Wilson's Tavern

Wilson’s Tavern was advertised in the Green Book in 1940 and 1947. It was listed in the Green Book as “Wilson’s -- Eagle & Market Sts.” Although the tavern was advertised in the 1947 Green Book it closed before 1945. While the facade of the building still exists the rest of the building has been demolished.¹ 

Wilson’s Tavern was opened in the mid-1930s by George H. Wilson (1889-1957). The tavern was located at 23-25 Eagle Street in 1935, and “Wilson’s Tavern lunch room” was located at 27 Eagle Street. In 1936, the tavern expanded to include 23-27 Eagle Street, then permanently reduced its footprint to the space at 27 Eagle Street in 1937.²

George H. Wilson was a brick mason and a native of Asheville, NC. He served as a sergeant in the medical department of the 346th Service Battalion, Army Quartermaster Corps during World War I and worked as a bricklayer prior to opening the tavern. He and his wife, Luvenia Wilson, lived at 111 ½ Blanton Street and operated Wilson’s Tavern until its closing in 1944. The couple divorced in 1952, and Wilson remarried, to Kittie Sue Williams, in 1955. George H. Wilson passed away in a Veterans Administration hospital in Mountain Home, Tennessee, on March 2, 1957.³

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1947 Green Book, 64.
2. Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1935 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 803, classified directory: p. 728; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1936 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 793, classified directory: p. 857; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1937 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 668, classified directory: p. 859;  Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1938 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 652, classified directory: p. 880; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1939 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 599, classified directory: p. 800;  Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1940 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), pp. 521, 577, 773; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1941 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 577;  1942 City Directory (Richmond, VA: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 731;  1943 City Directory (Richmond, VA: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 690;  1944 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory: p. 55; all directories accessed from https://archive.org.
3. George H. Wilson, Asheville, North Carolina, March 2, 1957, Tennessee Certificate of Death, Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958, accessed from www.ancestry.com; George Wilson, Bricklayer, Div. No. 2, Buncombe Co., Asheville, NC, August 22, 1918, List of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917-1918, accessed from www.ancestry.com; George Wilson, service number 4 769 654, Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), City Directory, 1931-1932 and 1935-1941 (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory entries for “Wilson, Geo H (C: Luvenia);” Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), City Directory, 1942-1947 (Richmond, VA: Piedmont Directory Company), street directory entries for “Wilson, Geo H (C: Luvenia);” “Divorces Asked,” Asheville Citizen Times, December 7, 1951, p. 36, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Divorces Granted,” Asheville Citizen-Times, February 13, 1952, p. 9, accessed from www.newspapers.com;  “George H. Wilson” (obituary), Asheville Citizen Times, March 3, 1957, p. 5B, accessed from www.newspapers.com.

Did you know?

• This entry was listed as “Wilson’s--Eagle & Market Sts.” under the “Taverns” category without a specific street address in 1940 and in 1947.