Asheville City Hall. This building epitomizes the Art Deco
Click the link to read descriptions, history of downtown, north, south, east and west communities along with great photos that help you get to know the best places to live and work.
Asheville, NC is best known for the lavish Biltmore Estate, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Other notable architecture in Asheville includes its Art Deco city hall and other unique buildings in the downtown area. The Montford neighborhood and other central areas are considered historic districts and include Victorian houses. Asheville and the surrounding mountains are also extremely popular in the autumn when fall foliage peaks in October. The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway runs through the Asheville area and the grounds of Biltmore Estate . Biltmore Village is a section of the city adjacent to the estate, where workers stayed during its construction. It is currently home to small trendy shops.
Asheville, North Carolina
The Biltmore Estate
POINTS OF INTEREST
Asheville Urban Trail
This 1.7-mi walk has about 30 "stations," with plaques marking places of historical or architectural interest. You start the tour at Pack Place Education, Arts & Science Center. You can also rent an audio guide at the Asheville Art Museum, which is part of the Pack Place complex. Guided tours, weather permitting take place from April to November, and are usually scheduled at 10 and 3 on Saturday. Pack Square and City-County Plaza have been undergoing extensive construction projects and may result in temporary changes in the Urban Trail route. These will be announced at the Education Center and should not impact your experiences of the city. The construction is expected to be completed by 2008.
Botanical Gardens in Asheville
The Botanical Gardens in Asheville, NC are located next to the University of North Carolina at Asheville campus. The gardens encompass a 10-acre site that has walking trails and displays of native plants, including a bog with carnivorous plants such as Venus's-flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundew. There are sites to enjoy an afternoon picnic just outside the hustle of the city's busy downtown.
Historic Trolley Ride
A must do for visitors who want to tour the historic Montford and downtown sections of Asheville can take the new trolley. The tour takes you to many points of interest around Asheville, including the Grove Park Inn, Biltmore Village, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, the Montford area, and Pack Square and downtown. Tickets and boarding areas are located at the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Pack Place Education, Arts & Science Center
The Biltmore House
The Biltmore House on Biltmore Estate, with over 250 rooms is easily the largest house in America. This home was built by George Vanderbilt as a private residence. At the time of its building it was also the first home to have an indoor pool. The Vanderbilt family had a significant impact on the Asheville Area. The Biltmore section of the city is a well-traveled section of town, bringing tourists from all over the world to shop, eat and visit the magnificent mansion. Today the estate offers visitors long walks in the unique gardens, vineyard, hotel, golf course, and world-class entertainment.
Asheville, over the last century has become the economic center for the western half of North Carolina. From the Drover's Road that led farmers from southern Appalachia to the city to sell their livestock and produce and buy supplies for their farms to the present day as a center of tourism and industry.
Transportation is facilitated to the city by two major interstates and a regional airport just 20 minutes from downtown Asheville.
The area has grown steadily over the last 30 years, as visitors to the area has found the mountains an excellent place to call home for their families and businesses.
Asheville North Carolina is the center of everything for Western North Carolina and is a very fast growing Real Estate and Home Building area. There are many great restaurants and hotels in Asheville, along with entertainment venues and a wide variety of outdoor activities to enjoy.
Property and building lots are readily available in this area and the Realtors listed on this website can assist you in finding that perfect home and neighborhood or piece of property to build your new home, rent an apartment, buy a condo, and so much more.
Asheville is located in the heart of Buncombe County and is its county seat. With an estimated population, as of the 2005 census estimate was 72,231, which makes it the largest city in western North Carolina.
Asheville is listed in national magazines and lists for a variety of reasons: Modern Maturity named it one of "The 50 Most Alive Places To Be, AmericanStyle Magazine called it one of "America's Top 25 Arts Destinations, Self Magazine labeled it the "Happiest City for Women,"ARP Magazine named it "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life, Rolling Stone called it the "New Freak Capital of the U.S." CBS News during a segment of 'Eye on America' identified it as the "most vegetarian -friendly" small city in America.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the land where Asheville now exists was inhabited by the Cherokee people. Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto, around 1540, brought his expedition through the area. He and his men found thriving communities. However, DeSoto also brought diseases that the people had no resistence to that brought widespread death and devastation to the people living here.
Today, the Cherokee have a thriving community with cultural exhibits and entertainment, as well as a popular casino, hotels, restaurants, fishing, camping, hiking, kayaking, and biking.
Asheville's modern history began in 1784 when Colonel Samuel Davidson brought his family to settle in the Swannanoa Valley. Soon after that the first business, a bank was established in a log cabin along Christian Creek. Buncombe County was officially formed in 1792 and the county seat was first named Morristown until 1797 when it was officially named after North Carolina's govenor Samuel Ashe.
Soon after these humble beginnings more settlers came to build their homes and farm. Asheville grew by leaps and bounds during the first two decades of the 20th century. The Great Depression took a huge toll on the progress that had been gained over the first 100 years. Banks closed, businesses folded and the people were burdened with the largest city debt held by municipal bond in the country. It took the city 50 years to pay off the debt, which impacted economic growth through the early 1980s. Because of the on-again and off-again development in the city, the downtown area's buildings, constructed during the height of the Art Deco area have remained and is now one of the most comprehensive collection of architecture of that era in the United States.
Education
Asheville and its surrounding area is home to several institutions of higher education.
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (Asheville, NC)
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, NC: 1933-1957)
Brevard College (Brevard, NC)
Mars Hill College (Mars Hill, NC)
Montreat College (Montreat, NC)
South College (Asheville, NC)
University of North Carolina at Asheville (Asheville, NC)
Warren Wilson College (Swannanoa, NC)
Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC)
Music
Live music is a significant element in the tourism-based economy of Asheville and the surrounding area. Seasonal festivals and numerous nightclubs offer opportunities for visitors and locals to attend a wide variety of live entertainment events.[16]
Asheville is host to numerous clubs and performance venues. Outdoor festivals, such as Bele Chere and the Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival, feature local music. One of the most popular annual events is "Shindig on the Green," which happens Saturday nights during July and August on City/County Plaza. By tradition, the Shindig starts "along about sundown" and features local bluegrass bands and dance teams on stage, and informal jam sessions under the trees surrounding the County Courthouse.
Famous Residents
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Harry Anderson (1952- ), actor and magician, currently residing in Asheville
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Hobey Ford , puppeteer, based near Asheville
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Charles Frazier (1950- ), author, born in Asheville and graduated from UNC-A.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), author
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Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, died in a fire in an Asheville mental institution
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Roberta Flack (1937- ), singer, born in Asheville
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Eileen Fulton (1933- ), actress, born in Asheville
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Warren Haynes (1960- ), musician, spent his formative years in Asheville
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Stephen Leicht , NASCAR driver, born in Asheville
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Andie MacDowell (1958- ), actress, currently residing in Biltmore Forest
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Robert Moog (1934-2005), pioneer of electronic music , inventor of the Moog synthesizer
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Robert Morgan (1918-2004), pilot of the "Memphis Belle ," the famed WWII B-17 bomber
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Shirley Hemphill (1947-1999), actress, born in Asheville
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Robert Pressley (1959- ), retired NASCAR driver, born in Asheville
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Artimus Pyle (1948- ), musician, currently resides in Asheville
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Angela Shelton (1972- ), actress and producer
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George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914), entrepreneur, original founder of the Biltmore Estate
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Charles Vernon , musician, an Asheville native
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Roy Williams , University of North Carolina basketball coach, grew up in Biltmore Forest
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Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938), author, born and raised in Asheville
Click the link to read descriptions, history of downtown, north, south, east and west communities along with great photos that help you get to know the best places to live and work.
For More Information About Asheville: Wikapedia.org
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