Asheville
Urban Trail

Location #29 - The Block

The Block
 
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The BlockArtist Winston Wingo's bronze relief is based on the collective memories of former residents who recall when Eagle and Market Streets, known as The Block, were the heart of the African American community in Asheville. The "Young Men's Institute," a focal point across the street, still hums with community and activity. Designed by famed architect Richard Sharp Smith, the YMI Center was partially funded by George Vanderbilt and was created to serve Asheville's Black community and employees of Biltmore House and its surrounding estate.

Urban Trail Locations

Hotel District

A bronze eagle overlooks a storied hotel district of old Asheville

Iron Plaque that says Walk into History

This "jump off" station recognizes, via plaque, the original unfolding of Pack Square where the first log courthouse of…

Building Facade of Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Ave.

A building façade adorned in mid-century patterning with abstracted, geometric representations of pint glasses.

Bronzed hat, cane, & gloves on a bench

A top hat, cane and gloves, cast in bronze, recall the theaters and the Grand Opera House that once flourished along…

Bronze pocket watch

Former resident Sydney Porter is celebrated with visual cues from his short masterpiece The Gift of the Magi.

Victorian frieze

The plaque at Station #5 draws attention to the Victorian frieze work along the front of the Drhumor Building (1895).

Elizabeth Blackwell - Urban Trail

A bench with a bower of medicinal herbs (created by Joe Miller) honors Asheville resident Elizabeth Blackwell, the first…

S&W Building

This stop pays homage to the 1929 S&W Building.