by Editor | Mar 12, 2020 | Black History
Though well over a hundred people were enslaved by the Smith and McDowell families and many of them worked in Buck House and on its grounds on a day-to-day basis, we know very little about their individual identities. Enslaved African Americans were not allowed to...
by Editor | Mar 3, 2020 | Historic Landmarks
Asheville is justifiably proud of its 1920s art deco downtown. A result of the Great Depression was a dearth of new construction for the next fifty years as Asheville repaid its debts. A fortuitous side effect of this fiscal austerity was the preservation of what is...
by Editor | Mar 3, 2020 | Black History
Among the people the McDowells enslaved was a blacksmith named George Avery. According to McDowell family tradition, in the closing days of the war McDowell freed Avery and encouraged him to travel north and join the Union Army. McDowell may have had little choice,...
