History

In 1784, William Davidson and family settled on what would become modern Asheville. Less than a year latter a permanent settlement was created, and by Dec. 5, 1791, the area became Buncombe County. More settlers continued to move into the region, and in 1797 Asheville was named for then Governor Samuel Ashe.

Because of the rich, and long, history of Asheville, numerous tours are offered. You can view the city by trolley with the Asheville Historic Trolley Tours, or if you have a taste for the paranormal, take a night tour with the Haunted Ghost Tours of Asheville. There are also many historic sites and museums to see. The Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum and the North Carolina Homespun Museum are located in Grovewood Gallery. Or you can visit Historic Johnson Farm to view life on an old plantation. You could also travel over to see the Smith-McDowell House Museum, built by James McConnell Smith, son of Colonel Daniel Smith of the Revolutionary War. James Smith was the first child of European parents born west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in North Carolina.

You can also visit the childhood home of Thomas Wolfe, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Identified as Dixieland in his novel, Look Homeward, Angel, the Old Kentucky Home boarding house is where Wolfe spent much of his early childhood. The almost autobiographical novel was actually banned from the Asheville Library until 1936, when F. Scott Fitzgerald donated copies to the library, ending the ban. The Department of Archives and History bought the property in 1974, restored it, and reopened it in 1976. In July of 1998, vandals set fire to the house, and it was nearly lost. The house was closed for renovations until 2004. Now you can tour the home once again and the visitor’s center has a slide show and some personal effects of the Wolfe. Following that, you can head over to the historic Riverside Cemetery, where Wolfe, along with O. Henry, are buried.

-Jessica Castle