Asheville, Black Mountain & McDowell County, NC Real Estate Broker
Bill Millwood - CRS, GREEN
REAL ESTATE - HOMES - LAND - RECREATIONAL - INVESTMENT
The first settlers to the Swannanoa Valley did not come here for the views. For years this area was used by Cherokee Native Americans as hunting grounds. After the Revolutionary War (the Cherokee sided with the British), the American government opened these lands for settlement. The town of Grey Eagle formed along an old wagon road known as the Western Turnpike. When the railroad came through the Swannanoa Gap in 1879, this town became known as Black Mountain to match the name given to the depot.
BLACK MOUNTAIN
The town was on the route for pioneers heading west, so for decades to come the town thrived as a tourist stop and rest area many Americans. From rural farms emerged a great place for people across America to come and make a home here. The weather was so nice many people suffering from illnesses would come to the area for symptom relief. 
It was exactly this that brought one of the most influential families to the area as the Owen family visited and decided to move it's textile operations here from New England. The move was a boon to the area as many jobs were available and many people moved here for them.
Black Mountain also has a special place today because of once having a natioanlly renowned Arts College - Black Mountain College. It was founded in 1933 around the idea that arts are a critical part of a students education. The Black Mountain College Board included members like Albert Einstein and poet William Carlos Williams.
Today Black Mountain still thrives on tourism with an eclectic downtown full of unique shops and restaurants. There's no Wal-Mart here, almost solely small business owners running their family business. With plenty of recreation (including a golf course with a Par 6), sidewalks and convenience to Asheville and National Parks, Black Mountain is truly an active community with so much to offer no matter where you are in life.
In 1797, Asheville was a primitive outpost. Frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett traveled through in the early days. Asheville was little more than a crossroads of Indian trails on a plateau surrounded by mountains and rivers on all sides.
As with Black Mountain, the railroad transformed Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County into a resort and therapeutic health center upon it's arrival in 1880. Asheville became a popular travel destination for visitors searching for a mountain escape with its population climbing to nearly 30,000 seasonal residents in 1890.
One visitor in particular, George W. Vanderbilt came to Asheville in the late 1880s and quickly purchased 120,000 acres to build a grand estate. The construction took six years!
Vanderbilt commissioned renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds and gardens, and celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to help him plan the house. The Biltmore Estate has withstood the test of time as modern mansions are still dwarfed by the regal home which serves as a popular tourist attraction today.Well-known author Thomas Wolfe was born in Asheville and grew up in his mother’s rambling boardinghouse, known as “Dixieland.” Wolfe is one of the giants of American literature, and Asheville is the backdrop for his autobiographical novel, “Look Homeward, Angel" which was inspired by a statue still standing in a cemetary down the road in Hendersonville, NC.
Today, Asheville is a hip mountain town with an amazing farm-to-table culinary scene, 60-plus art galleries in the city center, and a vibrant and funky downtown. Asheville, which has been called the "Paris of the South," is a unique urban oasis in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's downtown is lined with sidewalk cafes, several independent coffee shops, dozens of art galleries, boutique shopping, and parks.
