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The Summer of 1926 - Fury and Vision in the Land of the Sky
- Heath Towson
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library Asheville NC, A156-8M. Buncombe County Court House (left) designed by Milburn & Heister of Washington, D.C. and Durham, N.C. Asheville City Hall (right) designed by Douglas Ellington of Pittsburgh, PA and Asheville, NC.
The story of Asheville's City Hall and County Court House design is one that has become part of local legend for decades. While on school field trips, I always heard tell that the county commissioners during the 1920s didn't favor Douglas Ellington's Art Deco concept for their new buildings. It turns out, that is not entirely true and the story is a lot more complicated than just that reduction. What started out as a journey to further my own understanding of Asheville's early experiment with city planning and urban design during the 1920s turned into so much more.
Rather than posting the entire blog on the website, we have a free PDF that tells the whole story you can download at the link below. I didn't feel like it does the story justice to post it on the website and I would like those seeking a deeper understanding to take their time reading this piece on a more reader friendly screen. All you have to do is click to order the PDF and it will send it to your email address. Unfortunately, AI has become much more of an issue, taking our work without crediting all of this research. Mountaineer Motor Tours strives to make our work accessible, accurate and truthful, but sadly AI does not.
Get a copy of the blog here! (It is FREE, just click order, enter your email and it will be sent to you)
If you enjoy the blog, I hope you'll take our Douglas Ellington architectural trolley tours in May!