Several weeks ago I wrote about the Baraca & Philathea convention in Asheville in 1909. Many churches opened their doors to the conventioneers for various meetings. I recognized most of the church names, but was puzzled by one in particular: Ora Street Presbyterian. Do you know where Ora Street is located? I didn’t until I
“On The Front Porch” A porch is a passage into a home. It’s where we comfortably pause before entering as well as when leaving. Porches link the private interior with the outdoors, the public sidewalk and street. Porches are where we rest, are silent, or talk quietly with family or friends. We sometimes gather on porches
The Beech celebration was started in 1884 by Alfred Marion Penland (1833-1898.) He killed a beef and invited the community, who all thought Alfred quite generous since they mostly had pork and poultry on their plates. The Beech 4th of July parade is the longest consecutive parade in the county and probably in the state–this
In June of 1909 Asheville hosted the 13th annual convention of the World Wide Baraca-Philathea Union. Over 1,000 delegates were expected to arrive from many states. According to the Charlotte Evening Chronicle of June 18 “a special Baraca-Philathea train, from Raleigh has been secured for the Statesville delegation, and the car will be prettily
Family Feud: The Bitter Battle Between E.W. Grove and Fred Seely For the Grove Park Inn Speaker: Bruce Johnson Date: Wednesday, June 28th Time: 12:00 to 1:00 Brown Bag Lunch: bring a lunch and enjoy some local history! Pack Memorial Library, Lord Auditorium lower level Refreshments will be served. All events are free and open to
“My parents went to the Beaver Lake Restaurant every Thursday because that was the maid’s night off. We always had a maid when I was growing up. Everybody in that area did.” [Jean Moore interview, MS338.003A] The Beaver Lake Drive-In was operated by Tom Vlahos and is the current site of Nick’s Drive-In at 1461 Merrimon Avenue.
Here are two commonly found early postcard views of Ivy Gap from Craggy. Both versions of the postcards were published by the Hackney & Moale Company, one of the early publishers of books and postcards in Asheville. The cyanotype version beneath is one I’d never seen; the title printed in red across the top intrigued me.
I’m rarely surprised by items I find in my online searches. I thought: What an odd postage stamp. Why does it have the call letters of Asheville’s oldest continually operating radio station? I placed my bid and waited. When the stamp was mine (for the time being), I knew there was research in my future. In