Four Guided History Walks in Hendersonville Offered in September and October – on Main Street, in Oakdale Cemetery, throughout the 7th Avenue Historic Depot District, and also a Murals, Mosaic, and Ghost Signs tour.

History walks in several historic areas of town are scheduled in September and October:

along Historic Hendersonville Main Street (Sunday, September 7 and Friday, October 3, 10 a.m.);

in Oakdale Cemetery (Sunday, September 15 and Friday, October 10, 10 a.m.);

in the 7th Avenue Historic Depot District (Sunday, September 21, and Friday, October 17, 10 a.m.);

and also a tour to see Murals, Mosaic, and Ghost Signs around downtown (Sunday, September 28 and Friday, October 24, 10 a.m.)

Cost for each tour is $10 per person 10 years and older.  Children under 10 are free with a paid adult.  Space is limited and reservations are requested.  Contact history walk leader Mary Jo Padgett at maryjo@maryjopadgett.com or via the website at www.maryjopadgett.com to make a reservation or to arrange a private tour for a group.  To see the entire schedule for 2025, visit the website and click on the Guided Walks page.

On Sunday, September 7, and Friday, October 3, experience Historic Main Street with tour guide Mary Jo Padgett by stepping back in time to answer such questions as — who donated the land where the new town would be built, what is the age of the oldest block of buildings, what was on the third floor (and in the basement) of the old City Hall, who was the town named for, where was the Opera House, and learn about bordellos, shoot-outs, trolley lines, and stories of life in the old days on Chinquapin Hill.  The walk starts at 10 a.m. at the front steps of City Hall, corner of Fifth Avenue E. and King St.

            On Sunday, September 14, and Friday, October 10, a guided tour of Historic Oakdale Cemetery, Hendersonville’s only municipal cemetery, shares stories of the town’s early days through its quirky, colorful citizens.  The famous Italian marble monument which inspired the title of Thomas Wolfe’s novel Look Homeward, Angel is in Oakdale, along with both marked and unmarked graves of historic figures.  The heritage of the local African-American community is told in the historic Black section of the cemetery, while the designated Jewish cemetery reveals how the town grew to embrace ethnic and religious groups through the years.  How and why the cemetery was created, names of those who helped build the town and where they were laid to rest, where the Sunshine Lady is buried, and more questions will be answered.  The walk begins at 10 a.m. in the cemetery.

On Sunday, September 21, and Friday, October 17, meander through the historic part of town encircling the Train Depot on Seventh Avenue East.  When the first steam locomotive arrived in Hendersonville on July 4, 1879, crammed with tourists and visitors from the low country of South Carolina, it was the beginning of an exciting era of big-band music, dancing, numerous inns and hotels, much real estate trading, and huge agricultural growth.  Money was made and lost, famous musicians and sports figures came calling, delicious food was enjoyed at every inn and boarding house … Hendersonville was in its hey-day from that moment until the financial crash of 1929. This neighborhood boasted many businesses run by Black and white owners. The walk  starts at 10 a.m. at the front steps of City Hall, corner of Fifth Avenue E. and King St.

            On Sunday, September 28, and Friday, October 24, at 10 a.m., this walk begins in front of the Historic Courthouse on Main St. Exploring along the side and back streets of downtown, the tour explains the stories behind more than 6 murals, including some very new ones, a mosaic made with 250,000 small pieces of glass, and numerous ghost signs barely hiding in plain sight on old buildings.

 “Locals and visitors alike can celebrate and share the interesting history and architecture of Hendersonville,” Padgett said,  “For example, learn how the rich natural resources here – the local clay for brick, the hand-hewn foundation rock from local quarries, and, in fact, the heritage carried from the earlier Cherokee lifestyle – have contributed to our lives today.”

Padgett served on Hendersonville City Council for eight years, is a journalist and public relations consultant, is co-founder and former executive director of ECO, was associate editor at The Mother Earth News magazine, and conducts programs and guided tours in Paris, France, on the American Revolution.  Her parents spent their honeymoon in the Skyland Hotel on Main Street.  She grew up on a farm in Rutherford County, and has lived in a 100-year-old house in downtown Hendersonville for 40 years.

To make reservations or get more information, call or text 828-545-3179 or email maryjo@maryjopadgett.com.  Visit www.maryjopadgett.com and click on Guided Walks for a complete 2024 schedule.           # # #