Rivertown: A Brief History
The town of Rivertown was an
important stop for settlers heading across the Appalachian
Mountains into the "western territorities." Much of the older
part of the downtown was built from the 1840s to the 1890s, and
the railway station and Rivertown Hotel were important during
this period. The town also served as home for many of the
area's lumber barons. As a result, some of the early mansions
had ornate woodworking throughout their interiors. The most
outstanding example is the Biltmore mansion, built by the
family of the town's founder, Amos Biltmore.
Rivertown has a population
of about 15,000 residents. The "birds-eye" sketch of Rivertown
shows only the older section of its downtown and a little of
its surrounding residential area. A later commercial district
has been built to the immediate south (below the area shown in
the sketch) and a newer shopping center was recently built on
the northwestern outskirts of Rivertown.
This older part of the downtown has buildings in various
states of repair. The First National Bank Building has been
kept up well, and the bank and its Manager, Norman Tyler, has been a
stabilizing influence on this district. The railway station no longer
has passengers
using it, since there is no longer passenger service, and has been
converted to an antique shop, but still
has unused areas in the large space. The only public transportation are
the Greyhound buses which pull into the Bus Depot. The Rivertown Hotel
has a coffee shop on the ground floor, and has a few by-day rooms on the
2nd floor. The rest of the building is unused and needs rehabilitation
work.
Miiler Manor, behind the Hotel, has been split up into small
apartments and rooms for single- or double-occupancy low-income
tenants. The other building in bad disrepair is the old
Discount Shoes building, now vacant. Other buildings have been
maintained well, especially the Law Offices building, Smith
Hardware and what is now Rogers Auto Supply, although some have
vacant upper floors. The Feldt Toys building was built new in
the 1970s.
