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Alexander Inn was built about 1820 by George Alexander (1790-1880). The inn, now demolished, was among the oldest standing buildings in Swannanoa and was one of the oldest inns in the North Carolina mountains. It was located on the main route into Asheville from the east. Thus it soon developed into a regular stagecoach stop (it was little more than a stone’s throw from Interstate 40). The history of the inn thus is tied to developments in transportation in western North Carolina and the effects of those developments on commerce and tourism.
The inn also served as a tavern and boarding house. The railroad, which arrived in the area in 1880, passed close to the inn and created a rush in tourists. A similar influx was created by the automobile in the 1920s. The inn suffered during the economic hard times of the 1930s, however, and the owners eventually phased out commercial operation. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, it was demolished by owners in the 1990s.
References:
National Register of Historic Places nomination, research by Jim Sumner (1983)
Buncombe County Deeds, North Carolina State Archives
F. A. Sondley, A History of Buncombe County (1930)
Henry E. Colton, Mountain Scenery (1859)
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