NC -- Asheville:
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- Wikipedia Description: Asheville, North Carolina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asheville is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and is its county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 68,889. It is the largest city in western North Carolina, and continues to grow. As of 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that Asheville's population is 72,789 . Asheville is a part of the four-county Asheville metropolitan statistical area, the population of which was estimated by the Census Bureau in 2006 to be 398,009.
History:
Before the arrival of Europeans, the land where Asheville now exists lay within the boundaries of Cherokee country. In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto came to the area, bringing the first European visitors in addition to European diseases which seriously depleted the native population. As the Cherokee were eventually dominated by European settlers, the area was used as an open hunting ground until the middle of the 19th century.
The history of Asheville, as a town, begins in 1784. In that year Colonel Samuel Davidson and his family settled in the Swannanoa Valley, redeeming a soldier's land grant from the state of North Carolina. Soon after building a log cabin at the bank of Christian Creek, Davidson was lured into the woods by a band of Cherokee hunters and killed. Davidson's wife, child and female slave fled on foot to Davidson's Fort (named after Davidson's father General John Davidson) 16 miles away.
In response to the killing, Davidson's twin brother Major William Davidson and brother-in-law Colonel Daniel Smith formed an expedition to retrieve Samuel Davidson's body and avenge his murder. Months after the expedition, Major Davidson and other members of his extended family returned to the area and settled at the mouth of Bee Tree Creek.
The United States Census of 1790 counted 1,000 residents of the area, excluding the Cherokee. The county of Buncombe was officially formed in 1792. The county seat, named “Morristown” in 1793, was established on a plateau where two old Indian trails crossed. In 1797 Morristown was incorporated and renamed “Asheville” after North Carolina Governor Samuel Ashe.
The Civil War:
Asheville, with a population of approximately 2,500 by 1861, remained relatively untouched by the Civil War, but contributed a number of companies to the Confederate States Army, and a substantially smaller number of soldiers to the Union. For a time an Enfield rifle manufacturing facility was located in the town. The war came to Asheville almost as an afterthought, when the "Battle of Asheville" was fought in early April 1865 at the present-day site of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, with Union forces withdrawing to Tennessee after encountering resistance from a small group of Confederate senior and junior reserves and recuperating Confederate soldiers in prepared trench lines across the Buncombe Turnpike; orders had been given to the Union force to take Asheville only if this could be accomplished without significant losses.
An engagement was also fought later that month at Swannanoa Gap as part of the larger Stoneman's Raid, with Union forces retreating in the face of resistance from Brig. Gen. Martin, commander of Confederate troops in Western North Carolina, but returning to the area via Howard's Gap and Henderson County. In late April 1865 troops under the overall command of Union Gen. Stoneman captured Asheville. After a negotiated departure, the troops nevertheless subsequently returned and plundered and burned a number of Confederate supporters' homes in the town. The years following the War were a time of economic and social hardship in Buncombe County, as throughout most of the defeated South.
1900's to present:
While Asheville prospered in the 1910s and 1920s, the Great Depression hit Asheville quite hard. Most of Asheville's banks closed. The 'per capita' debt held by the city (through municipal bonds) was the highest of any city in the nation. Rather than default, the city paid those debts over a period of 50 years. From the start of the Depression through the 1980s, economic growth in Asheville was slow. During this time of financial stagnation, most of the buildings in the downtown district remained unaltered. This resulted in one of the most impressive, comprehensive collections of Art Deco architecture in the United States.
The Ashevile area was subject to severe flooding from the remnants of a tropical storm on July 15-16, 1916, causing over $3 million in damage. Heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan caused major flooding in Asheville in September 2004, particularly at Biltmore Village.
In 2003, Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Robert Rudolph was transported to Asheville from Murphy, North Carolina for arraignment in federal court.
Asheville has adopted at least two nicknames over its history:
* The Land of the Sky, based on a book of the same name written by Frances Fisher Tieran (nom de plume Christian Reid).
* The Paris of the South (also used by New Orleans, Louisiana and Charleston, South Carolina).
General information:
Asheville pops up on national rankings for a variety of things: 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," it is one of AARP Magazine's "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life," and was proclaimed the "New Freak Capital of the U.S." by Rolling Stone. Asheville has also been called "a New Age Mecca" by CBS News' Eye On America, and named the "most vegetarian-friendly" small city in America by PETA. In the 2008 book The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner, Asheville was cited by the author to be the "happiest place in the United States."
In 2007, Asheville was named one of the top seven places to live in the U.S. by Frommer's Cities Ranked and Rated, #23 of 200 metro areas for business and careers by Forbes, and the best place to live in the country by Relocate-America. It was also named one of the world's top 12 must-see destinations for 2007 by Frommer's travel guides.
Asheville and the surrounding mountains are also popular in the autumn when fall foliage peaks in October. The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway runs through the Asheville area and near the Biltmore Estate.
Mayor Terry Bellamy (the city's first African-American female mayor) is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In 2005, Asheville signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and in 2007 signed an agreement with Warren Wilson College stating the intent of the city and college to work together toward climate partnership goals. ...
Architecture:
The city is known for the lavish Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in America, which attracts over a million visitors each year. Other notable architecture in Asheville includes its Art Deco city hall and other unique buildings in the downtown area such as the Battery Park Hotel, the Neo-Gothic Jackson Building, Grove Arcade and the Basilica of St. Lawrence. The Grove Park Inn is an important example of architecture and design of the Arts and Crafts movement. The Montford neighborhood and other central areas are considered historic districts and include Victorian houses. On the other hand, Biltmore Village, located at the entrance to the famous estate, showcases unique architectural features that are only found in the Asheville area. It was here that workers stayed during the construction of George Vanderbilt's estate. Today, however, as with many of Asheville's historical districts, it has been transformed into a district home to quaint, trendy shops and interesting boutiques. The YMI Cultural Center, founded in 1892 by George Vanderbilt in the heart of downtown, is one of the nation's oldest African-American cultural centers. ...
Famous residents:
Living:
* John Avery (1976- ), football player in the NFL, XFL, and CFL, attended Asheville High School
* Brad Daugherty (1965- ), retired NBA basketball player and current ESPN NASCAR analyst
* Charles Frazier (1950- ), author, born in Asheville and graduated from University of North Carolina at Asheville
* Roberta Flack (1937- ), singer, born in Asheville
* Eileen Fulton (1933- ), actress, born in Asheville, has starred on the CBS soap As the World Turns since 1960
* Warren Haynes (1960- ), musician, spent his formative years in Asheville
* David Holt (1946- ), American folk musician, currently residing near Asheville
* Leonard Little (1974- ), NFL football player with the St. Louis Rams, born and raised in Asheville
* Andie MacDowell (1958- ), actress, lives in Biltmore Forest, adjacent to Asheville
* Cameron Maybin (1987- ), major league baseball player with the Florida Marlins, born and raised in Asheville
* Rashad McCants (1984-), NBA basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves and former Erwin High School basketball player
* Buzz Peterson (1963- ), director of player personnel, Charlotte Bobcats, born and raised in Asheville
* Robert Pressley (1959- ), retired NASCAR driver, born in Asheville
* Angela Shelton (1972- ), actress and producer
* Roy Williams (1950- ), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball coach, raised in Asheville
* William Winkenwerder, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (2001-2007)
Deceased:
* Donald V. Bennett (1915-2005), former commanding general of the US Army Pacific Command.
* F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), author
* Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948), wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, died in a fire in an Asheville mental institution
* Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice (1924-2003), professional football player
* Robert Moog (1934-2005), pioneer of electronic music, inventor of the Moog synthesizer
* Robert Morgan (1918-2004), pilot of the "Memphis Belle," the famed WWII B-17 bomber
* George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914), entrepreneur, original founder of the Biltmore Estate
* Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938), author
Points of interest:
* Biltmore Estate
* Blue Ridge Parkway
* Botanical Gardens at Asheville
* Grove Park Inn
* North Carolina Arboretum
* Smith-McDowell House
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