Hendersonville's Historical Timeline
The timeline below was typed by an unknown author circa 1967.
Early street names:
1st Avenue - Chestnut Street
2nd Avenue - Aspen Street
3rd Avenue - College Street
4th Avenue - Academy Street
5th Avenue - Broad Street
6th Avenue - Shaws Creek
7th Avenue - Anderson or Depot Street
1838 Henderson County formed
1841 Land donated by Judge Mitchell King (50 acres) and John Johnson & James Brittain (29 acres) for county seat
1841 Drake's store built Chestnut Street (1st Avenue) and Main Street
1842 Hotel owned by Valentine Ripley on the West Side of Main Street between Aspen Street (2nd Avenue) and College (3rd Avenue)
1842 Courthouse constructed between Chestnut Street (1st Avenue) and Aspen (2nd Avenue) on the west side of Main Street
1847 Charter for town of Hendersonville
1847 Col. Ripley builds stone building on the southwest corner of Main Street and Chestnut Street (1st Avenue)
1854 Judge King gives land for schools on Academy Street (4th Avenue)
1855 First newspaper, The Carolina Baptist, published
1861 Judson College built
1882 First mayor Dr. T.A. Allen
1879 Railroad comes to Hendersonville
1880s First bank opens in what will later be Rose Pharmacy
1884 Baker sets up photo & art gallery at Drake's store
1893 Town Hall and Opera House built on east side of Main Street between Academy Street (4th Avenue) and Broad Street (5th Avenue)
1895 Wheeler Hotel built (where Bruce Drysdale now sits)
1903 Dummy Line runs from Main Street, out Broad Street (5th Avenue) to Crystal Spring in Laural Park
1903 Electricity available in city
1904 Current courthouse built (Richard Sharp Smith, architect)
1904 Telephone exchange in Rose Building
1904 Home delivery of mail
1911 The 4th Avenue School, later called Rosa Edwards School, built
1913 Patton Hospital opens on Highland Avenue
1913 William Jennings Bryan speaks at Rosa Edwards Chautauqua Auditorium
1914 Fifteen livery stables in town
1914 Library established on King Street and 4th Avenue East
1914 Post office built in Federal Building (4th Avenue and Church Street)
1915 Six churches in town
1915 Grey Hosiery Mill opens
1923 Balfour Mills, later Berkeley Mills, opens
1926 Hendersonville High School built
1928 Current City Hall built
1929 Skyland Hotel opens
1934 Union Negro School on 6th Avenue West built
1946 Parking meters appear on Main Street
1950 Ninth Avenue School built
1953 Pardee Hospital opens
1954 General Electric opens
1958 Bruce Drysdale opens
1966 Post office moves to Fifth Avenue West
1967 I-26 built
1967 Grey Hosiery Mill closes
1968 Last regular passenger train stops in Hendersonville
1970 New library on Washington Street
1975 Jackson Park opened
1977 Serpentine on Main Street