This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Western North Carolina’s natural beauty has attracted millions of people here for a long time. In the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, it also attracted people with tuberculosis, in hopes that a clean environment might help their illness.
BPR spoke with professor emeritus David Freedman of the University of Alabama on how this history of tuberculosis treatment shaped Asheville - and shifted into the tourism economy we know today.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
BPR: Let’s start at the beginning. How did Asheville become a health destination?
Freedman: It all started around 1870. There was a book published and it talked about the health benefits of the altitude. And, in fact, there was a specific theory about how [Asheville] was the exact right altitude that made the work of breathing much easier than at sea level. So, it was just generally healthy because of the fresh air. Remember, we're during the industrial revolution and all the big cities are incredibly polluted and incredibly crowded.
BPR: Talk to me a little bit about the clientele. Who they were and where did they came from? Were they rich, were they poor? How did they live?
Freedman: The sanatoria in Asheville were really for the rich people. These were like luxury hotels. They had very, very large luxurious rooms, some of them with private porches instead of these group porches. People were supposed to rest outdoors in the fresh air, especially during the summer.
Later on, boarding houses opened up. They advertised very clearly whether they took sick people or not, and you'll see on all their advertisements, “no sick allowed” or, “no consumptives." Things like that.
BPR: This guy, E.W. Grove, for whom the Grove Park Inn that we all know in Asheville is named — he didn't seem to like that Asheville was a place associated with illness. Could you tell me about him and like his vision for the transition to tourism?
Freedman: He had some respiratory problems himself. He didn't have TB, but he came here and he liked it and he liked the fresh air. He was actually in the pharmaceutical business and became a real estate developer. The part of town where the Grove Park Inn is, he basically owned. He bought all the real estate there, and started building and developing these houses. So basically, on land he owned, he burned down every single sanitarium that was there.
You won't find any remaining buildings on any land that that Grove built. They wanted, basically, healthy people; a healthy city for healthy people to come to. Like with wellness tourism today, they wanted wealthy people that were just feeling down, that were tired. They had ads for businessmen that were tired — like too much stress in your life? “Come here for a week or two to relax, get the fresh air and you'll feel better.” There's a huge wellness sector, still. It just looks different. The number of spas and meditation centers and things like that.
BPR: What else do you feel that we have to learn from this history and from this moment, this turning point where Asheville changed its identity?
Freedman: I think the stigma against sick people still remains. A lot of these places were just profiteering, and that still goes on today. I mean the promise of a cure, the promise of a treatment will attract a lot of wealthy people and a lot of wealthy people will spend a lot of money and not necessarily get well, but that's what happens when you're desperate.
