'Mile-long museum': New Asheville heritage trail tells the history of Black Ashevillians
ASHEVILLE - In 2010, Catherine Mitchell attended a meeting with the East End/Valley Street Neighborhood Association, where concerns about the remembering and recognizing history of Asheville's Black population were the forefront of discussion.
Out of the meeting, an idea was proposed: a museum and trail that spans across Asheville, all with the goal of recognizing and remembering the history of Asheville's Black community.
Now, Mitchell's work — along with the help of many others — has led to the creation of the Asheville Black Cultural Heritage Trail, a series of historical markers and interactive stories recognizing and remembering the history and narratives of Black Ashevillians over three self-guided tours.
A Dec. 15 ribbon cutting was held in honor of the trail's completion. The event was in conjunction with the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, Explore Asheville and the River Front Development Group, an Asheville-based nonprofit.
The event was hosted in the River Arts District by Black Wall Street AVL — a business incubator that has connected with over 110 local business owners who are Black, indigenous or people of color. The celebration included music, food and speeches from local leaders and those involved in the development process.
Mitchell, who is the executive director of River Front Development Group, said the work was "constantly evolving."
"When we asked people to tell their story and then they tell other people's stories — it was constantly getting larger and larger," Mitchell said of the process. "People talked about their grandparents and great grandparents, and it was always exciting. There were no points where it was dull or not going to happen."
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Over the 13-year process, the effort gained steam in the form of funding on behalf of the Buncombe County TDA. The two-part process started with an original $100,000 granted to preserve historical archives at the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, and then the trail received $500,000 during the 2018 Tourism Product Development Fund grant cycle.
Both had been proposed by River Front Development Group.
"I am so happy to have the support of Explore Asheville and the TDA," Mitchell said of the ceremony. "It couldn't have happened this large without them."
1 mile, 3 tours, 'hundreds of stories'
The Asheville Black Cultural Heritage Trail is composed of three separate trails available as self-guided tours. The trails focus on Downtown section, Southside section and a River Area section. The trails have a combined length of a mile.
Darin Waters, North Carolina Deputy Secretary for the Office of Archives, spoke during the ceremony, recognizing the efforts to create the trail — along with sending congratulations from Gov. Roy Cooper.
"This is a project that Catherine has been working on for a long time, and she talked to me about it when I first came to town back in 2009," said Waters, a former UNC Asheville professor. "A deep deep heartfelt thank you to Catherine for sticking to this project."
The trail website estimates it takes about two and a half hours to walk and read all 14 of the stops and panels, which range in history about Asheville's Black newspapers to coverage of the incarcerated Black men and women who died during the construction of the the Swannanoa Tunnel, which connected Asheville to Salisbury.
Recognizing the history of Black Asheville
President and CEO of Explore Asheville Vic Isley said the effort was not the work of a few, but many.
"There are literally hundreds of fingerprints on this project," she said, standing with Mitchell. "Memories of tears and triumph, darkness and light, struggles and success, reckoning and resilience."
The advisory committee for the trail development process alone had 18 members, including Korean War veteran and life-long Asheville resident Matthew Bacoate Jr.
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Bacoate said the experience of working on and being featured as a figure on the trail was among the many "humbling experiences" he has ever had — ranking it alongside invitations to the White House from Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter and his military service.
"The fact that recognition is being given to those who have contributed to the development of Asheville and Buncombe County — the untold stories. Now, they all will be told henceforth and evermore," Bacoate said of the trail. "The fact that locals or visitors will be able to look at these panels and get an understanding of some things they may know about, but didn't know how it happened."
"Now that history is chronicled all by these panels, all over the trail — that's amazing."
In the '70s, Bacoate came to direct and own AFRAM Inc., the largest Black-owned business in Asheville's history.
Bacoate, now in his 90s, is featured on the "River Area" section of the trail, where he is recognized for his counsel to Nixon and Carter on Black entrepreneurship, along with his efforts to integrate the Asheville Municipal Golf Course and an Asheville bowling alley, according to the Asheville Black Cultural Heritage Trail website.
Find more about the trail at https://bcht.exploreasheville.com/.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville leaders celebrate opening the Black Cultural Heritage Trail
