![Enka Rayon Plant - NARA - 281351](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Enka_Rayon_Plant_-_NARA_-_281351.jpg)
Enka is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Buncombe County
Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Ashevill ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, United States. It lies on U.S. Routes
19,
23, and
74 Business near the interchange of Interstates
26,
40, and
240. It has a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
with the
ZIP code 28728.
History
American Enka
The ''American Enka Company'', incorporated in 1928, built what became the nation's largest
rayon-producing factory. The Dutch name of the rayon company was ''
Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek'', and it is from the Dutch phonetic pronunciation of the initial letters N and K of the firm's name that "Enka" is derived. The alternative explanation that Enka stands for "Eerste Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek Arnhem" is incorrect. The Dutch company considered many sites and decided on the Hominy Valley because of its supply of water and labor.
[ In 1929 the company began developing a community plan that included employee houses and became known as Enka Village. Enka Village is now a historic community and is part of the city of ]Asheville
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...
.
Fred Loring Seely, an Asheville businessman and son-in-law of Edwin Wiley Grove (see Grove Park Inn) met several influential Dutch businessmen during his time in the Dutch colony of Java in 1901. Seely and his wife, Evelyn Grove Seely, had been sent to Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
by Mr. Grove to secure a source for quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal le ...
which was used in Grove's famous malarial Chill Tonic. When the Dutch rayon businessmen were searching for a site for an American-based factory in 1928 Mr. Seely served as a liaison to lure ENKA to build the rayon fiber factory in Buncombe County. He told the ENKA owners that his county could supply trees for fiber, water for processing, and reliable manpower. The thousands of jobs created in western North Carolina in 1929 were lifesavers for many families. American Enka sent Mr. Seely over $1 million to buy 2000 acres, and ENKA built a $10 million plant. Nineteen hundred people worked there during the Great Depression, and that number grew to 4,300 after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. At one point, as many as 7,000 people worked there. Amenities included a gym, a pool room, a bowling alley, two cafeterias, and a library. Enka Lake Club opened on a lake built to supply the plant with water. Buses delivered employees from the surrounding area.[
It was said that stricter environmental regulations led to a decline in rayon, and American Enka sold the plant to ]BASF
BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...
in 1985. BASF sold the plant to Colbond Inc. in 2000, and as of 2007, rayon was no longer made. The northern section was sold to developers who tore down everything but the clock tower. Enka Lake is now part of the private Biltmore Lake HOA community;[ Three buildings became the Enka campus of Asheville–Buncombe Technical Community College.][
]
The future of Enka
Portions of the plant still stand, including a campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. The remainder of the area includes Offices, warehouses and industrial areas, open space, and a greenway follows along Hominy Creek.
Though as of 2015 about 200 people worked for Bonar Inc. making fabric for commercial carpet backing and more space was leased to ten other companies, most of the former plant is gone. A school scheduled to open in 2016 will have 20,000 bricks from the plant, a clock tower recalling the one at the plant, and sloped roofs recalling the sawtooth design.
Included in Enka Center will be a warehouse and distribution center to be built by Samet Corp., for which a proposal is to be considered by the Asheville city council in January 2021. If Samet determines it is possible, the clock tower will be preserved.
References
External links
Enka
at the U.S. Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
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Unincorporated communities in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Asheville metropolitan area
Unincorporated communities in North Carolina
Populated places established in 1928
Company towns in North Carolina