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Asheville, NC

Asheville, North Carolina
City
Downtown Asheville and surrounding area
Downtown Asheville and surrounding area
Flag of Asheville, North Carolina
Flag
Official seal of Asheville, North Carolina
Seal
Nickname(s): "Land of the Sky"
Motto: "Quality of Service, Quality of Life"
Location in North Carolina
Location in North Carolina
Coordinates: 35°34′48″N 82°33′21″W / 35.58000°N 82.55583°W / 35.58000; -82.55583Coordinates: 35°34′48″N 82°33′21″W / 35.58000°N 82.55583°W / 35.58000; -82.55583
Country United States
State North Carolina
County Buncombe
Incorporated 1797
Named for Governor Samuel Ashe
Government
 • Mayor Esther Manheimer
 • Council Members Cecil Bothwell,
Brian Haynes,
Julie Mayfield,
Gordon Smith
Gwen Wisler
Keith Young
Area
 • City 45.3 sq mi (117.2 km2)
 • Land 44.9 sq mi (116.4 km2)
 • Water 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)  0.66%
Elevation 2,134 ft (650 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 83,393
 • Density 1,856/sq mi (716.6/km2)
 • Urban 238,318
 • Metro 424,858
 • Demonym Ashevillian
  US Census Bureau official
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP Code 28801-06, 28810, 28813-16
Area code(s) 828
FIPS code 37-02140
GNIS feature ID 1018864
Website www.ashevillenc.gov

Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The city's population was 83,393 according to the 2010 United States census. It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, with a population of 424,858 in 2010. Asheville is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the world's largest active archive of weather data.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the land where Asheville now exists lay within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation. In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto came to the area, bringing the first European visitors along with European diseases, which seriously depleted the native population. The area was used as an open hunting ground until the middle of the 19th century.

The history of Asheville, as a town, began 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 overnight 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 Native Americans. Buncombe County 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.


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