Hello, welcome to onHaywood.com
Many, many, years ago this project was started as a directory website for Haywood Road in West Asheville, NC. At that time there were no easily accessed online directories or mapping Apps – seriously, Google wasn’t a thing yet. We were part of a team that hand coded websites for a variety of clients and knew we could use our skills to create a website to help the businesses on Haywood Road, our neighborhood, have their information more readily available. It was, for the time, a magical way to “stroll” along Haywood Road and visit places. We collected phone numbers and hours for places by walking and talking to folks. Our online directory was useful and used.
Track forward just a few years and that same data was available in numerous places and the ways to reach people and businesses, electronically, changing rapidly. As a small bootstrapped team, we were not in a position to challenge the vast internet and App wave that was coming. What we did see was the usefulness of having a physical map for our beloved Haywood Road, and to be honest graphic design really is our strongest skill.
Personally, we love getting our hands on physical maps wherever we go. It is satisfying to have a piece of paper you can hold in your hand, write notes on, keep folded up in your pocket, and eventually carry home to put in a scrapbook. Somehow, the adventures that come with a paper map are more real in our memories.
So in 2004 we published our first printed map for the Haywood Road area of West Asheville. It was a labor of love and as with any start up project all outgoing expenses and lots, and lots, of time.
In the early 2000s, a new wave of businesses had opened along Haywood Road and they were looking to spread the word they were open. We are incredibly thankful that they saw the value of our vision and came on board to support the printed map. We would not be 20+ years into this project if it wasn’t for their leap with us. Thanks especially to Harvest Records, Orbit DVD, Second Gear, Sunny Point Café, West End Bakery (The West End), and Westville Pub. Y’all were there from the very beginning and we appreciate it.
Over the years we have modified the map design and increased its size to accommodate more businesses and include additional information helpful to visitors and locals looking to support our small businesses. We connected with more distribution points and the map is now available at all North Carolina Welcome Centers, the Asheville Regional Airport, Asheville Visitor Center, Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, our local library, and of course at all the participating businesses.
We celebrated our 15th edition in 2019 and then held off creating a new edition for the two years of the Pandemic, as there were just too many unknowns and questions regarding travel safety, as well as the financial strains of the time. It was with great relief that we got back on track in 2022.
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Now, in 2026 we are celebrating the release of the 20th printed edition of the West Asheville Map.
Coming full circle, we have revamped the website using modern tools, with only a tiny bit of hand coding, to reintroduce you to Haywood Road and West Asheville. We hope this website will provide another way for you to explore our area, and an opportunity for you to learn more about the places we love.
Please note that we’re starting off his site only including the places that are on the printed map. There are many other wonderful places to visit along Haywood Road, but we needed to start by mirroring who is on the printed map.
We’ve included a calendar of events which will include specials, happenings, and ways to engage in our community. We think this will be helpful as no doubt we are not alone in never remembering who has specials on what day, and where we saw the post about that cool performance or craft event. Please see the calendar page for additional information and ways to submit. Currently, the calendar is focused around Halloween, but we’ll be adding in a diverse range of events over the next few weeks.
Please let our local businesses know you found them here and appreciate having a physical map to use while exploring. Your support means the world to small businesses in our area.
Spend money in our small businesses – get dessert, buy the present, branch out and experience something new-to-you, stay for the live performance.
Be kind – we’re all still recovering from Hurricane Helene even if you don’t see physical damage the drop in visitors to our area is a stress added on top of the Pandemic.
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Thank you for supporting local businesses wherever you travel.
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Who is creating this? – In case you were wondering.
The onHaywood.com West Asheville Map is put together by me, Alice io Oglesby with the support of a small team of family and friends. Before the Pandemic I was a full-time graphic designer and illustrator working with a variety of small business and nonprofit clients. My specialty in a world of electronics was and continues to be creating physical materials that help organize and convey information in an attractive and clear way (often fun as well).
Over the years that work manifested as newsletters, event posters, handbooks, signage, maps, guides, technical reports, lesson plans, and more. I’ve always loved taking complicated and sometimes confusing information and putting it in a format that reaches people clearly using layout and imagery to focus in on the details. Bonus for projects that also needed my illustration and photography skills to convey ideas. Creating the West Asheville Map just makes sense.
Now, my full-time gig is managing the garden at Sunny Point Café where we grow a mix of herbs, flowers, and produce for the restaurant and their companion bakery, Rabbit Hole. The garden is pollinator certified and magical place to spend my days – long ones in the summer months, short ones over the winter. I do still have a few places I create graphics and illustrations for including Asheville Plays! which produces the Haunted Trail and Winter Wonder Walk, both seasonal jobs with lots of creative pieces, and of course Sunny Point Café and Rabbit Hole which includes menu design, signage, and a bunch of social media time.
I’ve illustrated a couple children’s books, including Hababy’s Christmas Eve written by Jamie and Joy Farr (yes, that Jamie Farr). Currently, I’m enjoying a new studio space where I’m getting back to drawing, inking, and a variety of crafting projects while attempting to keep a kitten from climbing up the screens of the windows or jumping in the still wet glue on a decoupage collage. Wish me luck.
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Please visit the Contact Page if you have questions or want to be added to the outreach list for upcoming events we manage: Business-to-Business Gift Card Swap, Holiday Decorating Contest, and Holiday Scavenger Hunt, or next year’s printed map.