ASHEBORO, N.C. — The city of Asheboro is known for the largest natural habitat zoo in the world, but more recently it’s been recognized for its downtown revitalization.
The city has changed a lot over the past 15 years. It has changed from what Forbes magazine called one of the fastest dying cities in America to a destination small town in North Carolina.
What You Need To Know
- Asheboro was in a dry county until 2008
- Joel McClosky opened Four Saints Brewing Company downtown in 2015
- Since then, downtown Asheboro has been revitalized and become a destination location
Joel McClosky played a big part in that revitalization by opening Four Saints Brewing Company and his new cocktail bar, The Pharmacy.
When McClosky looks back to the time when he first moved to Asheboro in 2004, he remembers it as a much different place. In the early 2000’s, Asheboro was a dry city trying to make it through the great recession. Almost 20 years later, McClosky says it’s changed for the better.
“There certainly is some reminiscing about the good old days,” McClosky said. “But there's an appreciation for the new good days.”
The city went through a lot of those changes when the alcohol policy changed in 2008. McClosky says the recession and the alcohol referendum came together to spark a fire in the people of Asheboro. There was also an article in Forbes that year that called Asheboro on of "America's fastest-dying towns" that helped fuel that fire.
Many of them started their own businesses, and downtown started to come to life again. McClosky was a teacher in the area for a while, but by 2015, he saw a need for a local brewery and stepped in to provide for the community.
“There were people coming in who had never had craft beer before,” McClosky said. “And we got to explain what we were doing. It's kind of the difference between a, you know, a fast food burger and then a burger at a higher end restaurant. They're the same thing. But they're very different.”
Now, Four Saints has been widely accepted by the Asheboro community and become a well-known brewery in our state.
“We often hear people go, ‘this does not look like the place that it used to be, and I can't wait to come back.’”
In North Carolina, Graham County is the only county that is still technically a "dry" county. Although in 2021, Robbinsville did vote to allow alcohol.
Four Saints Brewing Company and the new Pharmacy Cocktail Bar are just some of the businesses that have helped downtown Asheboro grow. There are a number of restaurants, coffee shops and other bars that have contributed to the revitalization.