tree park background office building inside

#Tree park background office building inside series

Water from River Hill found its way down to a low-lying marshy bog overgrown with water lilies and swarming with ducks and bullfrogs, the current location of Pritchard Park. A ridge descended toward Lexington, reaching its lowest point at The Dip, rising gradually to Haywood Street, and then shooting up abruptly to the commanding prominence of River Hill. Actually a rounded hilltop, Pack Square then fell away in all directions. Large rocks were used as stepping stones to climb up to Patton and logs were stockpiled on Water Street to help wagons reach the courthouse that dominated Public Square (present day Pack Square Plaza). Lexington Avenue was named Water Street because it was actually a drainage ditch. Its downhill slope toward Patton Avenue was so pronounced that early town dwellers referred to the junction of Patton and Lexington as The Dip with a natural spring located at the current site of the Drhumor Building. The area of today’s Pack Square Park was also considerably higher at the time. The present site of Battery Park Hotel was known as River Hill, a mound dominating the valley below at more than 100 feet above the building’s present height.

Rain posed a serious problem as Asheville’s modern form began to take shape. It later transformed into a simple green space, then downtown’s main bus terminal before a renovation made it one of the most recognizable public spaces in the city. As the location of Asheville’s main post office, it acted as “the rendezvous for the town gossips who gathered in the old days,” according to an old newspaper article. Since its days as a hog wallow along Buncombe Turnpike, Pritchard Park has served as a rest area of one sort or another.

#Tree park background office building inside series

Read more from the series and follow APR on Facebook and Instagram for additional photos, upcoming events, and opportunities. This entry is part of Park Views, a weekly Asheville Parks & Recreation series that explores the history of the city’s public parks and community centers – and the mountain spirit that helped make them the unique spaces they are today.