Learn how Black Asheville entrepreneurs and civic leaders like the Pearsons created social and economic opportunities for Black communities. Learn about Asheville’s first Black semi-professional baseball team, historic neighborhoods, and fairs.
The Royal Giants [21]
Prior to integration, Black entrepreneurs and civic leaders created social and economic opportunities for Black communities. Spanish-American War veteran Edward Walton “E. W.” Pearson and his wife Annis Bradshaw Pearson established a legacy of Black enterprise in Asheville.
In 1912, the Pearsons developed Pearson Park subdivision, now the Burton Street neighborhood. They founded the Buncombe County and District Colored Agricultural Fair in 1913. It hosted amusement rides and livestock, food, art, and handicraft competitions. They built Oates Park in this neighborhood in 1916 and formed Asheville’s first Black semi-professional baseball team. In the 1970s, as urban renewal displaced half of the Asheville Black population, Mrs. Pearson co-founded the Senior Opportunity Center, now Grove Street Community Center, and the Burton Street Senior Club.
