Category Archives: Asheville History

Asheville Genealogy column: Rewards of city directories – Asheville Citizen

Published in Asheville History on April 7, 2015

City directories were created as an aid to salesmen and businessmen in contacting residents of a given city or area. Almost all large cities in the U.S. had city directories for at least a period of time. These usually contain a business section with all the businesses in the area listed in alphabetical order.

Most important to family researchers are the names of all residents in alphabetical order by surname. If the person was married, his wife was usually listed; also included were his occupation and/or place of employment and the street name and number at which he lived.

Another feature was the alphabetical listing of all streets, avenues, roads, etc., in the city. In this section all households were listed in the order of the street

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2015/04/05/asheville-genealogy-column-rewards-city-directories/25337315/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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With view from the top, Wilcox keeps faith in future

Published in Asheville History, Travel on February 26, 2015

“The travel business is a disease, not a profession,” Glenn Wilcox, Sr.  joked, though he’s made plenty of money in his business over the years. “Once you get bitten, you don’t want to do anything else.”

Glenn Wallace Wilcox Jr. joined the firm 45 years ago. Like his dad, Wallace Wilcox had a sharp eye for future trends.

In the 1990s, airlines moved to simplify their fare systems and changed the commissions paid to agents. “That changed the whole industry,” said Wallace Wilcox, who had been writing ticket orders by hand since high school. Over the decade, the travel agent industry went from about 45,000 firms down to about 12,000.

Then came the Internet.

The Wilcoxes compete against the Internet search giants such as Expedia, Travelocity, Trivago, Kayak and others, but can dive into deeper fares that aren’t readily apparent on online searches.

They’ve also specialized in travel for missionaries, planning package tours for pastors who want to lead groups to the Holy Land, as well as finding the special flights and fares for humanitarian relief groups.

Wilcox credits his son for his foresight. “Wallace had the vision to automate the company. We wouldn’t be still here without him.”

Through industry upheaval and recession, they’ve whittled their workforce by attrition — no layoffs — down to 15 employees.

Besides Wallace, who serves as the company CEO, the firm employs most of the rest of his family, including Marie; son, David; and his grandsons, Glenn W. Wilcox III and Tyler Wilcox. His other son, William, and daughter Sarah have worked previously for the family business……Read More

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Work begins on downtown Asheville AC Hotel

Published in Asheville History, Asheville Live, Asheville Local News, Events, Travel on December 12, 2014

http://avlne.ws/1Dj1dIY

Work starts on downtown Asheville AC Hotel; 132-room hotel will be a Marriott property.

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How Asheville became (and continues to be) the most exciting small city

Published in Asheville History on September 18, 2014

Asheville, the most exciting small city (Rolling Stone)

Does anyone remember the early 1990s in Asheville, a time when Bill Clinton was president, Jim Hunt the governor of North Carolina, and there wasn’t a parking or traffic problem at all?

Asheville, the most exciting small city

Asheville (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Mountain Xpress wouldn’t come into being until 1994, the year before Gannett Co. bought out the Asheville Citizen-Times. Fine cuisine? Mark Rosenstein had just begun that tradition in Asheville with The Market Place. You could enjoy coffee and a live mic at Beanstreets, savor some of the best vegetarian dishes at the Laughing Seed (an ingenious name for a restaurant), buy beads and bangles on Wall Street, hang out at the eclectic Malaprop’s Bookstore, come to a burgeoning outdoor festival oddly called Bele Chere, and enjoy gourmet sweets at the Chocolate Fetish. It was all just the beginning.

Within a few short years, Asheville had gained its “new age” identity, while North Carolina had lost its image as a progressive Southern state. When conservatives swept most state and national offices, the Mountain Xpress had grown to 80-or-so-page

Article source: http://mountainx.com/opinion/how-asheville-became-and-continues-to-be-the-most-exciting-small-city/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Asheville’s Southside

Published in Asheville History on February 26, 2014

Asheville’s Southside

Asheville Southside 1960'sA note attached to one photo of a home on Asheville’s southside in early 1960 calls it an “illegal gambling/whiskey house,” or illegal bar.

“We really have to get beyond the nostalgia to say what was there, what was life really like,” Mathews said.

Interconnected

Many, many more structures in Asheville’s southside housed legitimate businesses.

“Many people who grew up here remember (Southside) and being as vital, if not more vital, a commercial district than The Block,” Mathews said, referring to the historic African-American business district around the intersection of Eagle and South Market streets near City Hall.

Mathews shows photo after photo of Asheville’s southside auto repair shops, restaurants, service stations, beauty parlors and hotels, including one where James Brown and

Asheville's Southside once hosted Aretha Franklin

Cover of Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin once played in an upstairs auditorium.

Some homes were small, but many had distinctive architectural features people would treasure today.

“The preservationist in me is saying I could have done something with these buildings,” Mathews

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20140222/NEWS01/302220026/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Waiving the fee for Entrance to the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center

Published in Asheville Attractions, Asheville History on February 26, 2014

“As an institution that adds to and thrives within Asheville’s amazing cultural offerings, we thought that a proper celebration of our 20 years as a museum and the 80 year anniversary of the opening of Black Mountain College would include free admission to our unique exhibits,” said Board Chair Dr. Brian Butler in a press release issued Sunday afternoon. “We think of this as both a thank you to our community and as a gentle invite to anyone who has not already stopped in to learn about our exhibitions and events.”

alice sebrell, of black mountain college museu...

alice sebrell, of black mountain college museum and arts center, shows me (and siena!) mary parks washington’s histcollage titled “black mountain college” (Photo credit: davidsilver)

The move grants all visitors free access to ongoing exhibitions in the museum’s Broadway Street gallery space. Some special events, such as lectures, film screening and poetry readings, among other programs, may still have one-time ticket fees. As for the financial difference, the board’s goal, according to Alice Sebrell, BMCM+AC’s program director, is to balance out potential loss in

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/56566/Waiving-the-fee If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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Leaders want to keep Russia’s history in positive light – Asheville Citizen

Published in Asheville History on February 18, 2014

MOSCOW – Russian authorities are growing increasingly testy over how the country’s past – particularly World War II – is publicly depicted, and some legislators are backing a law that would protect Russian history from negative portrayals.

Konstantin Ernst, who produced the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics, told Ekho Moskvy radio that he was disappointed that the International Olympics Federation urged him not to include elements about World War II in the production. The IOC said it would set a bad precedent.

Ernst said he found it extremely difficult and even painful to omit the segment, which he said could have been “the strongest moment of the whole ceremony.”

Now, a lawmaker wants to pass a law protecting Russian history from some perceived slights in the media.

“Our history and our point of view on historical events” is being deliberately distorted in Russia and abroad, Alexei Pushkov, who heads the State Duma Foreign Policy Committee, told the Russian news media.

“All of this is part of one chain. And when there’s such a battle for history going on, when EU countries pass laws protecting a certain point of view of history, maybe it’s time for us to think about legislation that will protect our

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/usatoday/article/5511369 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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