Why is there an Asheville? Before Ashville became a town, it was part of the Cherokee Nation. By the 1600s, some thirty Native American tribes lived in the valley, the Cherokee remained the largest. The town of Asheville was not settled until 1784. It was named for the revolutionary period Governor of North Carolina, Samuel Ashe. However, what is now Asheville had existed for centuries prior to the town’s founding as a crossroads. When early explorers like De Soto came to this area in about 1539, they followed well-worn Native American trails. And the spot now occupied by Pack Square was the location where two of those trails crossed.
For European settlers, native trails were their roads and highways. The Asheville Crossroads became a stopping place as they drove livestock to markets—including pigs, turkeys, and cows from Tennessee to markets as far south as Charleston. Movement of livestock and wares was mainly along the North-South leg of the trails and in 1827 the route became an actual road—the Buncombe Turnpike.
The Crossroads monument located in Pack Square marks the spot where the trails crossed—giving purpose to the area and leading to the birth of the city. The monument is a re-creation of the trail complete with footprints of Native Americans, booted drovers, turkeys, pigs, and cows. Steel rail borders on each side of the trail represent the arrival of railroads in 1880 that moved Asheville into the modern age. The rails in the monument were reclaimed from the original Asheville streetcar systems.
Pack Square is located at the intersection of Patton, Biltmore, and Broadway in the Downtown Asheville Historic District. The square is host to free activities and festivals throughout the year. As one Asheville visitor put it, “Pack Square is quite simply the still beating heart of Asheville. It’s a place to relax