This landmark along Tunnel Road reads, "Forster A. Sondley, 1857-1931. Historian, lawyer and…read morebibliophile. Gave to Asheville the Sondley Reference Library. His home is 2.7 miles north." Online, we learn more. "Foster A. Sondley, scholar and bibliophile, was born on August 13, 1857, at Montrealla, his grandmother's home, in Alexander, a few miles north of Asheville. He was the youngest of Richard and Harriet Sondley's six children. Sondley's parents stressed proper education, and he attended several schools in the Asheville area before entering Wofford College in 1873." "Widely read and expert in state history, Sondley served on the first North Carolina Historical Commission in 1903, and fostered the development of the Buncombe County Historical Society. By the time of his death on April 17, 1931, Sondley had amassed a library of nearly 30,000 volumes including many rare works pertaining to North Carolina history. Sondley left his library to the city of Asheville, and it formed the nucleus of the Sondley Reference Library at Asheville's Pack Memorial Library." [Review 12682 overall, 2474 of 2019.]

he Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The founding…read moredocuments of this great country and the Charters of Freedom. In Asheville, their presence is more than symbolic. Nestled in a quiet corner near the Buncombe County courthouse, the display invites reflection, not just on the words etched into bronze, but on the ideals that shaped a nation. The setting is modest yet dignified, with stone benches and flags that frame the trio of documents in a way that feels both reverent and accessible. Each document is mounted in a way that encourages close reading. The Declaration speaks with urgency and clarity, the Constitution with structure and foresight, and the Bill of Rights with a fierce commitment to individual liberty. Visitors linger, tracing the lines with their eyes, absorbing the gravity of what these texts represent. It is not a museum or a monument in the traditional sense. It is a civic pause point, a place to remember that freedom is not inherited passively but earned and protected actively. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." What makes Asheville's display particularly moving is its quiet integration into the public landscape. It is not hidden, but it does not shout. It waits for you to notice. Whether you are a local passing by or a visitor seeking context, the Charters of Freedom offer a grounding moment. They remind us that democracy is not just a system but a story we continue to write. And in this small plaza, the story is told plainly, with respect and clarity. [Review 1294 of 2025 - 4439 in North Carolina - 24846 overall]

This marker is located in front of the hospital but there is limited parking to stop. I was…read moreintrigued by the "normal" park and so I did some looking. The marker reads, "Asheville Normal School. Presbyterian. Opened 1887 as Home Industrial School. Teacher's College 1892-1944. Stood nearby." Online, "Under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Lawrence, with the generous donation of land by the Pease family, and with the support of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, the Normal and Collegiate Institute was born in 1892. The Normal, as it was later called by locals, had its foundations in the Home Industrial School which opened in 1887, in the Pease home located between Asheville and Biltmore Forest. Pease and Lawrence sought to provide education for young girls and train them to become educators." "Financial support from the Board of National Missions ended in 1940 and, to fill the void, local citizens banded together to support the school, changing its name to Asheville College. Attempts to keep the school open failed and it closed its doors in 1944. The property and buildings were sold for a hospital and were later torn down to make way for Memorial Mission Hospital." [Review 12673 overall, 2465 of 2019.]

Located at the eastern end of the Pack Square closer to the City Hall building, the Western North…read moreCarolina Veterans Memorial has a circular concrete space with a woman sitting on a bench, looking at the bench. Modeled after the artist's mother, she is looking at the arch. Attached to each upright is the seal of each of the six branches of the military. Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Merchant Marines. The memorial reads, "Dedicated to those who gave us Peace, Liberty and Freedom and to the Veterans who have preserved it." The memorial was dedicated in 2009. The non-profit group behind the project gifted the memorial to the City of Asheville and Buncombe County in 2011. [Review 12693 overall, 5 of 2020.]

This marker is in excellent condition but does not appear to be one that was set up by the state…read more It reads, "Daniel K. Moore. 1906-1986. Governor, 1965-1969; North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, 1969-1978; Judge; Legislator; and Business Leader. "Man of the Mountains." Birthplace was nearby. Online, we find some more information. Dan K. Moore was born here in Asheville, earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. He practiced law in Sylva, North Carolina and served a term in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1941 before entering the U.S. Army in World War II. After the war, Moore served as a North Carolina Superior Court judge from 1948 to 1958. He ran for governor in 1964 and served one term as governor before being appointed to the Supreme Court, the first governor of North Carolina to be so honored." "At the 1968 Democratic National Convention Moore received 17 1/2 votes for president on the first ballot, finishing fifth behind Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Moore received 12 of North Carolina's 59 votes, 3 from Virginia, 2 from Georgia and 1/2 vote from Alabama. He is buried in historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina." https://www.yelp.com/biz/historic-oakwood-cemetery-and-mausoleum-raleigh [Review 12680 overall, 2472 of 2019.]

This marker in downtown Asheville reads, "Jimmie Rodgers, 1897-1933. 'Singing Brakeman' lived in…read moreAsheville, 1927. Began his country music career with radio broadcasts on WWNC, then 50 yards west." Online, there is more information. "The influence of Jimmie Rodgers on country music was considerable and many argue that he was the most important artist of the genre. Modern-day performers from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton count him as an influence. He is known as the "Singing Brakeman," the "Blue Yodeler," and the "Father of Country Music." Born James Charles Rodgers near Meridian, Mississippi, in 1897, Jimmie Rodgers took his first railroad job at thirteen working as a waterboy alongside his father. Rodgers developed a distinctive vocal style and incorporated yodeling into most of his songs." [Review 12702 overall, 14 of 2020.]

This marker stands in the parking lot of the Rutherford County administrative offices and points…read moreout the original founding of the town. It has the same text on both sides. It reads, "In 1787 fifty acres of land were purchased from James Adair for founding of Rutherford Town, which serves as the second county seat." Adair was born in Ireland and immigrated to the colonies in the early 18th century. He became a noted Indian trader, author, and planter, working extensively with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Catawba tribes. Adair's writings, especially his 1775 book History of the American Indians, attempted to link Native American origins to the lost tribes of Israel--a theory now discredited but influential in its time. In 1786, Adair sold 50 acres of land along Cleghorn Creek to a committee tasked with relocating the Rutherford County seat from Gilbert Town. [Review 655 of 2025 - 4142 in North Carolina - 24216 overall]

This marker in downtown Asheville honors an important pioneer. The marker reads, "Anne Penland,…read more1885-1976. Nurse anesthetist. Her WWI service influenced British medical corps to train female anesthetists, 1918. Home was here." Online, there is more information. "Asheville native Anne Penland graduated from the nursing program at Presbyterian Hospital in New York in 1912 and went on to complete advanced training in anesthesiology. Shortly after President Woodrow Wilson's war declaration in 1917, Penland joined other medical professionals at Presbyterian in forming Base Hospital No. 2 and traveled overseas to support the Allied war effort as the unit's nurse anesthetist." "Upon her arrival in England, Base Hospital No. 2 was attached to the British Expeditionary Force and sent to France. There, Penland and her colleagues split their time between casualty clearing stations on the frontlines and base hospitals behind the lines during World War I. At the time, the British medical department did not allow women to serve as anesthetists, but Penland's expertise, poise, and ability to manage patients much larger than herself impressed British medical officers." "The training course began in January 1918, the first class consisting of seventy-six Australian and British nurses who were divided mainly into groups of three and assigned to hospital bases for instruction. Two courses were held, with Penland serving as one of the instructors in both. Though less than half of the 159 nurses who passed the course went on to practice anesthesiology during the war, British medical command deemed the program an "unqualified success."" "Upon her return to the United States, Penland took up her old position as chief anesthetist at Presbyterian Hospital. She remained on staff, teaching students in anesthesiology, until her retirement in 1952." [Review 12703 overall, 15 of 2020.]