Riverside Industrial Historic District

Along the east bank of the French Broad River southwest of downtown Asheville, this district grew around the railroad that reached the city in 1880. Level riverside land and rail access drew mills, coal and ice companies, feed businesses, machine shops and wholesale warehouses. The Southern Railway tracks form the spine of the district, with 27 contributing buildings and one contributing structure among its 32 resources. Surviving buildings include a ca. 1915 brick feed mill, a ca. 1905 Italianate coal and ice plant, and 1930s and 1940s warehouses on Clingman Avenue. A modern bridge, built in 1974, and a 1995 fire that destroyed one of the largest mills changed the riverfront. Many large-interior buildings now serve as artist studios. The district was recognized for its importance to Asheville's commerce and industry and for its architecture, with a period of significance from about 1880 to 1954 and 1916, the year of a major flood, noted as a significant date.