Asheville

Town and administrative headquarters of Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA; population (2000) 68,900. It is situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, at the junction of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. Asheville manufactures furniture, paper products, textiles and electronics, and is a popular tourist resort. A branch of the University of North Carolina is one of several institutions in Asheville. The city is known as a centre for mountain music and culture.

Asheville was first settled in 1794, on Cherokee hunting grounds, as Morristown. It was renamed in 1797 to honour Governor Samuel Ashe and was incorporated as a city in 1882. Tourist attractions include the 19th-century Biltmore mansion, home of millionaire George W Vanderbilt, and the home of the writer Thomas Wolfe. Wolfe was born and buried here, and wrote of Asheville in Look Homeward, Angel (1929), among other works. Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River (2,037 m/6,684 ft) is nearby.