Ah, the sounds of summer. Cicada Brood XIV is currently emerging from its subterranean slumber across the Southeast, so don’t be surprised if your afternoon walk is underscored by an endless, ceaseless droning noise.
This brood only emerges every 17 years, so let’s take a look back at Asheville’s history through the compound eyes of our cicada neighbors.
2008
- Rolling Stone named The Orange Peel one of the Top 5 Rock Clubs in the Nation.
- The very first Big Crafty art fest was held at The Grey Eagle
- Beloved businesses like Roman’s Deli, Firestorm, and Buchi all made their debut.
1991
- The Asheville Citizen and Asheville Times merged to create the Asheville Citizen-Times.
- The Asheville Urban Trail officially launched, using public art to narrate our city’s history. Asheville resident Grace Pless was pivotal in bringing the trail to life.
- One of Asheville’s oldest art galleries, Blue Spiral 1, opened downtown as the area was beginning to be revitalized after years of empty streets.
1974
- The Asheville Civic Center (formerly the City Auditorium, Municipal Auditorium, then Asheville Auditorium) and was completed in June of 1974, following four years of construction. Comedian Bob Hope was the first to perform in the newly minted venue.
- High Tea Cafe opened on Wall Street and supposedly served Asheville’s first espresso.
1957
- Actor Robert Mitchum arrived in Asheville in the summer of ’57 to film “Thunder Road.” The film features a thrilling scene of a car tumbling down Toxaway Falls.
- Things kicked into high gear when Asheville-Weaverville Speedway was paved. The first NASCAR-sanctioned racetrack in WNC was just dirt for its first seven years
- Voters passed a bond allowing City of Asheville to spend $1.2 million for a new airport. This marked the expansion and transition from the Asheville-Hendersonville Airport (built in 1936) to the Asheville Regional Airport.
Have a memory from one of these cicada years? Buzz in with your answer.
