Survey Work

Survey Work

Survey Work Begins

Months after Hurricane Helene swept through WNC, it is still difficult to grasp the full scope of the impact.  So with our mission in mind, we decided to begin the work of surveying the historic structures in Buncombe County.  Initially, we began with the simple goal of getting a better understanding of where and how our services (technical support and grants) would be most useful.

In the weeks following the storm, staff ventured to every corner of the county getting to get a preliminary idea of what areas were hardest hit and what areas seemed to escape the worst of the storm.  Next, we sent about a dozen volunteers out for a first round of survey work.  This included photographing historic structures (50 years or older) and documenting any damage.  From this experimental survey work, we were able to hone in on a process for the larger survey we hope to do.

At this point in the process we recognized the need to better define the survey area.  Because Swannanoa sustained a great deal of damage and had not had much survey work done previously, it became an obvious starting point.  Botany Woods in east Asheville is also of interest, because of the number of homes lost that had just reached historic status in the last year or two.  Finally, Montreat, which had just recently had its first ever survey of historic structures, was going to need to be revisited to determine how the storm impacted that work.

So the goal now is to survey from Botany Woods east through Swannanoa, Black Mountain and Montreat with the work focusing along Highway 70 and waterways.  With the help of volunteers, we expect this will take the next few months to complete.

A specific volunteer works from our office each week to create maps for volunteers in the field that include the addresses of each historic structure in a given area.  Then teams of three volunteers (a driver, note taker and photographer) do 2 – 3 hours of survey work at a time.  These are windshield surveys, meaning teams do not leave the car.  Every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of volunteers and comfort of individuals living in these communities.

In addition to the work our volunteers are doing, we are also sending more highly trained staff and volunteers to harder hit communities like the Beacon Mill Village.  There, volunteers walked the community while documenting the damage and getting to know the residents.  We are happy to say this outreach has led to a number of grants being awarded in this neighborhood.

By the end of this survey project, we hope to have a much better understanding about the impact of Hurricane Helene on our historic resources, documentation of places that have been lost and damaged and a document that can live on to tell the story of this storm and the people and places it impacted.

On January 25-26, 2025, a team of students and staff from East Carolina University will be conducting a historic house survey in Western North Carolina in the wake of significant property damage during Hurricane Helene. The team will work with the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County (PSABC) to conduct a pedestrian survey of roughly 400 historic structures in Montreat, NC – some as old as 1898. Volunteers will take notes and photographs of houses throughout the town that sustained damage from the hurricane in September. These photos and notes will be compared to a pre-storm survey completed in June 2024 to better understand the storm’s impact and assess potential mediation and rebuilding needs. This weekend surge is part of a larger volunteer effort to document historic property damage across Asheville and Buncombe County. 

In the weeks following the storm, PSABC staff worked quickly to shift their programs to meet the emerging needs of the communities most affected. With their mission in mind, staff decided to begin the work of surveying historic structures in Buncombe County. Initially, the goal was to gain a better understanding of where and how services like technical support and grants would be most useful to county residents. 

In the weeks following the storm, staff ventured to every corner of the county to get a preliminary idea of what areas were hardest hit and what areas seemed to escape the worst of the storm. Once the most at-risk areas were identified, a formal survey strategy was developed to assess the full extent of damage to historic structures in these areas.  Executive Director Jessie Landl says that, “by the end of this survey project, we hope to have a much better understanding about the impact of Hurricane Helene on our historic resources, documentation of places that have been lost and damaged and a document that can live on to tell the story of this storm and the people and places it impacted.”

The team includes ECU Research Fellow Chelsea Freeland, a remote employee and local resident of Western North Carolina, who has been volunteering with PSABC since the storm as part of her fellowship in community archaeology. Dr. Jennifer McKinnon, a professor in the Program in Maritime Studies, will also provide guidance in survey methods.