. So many memories.

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  18. Paulette Dudley says :Reply
    November 11, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    So much nostalgia in each photo. It’s really heartbreaking that our lives, and this neighborhood was so devalued by the city/county government at that time, and even now. When I drive through there now I only see a few people who are black. It should be an inclusive community.

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Locate and Contact

Buncombe County Special Collections
Pack Memorial Library
67 Haywood Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 250-4740
packnc@buncombecounty.org
Hours:
Monday: By Appointment Only
Tuesday-Friday: 10 am - 6 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday: Closed
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