Asheville, city in western North Carolina, seat of Buncombe County, at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. Situated on a high plateau between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains, Asheville is a commercial and manufacturing center and a noted mountain resort. Manufactures in the city include textiles, electronic equipment, precision instruments, forest products, and processed food. The city is headquarters for the Blue Ridge Parkway and three national forests, and the gateway to the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Tourist attractions include the boyhood home of the American writer Thomas Clayton Wolfe, and Biltmore, a large estate built by the American agriculturist and philanthropist George W. Vanderbilt. The University of North Carolina at Asheville (1927) and a community college are located in Asheville. Asheville is named for Samuel Ashe, who was governor of North Carolina in the 1790s. It was incorporated as a city in 1882. Population 53,281 (1980); 61,607 (1990); 63,031 (1998 estimate).
