"The Gilded age began in 1880 when the coming of the railroads from the east introduced families of wealth and influence. Within a decade the population quadrupled, and in 1883 Asheville became a city. The first streetlights went up in 1888, with lights coming from four 125 foot towers. The first electric street cars followed in 1889. A boom period began, lasting fifty years until the great depression forced banks to close.
Wealthy individuals such as George Vanderbilt came for the beautiful scenery, the hospitable climate, and the therapeutic mountain air. Many stayed on. Fashionable families came to Asheville for the summer to escape suffocating heat and humidity. Those with consumptive ailments came for “the cure”. The city became well known for its rambling boardinghouses and sanitariums, as well as its luxury hotels.
The town developed art and culture. Earning the title “Paris of the South”, it boasted an opera house, a professional theater, and a community of art and music devotees. Asheville is still nationally known as a top arts destination.
When the banks closed in 1930, the city was plunged into morass of deep dept from which it did not emerge until 1976. As a result of its fiscal conservatism, downtown Asheville retains a treasure of historic buildings that might have given way to newer structures had money been available for development.
."
|
