Young Men's Institute
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Young Men's Institute. Est. 1892 as center of social, moral, religious influence for blacks working at Biltmore. Businesses thrived in building 100 yards S.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Established in 1892, the Young Men's Institute was built as a center of social, moral, and religious life for the Black workers who helped construct George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate. Black-owned businesses thrived in the building that stood just south of this marker. The YMI became an enduring anchor of Asheville's African American community.
Why it matters
The institute stands as a rare surviving landmark of Black community and enterprise in the Jim Crow South, built by and for the workers whose labor made Biltmore possible.
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Related people
- · George Vanderbilt
Themes & tags
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