The history of Asheville has as many twists and turns as the mountain roads that wind through the Blue Ridge Mountains. At every turn, there is a consistent reminder of the adventurous and positive spirit that has brought Asheville to where it is today. Those who built this city had a true passion for this land, not unlike the many who are still coming here to make Asheville their new home.

Before the days of European colonization this area was open game land. People of Scottish and Irish descent were attracted to Western North Carolina by what seemed to be an endless supply of wildlife, including buffalo and panther. The early settlers also pointed their rifles toward the enemy, helping to win American independence at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. Not long after, in 1784, a young man named William Davidson brought his family to settle in the Swannanoa Valley. The area was then known as “Eden Land,” an apt description for this wild paradise. A permanent settlement was founded here in 1785, and by 1791 Buncombe County was established; a small log courthouse stood at what is now Pack Square.

In 1793, John Burton established a large settlement from state land grants. He named the settlement Morristown and sold 42 half-acre lots for about $2.50 each! By 1797 the area was incorporated and renamed Asheville for the state’s popular governor, Samuel Ashe.

Asheville held close ties to Tennessee and Kentucky throughout much of its history because there were few roads connecting it to the rest of the state. A road that ran parallel to the French Broad River led to east Tennessee by 1828 and this became a gateway for settlers from the west.

By 1851, the “Asheville and Greenville Plank Road” was completed. This helped to expand commerce and to establish Asheville as a health resort, attracting wealthy Southerners to enjoy the healthful benefits of the fresh mountain air. After serving as an important Confederate military center during the Civil War, the railroad finally came to Asheville in the late 1880s. Within a decade, Asheville’s population quadrupled. Streetlights appeared and Asheville became the second city in the nation to have electric streetcars.

Trains brought money to the city and one passenger from New York, George W. Vanderbilt, arrived here with his mother and declared Asheville the “most beautiful place in the world.” He purchased 125,000 acres of land and commissioned Fredrick Law Olmstead, renowned landscape architect who designed New York’s Central Park, to design the grounds and gardens and Richard Morris Hunt to help plan what is still today America’s largest private residence. Hundreds of workers toiled to complete the residence from 1890 to 1895. The Biltmore House, a French Renaissance chateau, has more than 255 rooms, and the 64-seat banquet table was often filled with celebrities from around the world. Vanderbilt’s opulent home inspired others to build lavish hotels and inns and by the turn of the century, Asheville was billed as one of “the leading convention cities in the country.”

Richard Sharpe Smith, Douglas Ellington and Ronald Greene designed the beautiful Art Deco buildings of Asheville’s downtown that are thankfully still with us today. Edwin Wiley Grove visited Asheville from St. Louis. He had made millions selling Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic, and wanted to create a luxurious mountain lodge like those he had experienced out west. In 1913, The Grove Park Inn was completed, using the granite boulders from Sunset Mountain on which the inn was built. Guests included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Houdini, George Gershwin and every United States President since that time.

Asheville was indeed riding high until the rug was pulled out from it and every other city in the nation with the stock market crash of 1929. The Central Bank and Trust company, a major holder of county funds closed its doors, and the county holdings plummeted from $180 million in 1927 to $80 million in 1933. Asheville retained the highest per capita debt of any city in the nation. The city vowed to pay every cent owed. Two projects under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration helped to maintain Asheville’s tourist reputation in those dark days. The construction of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway gave employment to members of the Civilian Conservation Corp.

It took until 1977 for Asheville to repay its debts, and oddly enough this may have been a lucky thing for the city. In all that time there was no money for “urban renewal” during the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore, the Art Deco buildings were spared from the wrecking ball, and these classic buildings add so much to the city’s architecture and spirit today.

You’re invited to experience Asheville’s history in a unique and entertaining tour along Asheville’s Urban Trail, a 1.7-mile walking tour. It begins in front of the Asheville Art Museum at Pack Square and is the perfect way to get to know this city from its fascinating roots to the present.