River Dyeing and Finishing

A riverfront giant with a many-layered past

In Asheville’s River Arts District (RAD), hulking brick shells line the French Broad River like sentinels, each one telling a different chapter of the city’s industrial story. Among them stands a property widely known to urban explorers as River Dyeing and Finishing. The name reflects the area’s long relationship with textiles and surface treatment of cloth, but the site’s roots reach deeper. Historic records link this building to a meat-packing era plant called the J. A. Baker Packing Company, built circa 1925 during Asheville’s first big wave of rail-and-river industry.

This guide blends history and on-the-ground context for urban explorers curious about the site’s layered identity—Baker’s packing-house era, the broader dyeing and finishing activity that once defined the neighborhood, and the present RAD landscape shaped by flood, decline, and renaissance.

Quick facts

Primary historic identity (documented): J. A. Baker Packing Company, constructed c.1925.
Common URBEX/industrial moniker: “River Dyeing and Finishing,” reflecting the RAD’s textile-finishing footprint and nearby businesses active in the late 20th century.
District context: The building sits within Asheville’s River Arts District along the French Broad River, an area long characterized by rail-served mills, warehouses, and processing plants.
Why it mattered: Proximity to rail lines and the French Broad River made this corridor ideal for heavy industry (packing, textiles, oil, coal & ice, cotton mills, and later finishing and dye houses).

Origins (1880s–1920s): Rails, rivers, and factories

After the railroad reached Asheville in 1880, the flatlands beside the French Broad quickly infilled with factories, depots, and warehouses. The Riverside corridor drew industries that needed water access and rail adjacency. By the early 20th century, the district featured cotton mills and related plants—representative of the diversified industrial base that took root here.

Amid this boom, J. A. Baker Packing Company established a meat-processing operation on the riverfront. Federal directories of inspected facilities place Baker Packing in Asheville, corroborating its regulated status. Surviving briefs, directories, and local histories further reference Baker Packing through the 1920s–40s, anchoring the plant’s c.1925 timeframe.

Built and opened (c. 1925): The Baker era

A preservation review identifies the J. A. Baker Packing Company as a circa-1925 facility. Its river-and-rail location made logistical sense: livestock and finished products could move efficiently by rail or road along the river corridor. Newspaper clippings from the period situate Baker’s among the district’s large employers and occasional labor disputes, a sign of the scale at which the plant operated.

Operating duration: Contemporary sources place Baker’s activity across the 1920s–1940s, with court and agency documents indicating continued operations and regulatory interactions across those decades. This aligns with the broader industrial life cycle of the corridor prior to mid-century decline.

From packing to “dyeing & finishing”: Why the name stuck

If you’ve heard this site called “River Dyeing and Finishing,” you’re not alone. In URBEX circles, shorthand names often blend documented tenants with the prevailing industry of a corridor. The Riverside/Lyman area hosted multiple textile finishing and dye houses into the late 20th century. Over time, the local industrial vocabulary—“the dye house,” “finishing,” “the mill”—became an umbrella for buildings across the strip, even when their original use (packing, oil storage, cotton warehousing) differed.

Bottom line for explorers:

Documentation ties the building specifically to J. A. Baker Packing Co. (c.1925).
The “River Dyeing & Finishing” label reflects the RAD’s textile-processing phase and nearby finishing companies, not a definitive, documented corporate name for this structure itself.

What the plant did: From carcass to commerce (and later, cloth to color)

The packing years

Baker’s core function was slaughtering and processing meats for distribution. Federal inspection lists and case files place the company in the regulated meat trade, with a footprint large enough to draw attention in local business pages and, at times, labor actions noted by the press.

The textile-finishing milieu around it

By mid-century, textiles and finishing were major players across western North Carolina. The Asheville riverfront saw bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing houses grow (and later consolidate, relocate, or shutter). The RAD still bears the physical imprint of that era: long, low factory blocks; clerestory windows; steel sash; loading bays; and water-side siting—all ideal for steam power, water intake/discharge, and rail spur access. Nearby complexes like historic tanneries and stations illustrate how hide/leather and textile operations once sat door-to-door, a mosaic of material processing along the river.

Why it was abandoned: Floods, economics, and a changing Asheville

Flood risk in the lowlands

The French Broad’s flat floodplain giveth and taketh away. Historic floods (notably 1916) damaged the industrial base; more recently, high-water events have battered the RAD, underscoring why industrial operators—and later, artists—have had to adapt or relocate. Flood-control works, berms, and greenway plans help, but risk remains part of the site’s DNA.

Regional deindustrialization

From the 1960s through the 1990s, meat-packing consolidated and textiles offshored, hollowing out facilities across the Carolinas. Asheville’s riverside plants—packing houses, cotton warehouses, oil yards, and dye/finish shops—saw shrinking margins and rising compliance costs, prompting closures, mergers, or moves to industrial parks outside flood zones. The building’s vacancy (or sporadic reuse) fits the familiar arc: industrial obsolescence → underuse → adaptive reuse.

Civic pivot to arts and adaptive reuse

In the late 1980s and 1990s, artists began renting cavernous bays in these old plants. City plans and nonprofit efforts catalyzed RAD’s transition from “abandoned industrial” to “creative district,” with today’s corridor spanning Riverside, Lyman, Depot, Roberts, and beyond.

Alternative names & associations

J. A. Baker Packing Company (c.1925) — Documented historic identity for the building.
River Dyeing & Finishing — A nearby finishing firm name used colloquially by explorers as a catch-all for dye/finish-era buildings in the cluster.
Riverside Industrial Historic District / River Arts District — The historic and contemporary umbrellas for the neighborhood.

A timeline

1880 – Railroad arrives; heavy industry begins clustering along the French Broad.
Early 1900s – Tannery, cotton, oil, and warehousing expand the industrial footprint.
c. 1925 – J. A. Baker Packing Company builds this plant.
1920s–40s – Baker appears in federal and court records; the corridor fills with mills, warehouses, oil yards, and finishing houses.
Late 20th century – Textile finishing firms operate nearby; the “dyeing & finishing” label becomes shorthand for the northern RAD’s industrial identity.
Late 1980s–1990s – Riverfront planning and artist migration spur the River Arts District renaissance.
2020s – Flood events highlight persistent risk across low-lying properties and the resilience of the RAD community.

How long did “River Dyeing & Finishing” operate?

Because “River Dyeing & Finishing” appears as a nearby listing rather than a documented corporate occupant of this exact structure, its precise operating span at this building cannot be confirmed from public records cited here. What we can document is the enduring presence of dyeing/finishing companies in the Riverside–Lyman corridor during the late 20th century—close enough to influence the nickname explorers still use today.

Why explorers are drawn here

Scale & siting: Large brick volumes against the river/rail backdrop create the quintessential “post-industrial” aesthetic.
Layered identity: A packing-house core within a textile-finishing landscape offers two eras to read on the walls—hooks, rails, pits, and old service chases in one era; steam/utility lines, dye-range footprints, and finishing-line spatial logic in another.
District setting: The building sits in a living case study of adaptive reuse: studios, breweries, and maker spaces animate neighboring blocks while flood scars and industrial details remain in plain view.

The RAD today: art, recovery, and resilience

The River Arts District has evolved into a thriving creative hub spread across historic plants along Riverside, Lyman, Depot, and Roberts. Even as galleries and studios flourished through the 2010s, periodic high-water events have shown how one flood can threaten livelihoods and buildings. Recovery continues, but the pull of the district—its communal energy and gritty beauty—remains strong.

Responsible URBEX: Safety & ethics

Assume private ownership and active code enforcement. Always seek permission. Trespass laws in North Carolina are enforced; arrests and fines are real possibilities.
Floodplain hazards: This corridor sits low. Watch river forecasts and avoid basements, pits, and recently flooded structures—air quality (mold, chemical residues) can be hazardous after high water.
Industrial leftovers: Expect open shafts, rusted steel, unstable decking, and residual chemicals in older finishing/packing environments. Wear respirators (P100/OV as appropriate), hard hats, eye protection, gloves, and supportive boots.
“Take nothing, leave only footprints.” Do not remove artifacts or tag surfaces. Respect neighboring artists and residents.
Keep locations contextual, not instructional. Discuss history and visuals without publishing access points, alarm placements, or entry methods that encourage unsafe or illegal visits.
Travel smart: daylight hours, buddy system, let someone know where you’re going, fully charged phone, first-aid kit.

Frequently asked questions

Was this building always a dye house?
No. The documented original use was a meat-packing plant (J. A. Baker Packing Co.) circa 1925. The “River Dyeing and Finishing” label reflects nearby textile-finishing activity and the corridor’s broader identity, which likely influenced how explorers refer to multiple buildings in the cluster.

So what exactly happened here later?
Like many RAD structures, this one likely saw phases of use, underuse, and reuse. The district-wide pivot from heavy industry to creative studios began in the late 1980s and 1990s and continues today amid periodic flood recovery.

Is the building open?
Access changes with ownership, leases, and city code. Do not enter without permission. Conditions inside industrial shells can shift after every flood or storm.

Why is flood risk such a big theme?
Because the French Broad’s floodplain made RAD ideal for industry but also vulnerable. Historic floods and more recent storms underscore that water still shapes the district’s fate.

Final take

River Dyeing and Finishing is best understood as a River Arts District landmark with a packing-house birth certificate and a textile-finishing neighborhood identity. The building’s story mirrors Asheville’s riverfront arc: industry flourished, floods and economics took their toll, and art reclaimed a battered landscape. For URBEXers, it’s a quintessential RAD study—one structure, many lives—worthy of careful research, ethical exploration, and respect for a community that balances creativity with resilience.

If you liked this abandoned location, you might be interested in learning about the abandoned Knoxville College in Tennessee, the Lower Oconee Community Hospital in Georgia, or the Crane View Condos in Florida.

a 360-degree panoramic image inside the abandoned River Dyeing and Finishing warehouse in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina. Image captured by the Abandoned in 360 URBEX Team.

Level	Price	Action
Platinum (SAVE 25%)	$225.00 per Year.	Select
Platinum	$24.99 per Month.	Select
Gold (SAVE 25%)	$89.99 per Year.	Select
Gold	$9.99 per Month.	Select

River Dyeing and Finishing