Grove Park

If you're following along on the paper map, this marks the end of the Orange Route and your tour may start the Blue Route from here.

Start the Blue Route portion of your walking tour, by admiring E.W. Grove Park, across the street from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. What to note:

• In the early 1900’s three individuals had significant influence on the entire Grove Park Neighborhood that we see today: 1) George Pack arrived in 1885 from Cleveland, Ohio, having made a fortune in the lumber industry, 2) Richard Howland, from Providence, Rhode Island, a well-known newspaperman who built his home on Sunset Mountain in 1900 and 3) E.W. Grove from St. Louis and a millionaire pharmacist. It was E.W. Grove who donated the land for the park that carries his name to the City of Asheville in 1904.

• The charming stone wall with its beehive motif is centered between 2 structures that served as the trolley houses for Richard Howland’s electric line trolley along Macon Avenue. Note the name of “Gertrude”, E. W. Grove’s wife and the namesake of Gertrude Place which runs along the west side of the park.

• In 2012, the Grove Park Sunset Mountain Neighborhood began much-needed work on E.W. Grove Park using native species of plants for new large planting beds while maintaining the park’s open area. With the careful restoration of the wall and trolley houses in 2018/2019, this public park is loved today and it’s common to see book clubs, tai chi classes, dog walkers, etc. all simultaneously enjoying the park.