Jackson Building

The Jackson Building stands on what might be North Carolina's least likely address for a skyscraper: a 27-by-60-foot lot that once held the tombstone shop run by Thomas Wolfe's father — the same business that appears as "W.O. Gant's marble yard" in *Look Homeward, Angel*. Locals thought the lot too small. Developer L.B. Jackson thought otherwise.

In 1924 he hired architect Ronald Greene to design Western North Carolina's first skyscraper, a 15-story Neo-Gothic tower that rose 140 feet above Pack Square. Jackson believed in Asheville's real estate market. The foundation had to be dug deeper than usual. Jackson and his brother Winston stayed on-site for three nights to make sure it didn't cave in.

Greene clad the steel frame in brick and terra cotta, crowned it with gargoyles at each corner. The grotesques aren't functional — small holes in their mouths let water escape so the terra cotta wouldn't freeze and crack. Jackson put his office on the top floor. His sister Alberta said he kept a rope up there in case of fire.

When the building opened it was fully occupied. The observation tower held an 18-million-candlepower searchlight intended to attract tourists, plus a 400x telescope. The city used the tower as a lookout to monitor coal smoke from furnaces around town.

Next door stood the 8-story Westall Building, also Greene's work, too small for its own elevator. The two buildings share an elevator system.

The Jackson Building still holds the record: tallest building on the smallest lot. The gargoyles are still up there, looking down at 22 South Pack Square — the odd narrow tower that proved the doubters wrong.