Dougherty Heights Historic District

Dougherty Heights is a residential neighborhood of one- and two-story frame houses, bungalows and mid-century infill on the north and northwest edge of downtown Black Mountain in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Its streets were platted on Dougherty, Kerlee and McKoy family land beginning around 1913, after Silas F. Dougherty's estate was divided among heirs. Silas Dougherty had built a large frame house in 1897 that later operated as a boarding house under the name Dougherty Heights, and the neighborhood took its name from it. Black Mountain's growth as a rail-served tourist town, with nearby Mount Mitchell, religious retreats and summer camps, shaped the demand for housing here. Most resources date from 1910 to 1930, with a second wave after the 1930s. The district holds fifty-four contributing buildings, and its houses show a range of popular early and mid twentieth-century styles, including Craftsman bungalows and Colonial Revival, Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses. It is regarded as a locally significant example of that residential development.