09/18/2026
DID YOU KNOW? 🚋
Before West Asheville became the neighborhood we know today, Haywood Road was a very different place.
Long before today’s cars, breweries, restaurants and shops, Haywood Road was part of an important route carrying people west from Asheville. It followed the old Western Turnpike, which connected Asheville with communities farther west.
Then came the streetcar.
Streetcar service along the West Asheville line operated from 1911 until 1934, crossing the French Broad River and traveling along Haywood Road. The tracks eventually reached the area we know today as the “End of the Line.” (West Asheville History)
And something fascinating happened because of that trolley.
West Asheville grew around it.
Businesses, homes, schools, churches, theaters , banks and other buildings began developing along the Haywood Road corridor. The streetcar made it easier for people to travel between Asheville and West Asheville, helping transform Haywood Road into the community’s main commercial street.
Later in the 1920’s -1980 came the busy popular soda shops, two movie theaters , toy shops, drug stores ( we now call Pharmacies) , really cool service stations , candy shops , West Asheville had everything! It was like a separate town of its own.
So when you’re walking down Haywood Road today, remember:
You are walking along a road that once carried people by trolley into a growing new community.
And some of the buildings and locations you pass still hold pieces of that story.
At the West Asheville History Museum, we love uncovering those little pieces of the past — the businesses, people, photographs, objects and stories that can easily disappear from memory.
West Asheville has a history window display .. worth stopping to look at.. 727 Haywood road ❤️
Conda Painter
West Asheville History Museum
History walking tours 828-202 -9990
https://www.westashevillehistorymuseum.org
