Although
no longer a five-and-dime store, Woolworth Walk is a worthy destination because
today it is the largest art gallery in Asheville featuring only local artists,
170 to be exact. We spent several hours on two different days enjoying artists’
creations on both floors of the huge store. The first day we saw the cool
luncheonette counter and came back the second time to see the art again but
also to eat lunch.
Asheville’s
F. W. Woolworth Building, established in 1938 and restored in 2001, is a
nostalgic dip into the soda fountains of my youth. Cherry phosphates were my
favorite, and Green Rivers. Didn’t see those the day we ate lunch at
Asheville’s counter, and didn’t think to ask. Their Old-Fashioned Soda sign
includes Shirley Temples. They serve espresso drinks and curried dishes today,
which I don’t remember being popular in the 1950s. Anyway, our lunch sandwiches,
including the obligatory dill pickle and coleslaw in oval plastic-weave baskets,
were delicious. Gluten-free bread was also not a thing in the ’50s but I’m
grateful they have it now.
We
learned a sad segregation story. In 1960 African-Americans were allowed to work
the luncheonette counter but not to eat at it. Grrr … After one incident, many sit-ins and six months of
negotiations resulted in a more equitable policy for Woolworth’s.
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