One common theme around some of the buildings in Asheville, North Carolina, is the 1929 stock market crash and the deaths associated with it. The building that currently houses the Asheville City Hall was completed in 1928, as the Roaring 20s were coming to an end. At the time, the men, who wore three-piece suits and who worked in these buildings, didn’t see the stock market crash coming, and probably didn’t see their lives ending so soon.
According to the Southern Spirit Guide website, “On the 30th of November 1930, Central Bank & Trust went bankrupt taking all of Asheville’s optimism for the future with it. As the holder of most of the city’s funds, the city entered a period of penury that would last until the city’s debt was paid off in 1976. According to Ken Traylor and Delas House’s Asheville Ghosts and Legends, the city’s failed finances led the city’s financial manager to take a suicidal plunge from the building. It is believed that it is his spirit wearing a three-piece suit that has been seen within the building.”
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.
Source: The Southern Spirit Guide, Sept. 6, 2014.
Image Credit: “Asheville City Hall, Asheville, NC (46691736032)” by Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States is marked with CC0 1.0.
