The one-story, rectangular-plan brick building was originally built to face Mildred Avenue and housed an auto repair shop. The façade (east) consists of a wooden roll-up garage door and single-leaf entry topped by a large transom. The upper section of the façade contains a recessed panel with corbelling. Metalframe industrial windows on the side elevations (south and north) illuminate the interior. A large open shed covered with asphalt shingles and supported on steel beams is located on the south side of the building facing Haywood Road and shelters two-thirds of the side elevation including a single-leaf entrance. The paved vacant lot between the building and Haywood Road once held a freestanding Mission Revival style Red Star filling station with a broad porte cochere and thick corner posts topped with globe finials. The only remaining evidence of the filling station, which was demolished sometime between 1987 and 1999, is the raised concrete pump island.

“Commercial Building, 785 Haywood Road. 1929,” West Asheville End of Car Line Historic District, National Register of Historic Places. Nomination by Clay Griffith.

Palace Service Station – Opened circa 1934

Published September 2024.