carrier park car stunt

Park Views: Carrier Park

This entry is part of Park Views, a weekly Asheville Parks & Recreation series that explores the history of the city’s public parks and community centers – and the mountain spirit that helped make them the unique spaces they are today.

artistic drawing of Montford park showing trees in bloom and flower beds

Park Views: Montford Park

This entry is part of Park Views, a weekly Asheville Parks & Recreation series that explores the history of the city’s public parks and community centers – and the mountain spirit that helped make them the unique spaces they are today. Read more from the series and follow APR on

group of children in front of murphy oakley recreation center

Park Views: Murphy-Oakley Community Center

Named for a philanthropic family who helped develop the Oakley neighborhood, Murphy-Oakley Community Center is a product of Asheville’s resiliency following years of stagnation brought on by bank failures in 1930 and the city’s resulting public debt. When previously unincorporated areas became part of the city in 1960, Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) built new community centers, parks, and recreation programs to serve the new residents including the center in Oakley.

Park Views: Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center

Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center is a former school for Black children that was converted to public recreation use in the 1970s. Even before its adaptive reuse, it acted as the center of the Shiloh community with theatre productions, meetings, and athletic events taking place within and around the outside of its walls.

Park Views: Jake Rusher Park

Jake Rusher’s Royal Pines Casino and Pool was known as the “beach club of the mountains” for decades, hosting top music acts and acting as backdrop for summer memories. After years of watching generations of kids grow up at the pool, he approached Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) to establish Jake Rusher Park when he retired.

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