Thank you for joining me in my travels around the South. It’s been a great year of wandering backroads and a few main ones. If I learned anything, it is that people love abandoned houses, buildings with unexpected histories, and (in)famous graves.
Category Archives: -North Carolina
The Sherwood Inn-Asheville, North Carolina
The beautiful Craftsman home, built in 1918 and designed by noted architect Richard Sharp Smith, is in the Kenilworth neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina. Sharp was a key architect at the Biltmore and for the Biltmore Village. The Village was one of the areas decimated during Hurricane Helene.
The Whitlock Lipinsky family was the first to live here, and they continued to live here for several decades but under a different name. While researching the house’s history, I noted the mentions of the Lewinskys and the Lees. It wasn’t until I dove into census records that I realized that sometime between 1920 and 1930, the Lipinsky family changed their name to Lees. Using newspaper mentions, I narrowed it down between 1927 and 1930.
By 1948, the address is being advertised as the “Sherwood Inn.” Apparently, you can still see the numbers from the old inn on some of the bedroom doors. Note to the right of the house is an old trolley car. It was an original car to the Asheville trolley system.
Images of the home’s interior are in an old real estate listing.
A Bed of Roses Inn-A Historic House in Asheville, North Carolina
The Victorian home in the Montford District was built in 1897 by O. D. Revell for Carolyn Gray. The Wilkinson family lived in the home by 1902. By 1922, it was divided into rental units. It became a bed and breakfast in 1995.
Young Men’s Institute Building-Asheville, North Carolina
The Young Men’s Institute (YMI) Building was the dream of Asheville community leaders Isaac Dickson and Dr. Edward Stephens. Both approached George Vanderbilt to fund a community building to serve the Black community of Asheville. George Vanderbilt donated $10,000 to help build the space. It was designed by Richard Sharp Smith, the architect for the Biltmore and many other important buildings around the Western North Carolina area. It opened in 1893.
Modeled after the YMCA, the YMI provided services to the local community, such as teaching people to read, public speaking classes, and a meeting space. Additionally, the YMI held events that included notes, musicians, and speakers. It was a true hub of the community.
It is a contributing property to the local historic district.
Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church of Waynesville, North Carolina
The town of Waynesville, North Carolina, has been devastated by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. When I drove through a few weeks ago on a Labor Day weekend road trip, I immediately stopped to photograph the Carpenter Gothic twin towers. It’s a gorgeous church that sits on a hill. Based on its location, it may have escaped the flooding.
The church was built in 1907 and is a part of the historic Black community, Pigeon Street.
Cappadocia Fire-Baptized Holiness Church-Asheville, North Carolina
Located on the Catholic Hill in Asheville is the Cappadocia Fire-Baptized Holiness Church. The FBH church was founded in 1896. It was built on the tenets of three acts of grace: the New Birth, baptism of fire, and baptism with the Holy Ghost.
The Asheville FBH congregation was formed in 1906. By 1908, they built their first church. The current structure was constructed in 1926. The church is one of the oldest extant buildings in the historic Black neighborhood of East End. Unfortunately, the church dissolved a few years ago due to dwindling membership. It sat abandoned for a few years. It was slated for demolition, but the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County purchased it.
For a very detailed history of the area and the church, please read the history compiled on the Preservation Society‘s website.