Asheville

Asheville (pop. 174,821), city and resort in the Appalachian Mountains, western North Carolina, seat of Buncombe County, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Asheville is a processing center for a rich agricultural region. Local industries produce textiles, leather goods, and wood products. Founded in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1883, it is the birthplace of the writer Thomas Wolfe and is described in his novels.