Last month, we set our sights on some notable WNC landmarks and locations, uncovering their local toponymy — the study of place names. Today, we’re back for round two, digging into the naming conventions of some reader-submitted spots.
Jupiter
The unincorporated community sits in northwestern Buncombe County, between Flat Creek and the French Broad River. Before the county began to see road improvements in the early 20th century, it had exponentially more post offices.
Buncombe County Special Collections details a 1932 account from Reba Roberts, a local student at Red Oak High School. Roberts explains that the first postmaster coined the name Jupiter in the late 1880s: “His theory for naming the settlement Jupiter was that it is of a very high altitude and from the post office you could gain a very plain view of the Jupiter star that rose in the north east. There was about three or four men present at the time… they agreed and it was called ‘Jupiter Post Office.’”
Drhumor Building
Built in 1895, this intricate Patton Avenue landmark is considered one of the earliest commercial buildings in Asheville — and it’s an important remnant of the city’s late 19th-century growth. Built by local attorney William Johnston Cocke, the building was named for the birthplace of his late Irish grandfather. Pro tip: No matter how bad you may want to call it the Dr. Humor building, it’s pronounced like “drummer.”
The Open Cut
This one’s a bit more straightforward. An “open cut” refers to the construction of an above-ground trench. It’s the route that crews took in the 1970s, blasting through Beaucatcher Mountain to make room for I-240.
But that wasn’t always the plan. The city and state first agreed to create a second tunnel through Beaucatcher Mountain, running parallel to the one built in 1929, to alleviate traffic congestion. However, the cut was less costly. Today, the bypass is known as “the open cut” or “the cut” for its method of construction.
Is there another local landmark whose naming history you’d like to know? Share it with us, and we’ll give you the lowdown in a future article.
