New book by former Shiloh resident weaves together stories from one of Asheville's oldest Black neighborhoods
By Laura Hackett
May 6, 2025 at 10:21 AM EDT
A new book gives a firsthand account of one of the Asheville’s oldest Black legacy neighborhoods. “A Tapestry of Life in the Black Community of Shiloh and Beyond," was written by Tanya Davis who grew up in Shiloh before moving to Chicago as an adult.
Davis will appear at Pack Memorial Library on Tuesday, May 6 at 6 p.m. for a reading that will include a book signing and writing exercise.
BPR sat down with Davis to talk Shiloh history and asked her what she wants people who may not know the neighborhood to know.
TANYA DAVIS, AUTHOR: I would like for you to know that Shiloh is a community of people, hard-working people, who love each other, who love the community, who love the history of the community.... It really was a tight neighborhood and you knew who your neighbor was and you know, as I talk about it in the book, it was like, hey oh oh you're misbehaving go home. You know, it it really was a village.
LAURA HACKETT, REPORTER: Your book weaves a lot of vivid memories of your childhood and childhood from fried spam, tomato, and mayonnaise sandwiches to drinking water out of a fresh spring down the block in the neighborhood. What are some other core memories of growing up in Shiloh that you've you know been returning to when you wrote this book?
So, we would get up on a Saturday morning. Mom would turn on Soul Train. She would be dancing around the house. trying to get our hair done and and in addition trying to take care of herself. Um, going to the library. On special occasions, seeing our aunt Estelle who worked at Haynes Grocery Store on the corner and she would make sure our hair was was straightened real good for Easter Sunday.
Yeah, you talk a lot about Haynes Grocery store.
It was an institution and unfortunately it was torn down for a progress and and for a while I know the community was trying to get it marked as a historical landmark but they could not. It was a vital part of the community and and probably one of the first black businesses that I had ever seen.
Can you talk about what it was like to be in the grocery store? Paint the picture for me.
So you walk into the grocery store And you have Mr. Haynes, who is, who is now deceased. And he would be at the counter, and you would have gum, and you would have candies. The little cigarettes where you could pretend like, you know, you were smoking and then they were candy. and in the back of the store um was the hair salon. So you could hear you could hear it from from the front of the store.
You could smell the pressing oil, you know, mingled with with the smell of the candy and and you there you could get your your toiletries. You could get your candy. You could get anything there and you could get your hair done.
Something else in the book that I thought was interesting is the relationship between Shiloh and the Biltmore. You talk about there being an old Shiloh and a new Shiloh. Could you talk a little bit about that?
So, the old Shiloh was located in at the Biltmore house. And George Vanderbilt when he wanted to buy the property, he needed the old Shiloh. And they call it the new — If you go into Shiloh, the sign says, "Welcome to the new Shiloh." — so this will this this will explain that.
And so he asked the people if they would be willing to move and he offered a certain amount of money and they said, "No." The church, they said no, but then he offered to move their ancestors and then they said yes.
And so that can still be found in Shiloh like right at the corner near my house, the church and the cemetery right next door
I mean that's wild though. You don't hear very often about a cemetery getting moved.
Well, you know, it's our ancestors are important to us, so it didn't it didn't surprise it didn't surprise me that that would be the the thing to do it that the ancestors would be moved.
As you read the book, you know, the memories are very strong of growing up in Shiloh. Why did you decide to write this book now? Why was now the time that you said is time to come home?
Well, I want them to know that it's there. I want I want people to come to Asheville and not only get to know downtown…I think that when you have an understanding of people in an area in a neighborhood. You're not so quick to say, "Hey, let's let's uh let's pave over this spring right here where they were getting fresh spring water." I think that if you have a tendency to get to know other people and understand their history, then it develops a sense sense of empathy and it expands your heart for other people.
Davis will appear at Pack Memorial Library on Tuesday, May 6 at 6 p.m. for a reading that will include a book signing and writing exercise.
BPR sat down with Davis to talk Shiloh history and asked her what she wants people who may not know the neighborhood to know.
TANYA DAVIS, AUTHOR: I would like for you to know that Shiloh is a community of people, hard-working people, who love each other, who love the community, who love the history of the community.... It really was a tight neighborhood and you knew who your neighbor was and you know, as I talk about it in the book, it was like, hey oh oh you're misbehaving go home. You know, it it really was a village.
LAURA HACKETT, REPORTER: Your book weaves a lot of vivid memories of your childhood and childhood from fried spam, tomato, and mayonnaise sandwiches to drinking water out of a fresh spring down the block in the neighborhood. What are some other core memories of growing up in Shiloh that you've you know been returning to when you wrote this book?
So, we would get up on a Saturday morning. Mom would turn on Soul Train. She would be dancing around the house. trying to get our hair done and and in addition trying to take care of herself. Um, going to the library. On special occasions, seeing our aunt Estelle who worked at Haynes Grocery Store on the corner and she would make sure our hair was was straightened real good for Easter Sunday.
Yeah, you talk a lot about Haynes Grocery store.
It was an institution and unfortunately it was torn down for a progress and and for a while I know the community was trying to get it marked as a historical landmark but they could not. It was a vital part of the community and and probably one of the first black businesses that I had ever seen.
Can you talk about what it was like to be in the grocery store? Paint the picture for me.
So you walk into the grocery store And you have Mr. Haynes, who is, who is now deceased. And he would be at the counter, and you would have gum, and you would have candies. The little cigarettes where you could pretend like, you know, you were smoking and then they were candy. and in the back of the store um was the hair salon. So you could hear you could hear it from from the front of the store.
You could smell the pressing oil, you know, mingled with with the smell of the candy and and you there you could get your your toiletries. You could get your candy. You could get anything there and you could get your hair done.
Something else in the book that I thought was interesting is the relationship between Shiloh and the Biltmore. You talk about there being an old Shiloh and a new Shiloh. Could you talk a little bit about that?
So, the old Shiloh was located in at the Biltmore house. And George Vanderbilt when he wanted to buy the property, he needed the old Shiloh. And they call it the new — If you go into Shiloh, the sign says, "Welcome to the new Shiloh." — so this will this this will explain that.
And so he asked the people if they would be willing to move and he offered a certain amount of money and they said, "No." The church, they said no, but then he offered to move their ancestors and then they said yes.
And so that can still be found in Shiloh like right at the corner near my house, the church and the cemetery right next door
I mean that's wild though. You don't hear very often about a cemetery getting moved.
Well, you know, it's our ancestors are important to us, so it didn't it didn't surprise it didn't surprise me that that would be the the thing to do it that the ancestors would be moved.
As you read the book, you know, the memories are very strong of growing up in Shiloh. Why did you decide to write this book now? Why was now the time that you said is time to come home?
Well, I want them to know that it's there. I want I want people to come to Asheville and not only get to know downtown…I think that when you have an understanding of people in an area in a neighborhood. You're not so quick to say, "Hey, let's let's uh let's pave over this spring right here where they were getting fresh spring water." I think that if you have a tendency to get to know other people and understand their history, then it develops a sense sense of empathy and it expands your heart for other people.