Flood of 1916
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Flood Of 1916. Devastated western N.C. and western Piedmont; destroyed homes, crops, mills, bridges. Four lives lost, July 16, near main gate of Biltmore Estate.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In July 1916, torrential rains sent catastrophic floods through western North Carolina and the western Piedmont, sweeping away homes, crops, mills, and bridges. Four lives were lost near the main gate of the Biltmore Estate on July 16. The disaster reshaped the region's rivers and its communities in a matter of days.
Why it matters
The Flood of 1916 remains one of the defining natural disasters in Appalachian history, a reminder of how vulnerable mountain settlements were to the rivers that sustained them.
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Related events
- · Flood of July 1916
Themes & tags
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