Editing Asheville, North Carolina (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Asheville, North Carolina}}

===Origins===
Before the arrival of the [[European colonization of the Americas|European Colonists]], the land where Asheville now exists lay within the boundaries of the [[Cherokee]] Nation, which had homelands in modern [[Western North Carolina|western North]] and [[South Carolina]], southeastern [[Tennessee]], and northeastern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Original extent of Cherokee claims 1732 |publisher=Collection at the University of Georgia |date=June 26, 1996 |url=http://cherokeehistory.com/original.gif |format=map/.GIF |access-date=July 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626113310/http://cherokeehistory.com/original.gif |archive-date=June 26, 2006 |df=mdy}}</ref> A town at the site of the river confluence was recorded as ''Guaxule'' by Spanish explorer [[Hernando de Soto]] during his 1540 expedition through this area.<ref name=History2006/><ref>{{cite news |last=Neufeld |first=Rob |title=Visiting Our Past: Asheville before Asheville: Cherokee girls, De Soto's crimes |work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]] |date=July 29, 2018 |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2018/07/29/visiting-our-past-asheville-before-asheville-cherokee-de-soto/834579002/ |access-date=July 29, 2018 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164813/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2018/07/29/visiting-our-past-asheville-before-asheville-cherokee-de-soto/834579002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His expedition comprised the first European visitors,<ref name=History2006>{{cite web |last=The Historic News |title=A History of Asheville and Buncombe County |publisher=Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society |year=1999 |url=http://www.obcgs.com/ashv_hist.htm |format=text/.html |access-date=July 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619122725/http://www.obcgs.com/ashv_hist.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2006 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> who carried [[endemic]] Eurasian infectious diseases that killed much of the native population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cherokee History, Part One |publisher=Lee Sultzman |date=February 28, 1996 |url=http://www.tolatsga.org/Cherokee1.html |format=text/.html |access-date=July 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060707042750/http://www.tolatsga.org/Cherokee1.html |archive-date=July 7, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Cherokee had traditionally used the area by the confluence for open hunting and meeting grounds. They called it ''Untokiasdiyi'' or ''Tokiyasdi'' (ᏙᎩᏯᏍᏗ in Cherokee), meaning "Where they race", until the middle of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asheville – 0–1800 The Early Settlers |publisher=Asheville.be |year=2006 |url=http://www.asheville.be/history/Asheville_History_Pre_1800.html |format=text/.html |access-date=July 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721192247/http://www.asheville.be/history/Asheville_History_Pre_1800.html |archive-date=July 21, 2006 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Asheville">{{cite web |last1=Neal |first1=Dale |title=Cherokee reclaim landmarks of ancient Asheville |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/08/02/cherokee-reclaim-landmarks-ancient-asheville/31027001/ |website=www.citizen-times.com |access-date=28 September 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164813/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/08/02/cherokee-reclaim-landmarks-ancient-asheville/31027001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-05 |title=Ancient Asheville: Celebrating the Cherokee Influence on Southern Appalachia |url=https://www.exploreasheville.com/articles/post/ancient-asheville-celebrating-the-cherokee-influence-on-southern-appalachia/ |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=Explore Asheville |language=en-us |archive-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604230312/https://www.exploreasheville.com/articles/post/ancient-asheville-celebrating-the-cherokee-influence-on-southern-appalachia/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

European Americans began to settle in the area of Asheville in 1784, after the United States gained independence in the American Revolutionary War. In that year, Colonel Samuel Davidson and his family settled in the [[Swannanoa River|Swannanoa Valley]], redeeming a soldier's [[land grant]] from the state of North Carolina made in lieu of pay. Soon after building a log cabin at the bank of Christian Creek, Davidson was lured into the woods and killed by a band of Cherokee hunters resisting white encroachment. Davidson's wife, child, and female slave fled on foot overnight to [[Old Fort, North Carolina|Davidson's Fort]] (named after Davidson's father General John Davidson) 16 miles away.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel Davidson – Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center |date=April 23, 2020 |url=https://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/samuel-davidson/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155453/https://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/samuel-davidson/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In response to the killing, Davidson's twin brother Major William Davidson and brother-in-law Colonel Daniel Smith formed an expedition to retrieve Samuel Davidson's body and avenge his murder. Months after the expedition, Major Davidson and other members of his extended family returned to the area and settled at the mouth of Bee Tree Creek.<ref>{{cite web |title=Samuel Davidson, First European Settler West of the Blue Ridge |date=May 12, 2016 |url=http://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/samuel-davidson-first-european-settler-west-of-the-blue-ridge/ |website=Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614043207/http://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/samuel-davidson-first-european-settler-west-of-the-blue-ridge/ |archive-date=June 14, 2018}}</ref>

The [[United States Census|U.S. Census]] of 1790 counted 1,000 residents of the area, excluding the Cherokee Native Americans as a separate nation. [[Buncombe County, North Carolina|Buncombe County]] was officially formed in 1792. In the 1800 US Census, some 107 settlers in the county were enslavers, owning a total of 300 slaves. Total county population was 5,812.<ref name="whisnant">{{cite web |url=https://ashevillejunction.com/retrospective-i-a-primer-on-the-sad-truths-of-slavery-in-asheville-buncombe-county-and-western-north-carolina/#Slaves_Came_to_Buncombe_County_Early_and_in_Substantial_Numbers |title=Retrospective I: A Primer on the Sad Truths of Slavery in Asheville, Buncombe County and Western North Carolina |last=Whisnant |first=David |work=Asheville Junction: A Blog by David Whisnant |date=29 August 2015 |access-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108134915/https://ashevillejunction.com/retrospective-i-a-primer-on-the-sad-truths-of-slavery-in-asheville-buncombe-county-and-western-north-carolina/#Slaves_Came_to_Buncombe_County_Early_and_in_Substantial_Numbers |url-status=live }}</ref>

The county seat, named "Morristown" in 1793, was established on a plateau where two Indian trails crossed. In 1797, Morristown was incorporated and renamed "Asheville" after North Carolina Governor [[Samuel Ashe (North Carolina governor)|Samuel Ashe]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Alex S. Caton |author2=Rebecca Lamb |title=The Early Settlement of Buncombe Country and the Drover's Road |publisher=Smith-McDowell House Museum |date=1999–2004 |url=http://www.wnchistory.org/museum/droversroad.htm |format=text/.html |access-date=July 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720052153/http://www.wnchistory.org/museum/droversroad.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Asheville |website=Western North Carolina Heritage |publisher=Land of the Sky |url=http://dd1.library.appstate.edu/regional_history/urban%20centers/asheville.htm |quote=In his <nowiki>[Samuel Ashe]</nowiki> honor the name of Morristown was changed to Asheville. |access-date=July 23, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 1, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501073644/http://dd1.library.appstate.edu/regional_history/urban%20centers/asheville.htm}}</ref>

In the 1800s, James McDowell established land for burial of slaves belonging to his and the Smith families in Asheville. His son William Wallace McDowell continued this practice, setting aside about two acres of land for this purpose.

===Civil War===
[[File:Asheville-loehr-1854-nc1.jpg|thumb|left|Asheville, 1854|240x240px]]
On the eve of the Civil War, James W. Patton, son of an Irish immigrant, was the largest enslaver in the county, and had built a luxurious mansion, known as The Henrietta, in Asheville.<ref name="whisnant"/> Buncombe County had the largest number of prominent enslavers in [[Western North Carolina]], many in the professional class based in Asheville, numbering a total of 293 countywide in 1863.<ref name="whisnant"/>

Asheville, with a population of about 2,500 by 1861, remained relatively untouched by battles of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The city contributed companies to the [[Confederate States Army]] and to the [[Union Army]]. For a time, an [[Pattern 1853 Enfield|Enfield rifle]] manufacturing facility was located in the town.

The war did not reach Asheville until early April 1865, when the "Battle of Asheville" was fought at the present-day site of the [[University of North Carolina at Asheville]]. Union forces withdrew to [[Tennessee]], which they had occupied since 1862. They had encountered resistance in Asheville from a small group of Confederate senior and junior reserves, and recuperating Confederate soldiers in prepared trench lines across the Buncombe Turnpike. The Union force had been ordered to take Asheville only if they could accomplish it without significant losses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asheville, Battle of |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-battle |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=NCpedia |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155453/https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-battle |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Anne |title=April 6, 1865 – Battle of Asheville {{!}} Western North Carolina Historical Association |url=https://www.wnchistory.org/april-6-1865-battle-of-asheville/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |language=en-US |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706215113/https://www.wnchistory.org/april-6-1865-battle-of-asheville/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

An engagement was fought later that month at Swannanoa Gap, as part of the larger [[Stoneman's 1865 raid|Stoneman's Raid]] throughout western North Carolina, [[Virginia]], and Tennessee. Union forces retreated in the face of resistance from Brig. Gen. [[James Green Martin]], commander of Confederate troops in western North Carolina. Later, Union forces returned to the area via Howard's Gap and [[Henderson County, North Carolina|Henderson County]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 10 Civil War Sites for Asheville & Western North Carolina |url=https://www.romanticasheville.com/civil_war.htm |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=RomanticAsheville.com |language=en |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155459/https://www.romanticasheville.com/civil_war.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In late April 1865, North Carolina Union troops from the [[3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry]], under the overall command of Union Gen. [[George Stoneman]], captured Asheville.<ref>Hartley, ''Stoneman's Raid,'' p.&nbsp;362 (Blair, 2010)</ref> After a negotiated departure, the 2,700 troops left town, accompanied by "hundreds of freed slaves".<ref name="whisnant"/>

Later, the federal troops returned and plundered Asheville, burning a number of Confederate supporters' homes in Asheville.<ref>Hartley, supra, at p.&nbsp;350-358.</ref>

George Avery was among 40 enslaved people known to have traveled with the troops to Tennessee. There he enlisted in the [[US Colored Troops|U.S. Colored Troops]]. He returned to Asheville after being discharged in 1866. After the war, he was hired by his former enslaver William W. McDowell to manage the South Asheville Cemetery, a public place for black burials. This is the oldest and largest black public cemetery in the state. By 1943, when the last burial was conducted, it held remains of an estimated 2,000 people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Asheville Cemetery |url=https://blackcemeterynetwork.org/bcnsites/south-asheville-cemetery |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Black Cemetery Network |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Cemetery |url=https://www.southashevillecemetery.net/history |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=South Asheville Cemetery Association |language=en-US}}</ref>

===1880s===
[[File:View of Buck Hotel Asheville North Carolina 1888.jpg|thumb|Downtown Asheville, 1888]]
On October 3, 1880,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wnchistory.org/october-3-1880-first-passenger-train-to-asheville/#:~:text=On%20this%20day%20in%20WNC,moving%20people%2C%20goods%20and%20supplies |title=October 3, 1880: First Passenger Train to Asheville &#124; Asheville Museum of History |access-date=October 3, 2023 |archive-date=October 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016033155/https://wnchistory.org/october-3-1880-first-passenger-train-to-asheville/#:~:text=On%20this%20day%20in%20WNC,moving%20people%2C%20goods%20and%20supplies |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Western North Carolina Railroad]] completed its line from [[Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]] to Asheville, the first rail line to reach the city. Almost immediately it was sold and resold to the [[Richmond and Danville Railroad|Richmond and Danville Railroad Company]], becoming part of the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] in 1894.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm |title=NC Business History - Railroad - Western North Carolina Railroad history & officers |publisher=Historync.org |access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-date=October 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030140855/http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> With the completion of the first railway, Asheville developed with steady growth as industrial plants increased in number and size, and new residents built homes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2019/09/22/visiting-our-past-birth-asheville-tourism-before-railroad/2362010001/ |title=Visiting Our Past: Asheville promotions gained steam before the railroad |last=NEUFELD |first=ROB |date=September 22, 2019 |website=Citizen Times |language=en |access-date=2019-09-23 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164814/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2019/09/22/visiting-our-past-birth-asheville-tourism-before-railroad/2362010001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Textile mill]]s were built to process cotton from the region, and other plants were set up to manufacture wood and [[mica]] products, foodstuffs, and other commodities.<ref>The [[Federal Writers' Project]] of the Federal Works Agency, [[Works Projects Administration]] for the State of North Carolina, ''North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State'', The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1939, page 139.</ref>

The {{convert|21|mile|km|adj=mid}} distance between Hendersonville and Asheville of the former Asheville and Spartanburg Railroad was completed in 1886.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C0Acnj3ga88C&q=%22Spartanburg+and+Asheville+Railroad%22%2F&pg=RA1-PA212 |title=Thomas Lanier Clingman |isbn=9780820320236 |last1=Jeffrey |first1=Thomas E. |year=1998 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164825/https://books.google.com/books?id=C0Acnj3ga88C&q=%22Spartanburg+and+Asheville+Railroad%22%2F&pg=RA1-PA212 |url-status=live}}</ref> By that point, the line was operated as part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad until 1894 and controlled by the Southern Railway afterward.<ref name="vtechspeccoll">{{cite web |url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/appal/apunindx-1.htm |title=Appalachian History: Manuscript Resources in Special Collections |at=Asheville and Spartanburg Railroad Company |access-date=January 6, 2015 |website=Special Collections |publisher=University Libraries, [[Virginia Tech]] |date=May 2, 2005<!--based on last modified--> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106212846/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/appal/apunindx-1.htm |archive-date=January 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Asheville had the first electric street railway lines in the state of North Carolina, the first of which opened in 1889. These were replaced by buses in 1934.<ref>The Federal Writers' Project of the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration for the State of North Carolina, "[https://books.google/books?id=xDFfVQzRHosC ''North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State'']{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}", {{ISBN|0403021820}}; The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1939, pages 69, 139.</ref>

Three people were lynched in Asheville in the 1880s: John Humphries (1888), Hezekiah Rankin (1891), and Bob Brackett (1897). The three men were memorialized with historic markers in 2021 through a project launched by the [[Equal Justice Initiative]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilhelm |first=Angela |date=November 2, 2021 |title=Historical markers recognize three Asheville lynchings |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2021/11/02/historical-markers-recognize-three-asheville-lynchings/6238938001/ |access-date=December 7, 2024 |website=[Asheville] Citizen-Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Urell |first=Aaryn |date=2021-10-30 |title=Three Markers Dedicated in Asheville, North Carolina |url=https://eji.org/news/three-markers-dedicated-in-asheville-north-carolina/ |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Equal Justice Initiative |language=en-US}}</ref>

===1900s===

[[File:Asheville S RR Depot 1916 flood.jpg|thumb|Depot Street in the Great Flood of 1916]]
[[File:Asheville City Hall, Asheville, NC (46691736032).jpg|thumb|[[Asheville City Hall]], designed by [[Douglas Ellington]], in the [[Art Deco]] style of the 1920s]]

In 1900, Asheville was the third-largest city in the state, behind [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]] and [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historync.org/NCCityPopulations1800s.htm |title=North Carolina Cities Population Changes in the 1800s |publisher=North Carolina Business History |access-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630054701/http://historync.org/NCCityPopulations1800s.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Asheville prospered in the decades of the 1910s and 1920s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-01 |title=Asheville, N.C. now and in the 1920s |url=https://avltoday.6amcity.com/asheville-nc-2020-vision |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=AVLtoday |language=en |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155501/https://avltoday.6amcity.com/asheville-nc-2020-vision |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Asheville School |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-school |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=NCpedia |archive-date=August 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807110016/https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-school |url-status=live }}</ref> During these years, [[Rutherford P. Hayes]], son of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], bought land, and worked with the prominent African-American businessman [[Edward W. Pearson Sr.]] to develop his land for residential housing known as the [[African-American]] Burton Street Community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/02/22/black-history-month-edward-r-pearson/80772350/ |title=Black History Month: Edward R. Pearson |website=Citizen Times |language=en |access-date=2019-03-06}}</ref> Hayes also worked to establish a sanitary district in West Asheville, which became an [[Local government in the United States|incorporated]] town in 1913, and merged with Asheville in 1917.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/07/02/visiting-our-past-presidents-son-helped-create-west-asheville/440462001/ |title=Visiting Our Past: President's son helped create West Asheville |last=Neufeld |first=Rob |work=Asheville Citizen-Times |date=July 2, 2017 |access-date=July 4, 2017 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164818/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/07/02/visiting-our-past-presidents-son-helped-create-west-asheville/440462001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Asheville Masonic Temple]] was constructed in 1913, under the direction of famed architect [[Richard Sharp Smith]], a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]]. It was the meeting place for local Masons through much of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mountainx.com/news/passage-to-the-past-inside-the-bowels-of-the-asheville-masonic-temple/ |title=Passage to the past: Inside the bowels of the Asheville Masonic Temple |last=Hunt |first=Max |website=Mountain Xpress |date=October 31, 2017 |language=en-US |access-date=2019-07-10 |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710183911/https://mountainx.com/news/passage-to-the-past-inside-the-bowels-of-the-asheville-masonic-temple/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On July 15–16, 1916, the Asheville area was subject to severe flooding from the remnants of [[1916 Charleston hurricane|a tropical storm]] which caused more than $3&nbsp;million in damage. Areas flooded included part of the Biltmore Estate, and the company that ran it sold some of the property to lower their maintenance costs. This area was later developed as an independent jurisdiction known as [[Biltmore Forest]], which is now one of the wealthiest in the country.

The [[Great Depression]] hit Asheville quite hard. On November 20, 1930, eight local banks failed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/21/archives/8-carolina-banks-fail-as-boom-ends-closings-at-asheville-and.html |work=The New York Times |title=8 CAROLINA BANKS FAIL AS BOOM ENDS |date=November 21, 1930 |access-date=April 25, 2010 |archive-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226002331/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/21/archives/8-carolina-banks-fail-as-boom-ends-closings-at-asheville-and.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Only [[Wachovia]] remained open with infusions of cash from [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neufeld |first=Rob |title=Portrait of the Past: Wachovia Bank at Pritchard Park, early 1970s |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2018/10/23/portrait-past-wachovia-bank-pritchard-park-early-1970-s/1698936002/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=The Asheville Citizen Times |language=en-US |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102050033/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2018/10/23/portrait-past-wachovia-bank-pritchard-park-early-1970-s/1698936002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of the explosive growth of the previous decades, the per capita [[debt]] owed by the city (through [[municipal bond]]s) was the highest in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/preservation.htm |title=Preservation-Asheville, North Carolina: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary |publisher=Nps.gov |access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105153820/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/preservation.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> By 1929, both the city and Buncombe County had incurred over $56&nbsp;million in bonded debt to pay for a wide range of municipal and infrastructure improvements, including City Hall, the water system, Beaucatcher Tunnel, and [[Asheville High School]]. Rather than default, the city paid those debts over a period of fifty years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Did Asheville pay off its Depression-era debt? |last=Boyle |first=John |work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]] |date=February 6, 2015 |page=A2}}</ref>

From the start of the depression through the 1980s, economic growth in Asheville was slow. During this time of financial stagnation, most of the buildings in the downtown district remained unaltered. As a result, Asheville has one of the most impressive, comprehensive collections of [[Art Deco]] architecture in the United States.<ref name="uncramseyabout">{{cite web |url=http://toto.lib.unca.edu/collaborative_projects/about.htm |title=ABOUT |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 16, 2008 |website=D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections |publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Asheville]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516202813/http://toto.lib.unca.edu/collaborative_projects/about.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/preservation.htm |title=Preservation--Asheville, North Carolina: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=November 28, 2016 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202084714/https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/preservation.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Asheville Masonic Temple Scottish Rite Cathedral, Asheville, NC (39780442823).jpg|thumb|Asheville Masonic Temple Scottish Rite Cathedral]]

In 1959, the City Council purchased property partially located in neighboring Henderson County for the development of [[Asheville Regional Airport]]. The North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill to redraw the boundaries of Buncombe and Henderson counties to include the proposed airport property entirely in Buncombe, allowing Asheville to [[Municipal annexation in the United States|annex]] the complete site.<ref name="hb1283">{{cite web |title=HOUSE BILL 1283 |url=https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/PDF/1959-1960/SL1959-1145.pdf#:~:text=AN%20ACT%20TO%20ANNEX%20TO%20BUNCOMBE%20COUNTY%20THAT,to%20serve%20all%20of%20Western%20North%20Carolina%3B%20and |website=[[North Carolina General Assembly]] |access-date=June 12, 2021 |date=June 18, 1959 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405045600/https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/PDF/1959-1960/SL1959-1145.pdf#:~:text=AN%20ACT%20TO%20ANNEX%20TO%20BUNCOMBE%20COUNTY%20THAT,to%20serve%20all%20of%20Western%20North%20Carolina%3B%20and |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last passenger train to serve Asheville, a coach-only remnant of the Southern Railway's ''[[Carolina Special]]'', made its last run on December 5, 1968.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, [[urban renewal]] displaced much of Asheville's African-American population.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=241 |title=Red lines &#124; |access-date=March 23, 2020 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716074840/https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=241 |url-status=live}}</ref> Asheville's neighborhoods of Montford and Kenilworth, now mostly white, used to have a majority of black home owners.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/03/11/hood-tours-revisit-ashevilles-black-landmarks/81473386/ |title=Hood tours revisit Asheville's black landmarks |first=Dale |last=Neal |website=The Asheville Citizen Times |access-date=March 23, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164826/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/03/11/hood-tours-revisit-ashevilles-black-landmarks/81473386/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the late 20th century, there has been an effort to maintain and preserve the South Asheville Cemetery, in the Kenilworth neighborhood. It is the largest public black cemetery in the state, holding about 2000 burials, dating from the early 1800s and slavery years, to 1943. Fewer than 100 of the graves are marked by tombstones.

===2000s to present===
In 2003, [[Centennial Olympic Park bombing|Centennial Olympic Park bomber]] [[Eric Robert Rudolph]] was transported to Asheville from [[Murphy, North Carolina]], for [[arraignment]] in federal court.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/342886211.html?dids=342886211:342886211&FMT=ABS |title=The Nation; Fugitive's Capture Heightens Speculation; Locals are touchy about the theory that some sympathetic with his anti-government views helped the suspected bomber elude the law |first=Ken |last=Ellingwood |date=June 2, 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315171245/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/342886211.html?dids=342886211:342886211&FMT=ABS |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/343027361.html?dids=343027361:343027361&FMT=ABS |work=Chicago Tribune |title=Rudolph to be tried first in Alabama; Abortion clinic bomb case said to be strongest |first=Michael A |last=Fletcher |date=June 3, 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315171328/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/343027361.html?dids=343027361:343027361&FMT=ABS |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In September 2004, remnants of [[Hurricane Frances|Hurricanes Frances]] and [[Hurricane Ivan|Ivan]] caused major flooding in Asheville, particularly at [[Biltmore Village]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/national/20cove.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Western%20North%20Carolina%20Flooding%202004&st=cse |work=The New York Times |first=Marc |last=Santora |title=Storm's Devastation Is Revealed, and a Mountain Hamlet Mourns |date=September 20, 2004 |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164818/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/us/storms-devastation-is-revealed-and-a-mountain-hamlet-mourns.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/101007flood |title=Sleeping giant &#124; Mountain Xpress &#124; |last=Postelle |first=Brian |date=November 10, 2004 |publisher=Mountainx.com |access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-date=June 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617064442/http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/101007flood |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2006, the [[Asheville Zombie Walk]] was organized for the first time, starting a tradition that lasted until 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asheville Zombie Walk Set for Oct. 9th |url=https://www.asheville.com/news/2016/09/asheville-zombie-walk-set-oct-9th/ |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=Asheville.com |date=September 28, 2016 |language=en-US |archive-date=December 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213021408/https://www.asheville.com/news/2016/09/asheville-zombie-walk-set-oct-9th/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2020, the Asheville City Council voted to provide [[Reparations for slavery in the United States|reparations]] to Black residents for the city's "historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties". The resolution was unanimously passed, and Asheville committed to "make investments in areas where Black residents face disparities".<ref name="Burgess">{{cite news |last=Burgess |first=Joel |date=July 15, 2020 |title=In Historic Move, North Carolina City Approves Reparations for Black Residents |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/15/asheville-passes-reparations-black-residents-historic/5441792002/ |work=USA Today |access-date=July 15, 2020 |archive-date=July 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715163907/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/15/asheville-passes-reparations-black-residents-historic/5441792002/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2020, efforts were made to remove or change several monuments in the city that celebrated the [[Confederate States of America]] or [[Slave ownership|slave owners]].<ref name=Boyle>{{cite news |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/08/02/boyle-column-vance-obelisk-tear-down-re-purpose-it/5548429002/ |title=What to do with the Vance obelisk? |last=Boyle |first=John |work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]] |date=August 2, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164853/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/08/02/boyle-column-vance-obelisk-tear-down-re-purpose-it/5548429002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/07/14/confederate-monument-removed-buncombe-property/5433660002/ |title=Confederate monument removed from Buncombe Courthouse property |last=Wicker |first=Mackenzie |work=Asheville Citizen-Times |date=July 14, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164816/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/07/14/confederate-monument-removed-buncombe-property/5433660002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2021, Asheville Mayor [[Esther Manheimer]] was one of 11 U.S. mayors to form [[Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity]] (MORE), a coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to starting pilot reparations programs in their cities.<ref name=NPR>[https://www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1008242159/11-u-s-mayors-commit-to-developing-pilot-projects-for-reparations "11 U.S. Mayors Commit To Developing Pilot Projects For Reparations,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110034606/https://www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1008242159/11-u-s-mayors-commit-to-developing-pilot-projects-for-reparations |date=November 10, 2022 }} ''Associated Press'' (June 18, 2021)</ref>

=== Hurricane Helene ===
In September 2024, [[Effects of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina|Hurricane Helene]] caused catastrophic, record-breaking flooding of the [[French Broad River|French Broad]] and Swannanoa rivers, devastating Asheville and surrounding areas of [[Western North Carolina]]. The full extent of the damage was difficult to gauge in the immediate aftermath due to loss of critical infrastructure, including electrical, cellular telephone, and other communications services.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/helene-north-carolina-photos-video.html Lost Lives and an Epic Crisis in North Carolina]," ''The New York Times'', Sept. 30, 2024, updated Oct. 3, 2024. Retrieved Oct. 3, 2024</ref> Early reports indicated hundreds of downed trees, damaged homes, and blocked local roads. The municipal water system was catastrophically damaged, leaving most of Asheville without running water.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huang |first=Pien |date=October 3, 2024 |title=In Asheville, N.C., many residents may be without drinking water for weeks |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/10/03/nx-s1-5138093/helene-asheville-nc-drinking-water |access-date=October 3, 2024 |website=NPR}}</ref> Buildings and bridges were washed away and landslides cut off access to several major interstates including I-40 and I-26, leaving the area largely isolated from the outside.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gabriel |first=Angeli |date=2024-09-28 |title='It's shocking': Asheville devastated after historic floods from Helene |url=https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/asheville-north-carolina-helene-historic-floods |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=FOX Weather |language=en-US}}</ref>