All about Canton
Asheville is the largest city in western North Carolina, and continues to grow. Attractive to hip and creative young people as well as to hip and creative retirees, Asheville has been listed in both Rolling Stone and Modern Maturity as an ideal place to live or visit. The open and accepting character of the city is evidenced by the many lifestyles and beliefs that coexist peacefully there. The art scene is especially active, and Asheville has become a mecca for potters, painters and musicians, with much of the current creativity inspired by the folk art and old ballads of early Scottish, English and Scots-Irish settlers.
Asheville is home to University of North Carolina at Asheville, or UNCA, a liberal arts college in North Asheville of about 3500 students and part of the University of North Carolina System.
The city is best known for the lavish Biltmore Estate, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Other notable architecture in Asheville includes its art deco city hall and other unique buildings in the downtown area. The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway runs through the Asheville area and the grounds of Biltmore Estate. Biltmore Village is a section of the city adjacent to the estate, where workers stayed during its construction. It is currently home to many small trendy shops. Author Thomas Wolfe was born in Asheville. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald lived and worked in Asheville during some of his literary career. His wife, Zelda, died in a fire in an Asheville sanitarium in 1948.
The city is home to the Asheville Tourists baseball club of the South Atlantic League. Several ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Asheville in honor of this town.
Asheville was incorporated on Jan. 27, 1798. The city was not built upon an organized plan of city squares, markets and parks as it looks today, but almost carved out of the surrounding mountains. Originally, Asheville had closer relations to Tennessee than its registered state, North Carolina.