Ashville was begun in 1784 on land that once belonged to the Cherokees. Colonel Samuel Davidson settled there in redemption of a soldier’s land grant from the state of North Carolina. After building a log cabin on the banks of Christian Creek, he was killed by the Cherokees. His wife, child and a female slave escaped through the woods to Davidson’s Fort, 16 miles away. The fort was named for Samuel Davidson’s father, General John Davidson.

There were approximately 2,500 people living there at the beginning of the Civil War. Asheville remained reasonably untouched by the Civil War, but many of its citizens joined the Confederate troops, while a smaller percentage joined the Union forces. In April of 1865, the Battle of Asheville was fought on the grounds of present-day University of North Carolina at Asheville. The Union forces, under the command of General Stoneman, retreated, only to return before the month was over to capture Asheville.

The years following the Civil War were rough times for the South, including Asheville. But, it slowly began to recover. In the twentieth century it appeared all was going to be good, but Ashville was again caught in a national tragedy, the Great Depression. It devastated Asheville’s economy. During this time, there was no money available to invest in modernizing most of the downtown structures. That is why today, Asheville has such a large collection of Art Deco architecture!