Downtown Asheville Historic District (Boundary Increase III and Boundary Decrease)
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
Downtown Asheville's commercial core and adjoining residential streets form this expanded historic district, which covers about thirty-three blocks. The additions reach from Biltmore Avenue and South French Broad Avenue to Grove Street and include buildings from ca. 1890 onward. The Carmichael-Leonard House at 129 Biltmore Avenue, built around 1890, is the oldest surviving structure in the increase area, a two-story hip-roof brick dwelling with Victorian details. The former YWCA at 11 Grove Street, designed by William H. Lord and built 1924-1925, shows Georgian Revival detailing. Charles N. Parker designed the 1926 Salvation Army citadel on Patton Avenue. The district is significant for its record of the 1920s building boom, the Depression slowdown, and the mid-century shift toward automobile tourism and suburban retail. The nomination extends the district's period of significance through 1961 so that the mid-century buildings are counted as contributing.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | Ca. 1890 - 1961 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Commercial Style, Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, Art Deco, Moderne |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce |
| Acreage | 9.4 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Downtown Asheville Historic District (Boundary Increase III and Boundary Decrease) (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.