Asheville – Low-lying areas around rivers have always been prone to flooding, and the same is true for low-lying regions in Buncombe County. However, no one has witnessed flooding like that of the 1916 flood in the Asheville area, which serves as this week’s historical marker.
The marker is located along Biltmore Avenue at the corner of Swannanoa River Road and reads, “Devastated western N.C. and western Piedmont; destroyed homes, crops, mills, bridges. Four lives were lost on July 16, near the main gate of Biltmore Estate.”
The 1916 flood wreaked havoc across western North Carolina and the western Piedmont, leaving a trail of unprecedented destruction. Two hurricanes made landfall in mid-July at Mobile and Charleston, unleashing heavy rains on the mountains and the western Piedmont. Mitchell County recorded an astonishing 19 inches of rain in just 24 hours.
Virtually all rail lines west of Winston-Salem were affected, with barely a mile of track between Statesville and Asheville remaining undamaged. Photographs from that time document the extensive damage, showing piles of debris, massive mountain slides, and rail ties left swinging. Mills, power dams, and electric plants in the region also suffered significant damage. Trains were stranded between terminals, and passengers were marooned.
In response, Southern Railway launched a massive rebuilding effort, setting up camps for 2,300 laborers and completing much of the work in just six weeks. The estimated property losses totaled $22 million, with approximately eighty deaths attributed to the flood.
At the time of the flood, small trolley lines in Asheville were also affected. Asheville had the second-largest trolley system in the United States, behind Richmond, Virginia. The system comprised ten different trolley companies that served the greater Asheville area. The Craggy Mountain Line (CML) in the Woodfin area, which had not yet been incorporated into a town, lost its bridge spanning the French Broad River, which allowed CML passengers to connect with the Southern Railway.
One of the most tragic stories from the flood occurred on July 16, when Capt. James Cornelius Lipe, a master carpenter and superintendent at the Biltmore Estate, and his daughter Kathleen were wading from their house on the banks of the Swannanoa River toward higher ground in Biltmore Village. A sudden rush of water threatened to sweep them off their feet. Lipe managed to help his daughter and three other young women—Biltmore Village nurses Mabel Foister and Charlotte Walker, along with Charlotte’s younger sister Marion—into the lowest branches of a large tree near the main gate of the Biltmore Estate.
Crowds gathered on the bank, watching as several rescue attempts unfolded. A rescuer managed to reach Marion, but during the return to shore, she panicked, fought her rescuer, and tragically drowned. Her sister Charlotte screamed for her and soon after fell from the tree. Captain Lipe was next to go, losing his grip after suffering a cramp. Mabel reportedly made no sound as she slipped from the tree. Kathleen, the sole survivor of the ordeal, was finally rescued after hours of clinging to the tree.