Buncombe

Western North Carolina Nature Center
The WNC Nature Center acquaints visitors with the rich natural heritage and ecology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in an effort to increase appreciation and concern for the preservation of this heritage. Exhibits at the Nature Center include many endangered live animals as well as a hands-on Nature Lab and Education Farm.

North Carolina Arboretum
The North Carolina Arboretum cultivates connections between people and plants through creative expressions of landscape stewardship. The Arboretum has a library of materials relating to botanical subjects. These materials are cataloged in the University of North Carolina Asheville library catalog and are available by appointment for on-site use only. There is also a permanent collection of artwork on display at the Arboretum including quilts, decorative gates, and outdoor sculpture.

Warren Wilson College
Arthur S. Link Archives and Special Collections
The Warren Wilson College Archives holds the records of the school from 1894 when it was founded as the Asheville Farm School up to the present. The visual development and evolution of the school is documented in more than 30,000 photographs, negatives, and slides. Holdings also include the records of the Asheville Normal and Teacher College and the Dorland-Bell and Mossop School as well as theses from Warren Wilson's MFA in Creative Writing program.

National Climatic Data Center
The National Climatic Data Center is the world's largest active archive of weather data. NCDC's mission is to manage the Nation's resource of global climatological in-situ and remotely sensed data and information to promote global environmental stewardship; to describe, monitor and asses the climate; and to support efforts to predict changes in the Earth's environment. Archival records at the NCDC date back to the 1700s. Researchers interested in climatic data records should consult the NCDC's Customer Service Department.

Swannanoa Valley Museum
The Swannanoa Valley Museum preserves and interprets the social, cultural, and natural history of the Swannanoa Valley, a pathway to Western North Carolina, by developing dynamic programs and engaging exhibitions for the education and enrichment of the community, its children, and future generations.

UNC-Asheville
Special Collections and University Archives
The Special Collections and University Archives in Ramsey Library at the University of North Carolin at Asheville has as its primary mission to provide resources and instruction for the undergraduate program in the liberal arts at the university. In support of this mission it collects the archives of the University, rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and audio tapes documenting local history and culture, relevant realia, memorabilia, and ephemera, as well as senior papers in history and literature. Some collections of note include a run of John Martin's Book, a magazine for children; rare land plats from North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania; drawings from the Tryon Toymakers; photographs and diaries of western North Carolina photographer R. Henry Scadin; the Howard H. Peckham Collection of first-hand accounts of World War I; and the archive for the Council on Undergraduate research. Many holdings are available in digital form on the department's website.

Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center
The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center preserves and continues the unique legacy of educational and artistic innovation of Black Mountain College for public study and enjoyment. They achieve their mission through collection, conservation, and educational activities including exhibitions, publications, and public programs. The museum's permanent collection contains artifacts from Black Mountain College including the original sign and benches from the Quiet House, as well as photographs, oral histories, artwork, and papers.

Thomas Wolfe Memorial
The author Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) spent his childhood and adolescence in Asheville, North Carolina. His mother's boardinghouse is now the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Named "Old Kentucky Home" by a previous owner, the rambling Victorian structure was immortalized by Wolfe as "Dixieland" in his epic autobiographical novel, "Look Homeward, Angel". The house is restored to look as it did in the early 20th century when young Tom Wolfe and Mrs. Wolfe's boarders shared a roof. The Visitor Center houses an exhibit hall featuring personal effects from the Wolfe family home, Wolfe's New York City apartment, and his father's stonecutting shop. Tours of the Memorial are offered at regular times and depart from the Visitor Center.

Zebulon Vance Birthplace State Historic Site
The Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace State Historic Site interprets the Vance family homestead, which is a large-two story structure of hewn yellow pine longs. The cabin has been reconstructed around the original chimney with two enormous fireplaces. The furnishing and household items on display are representative of the period from 1790 to 1840, and include a few pieces original to the home. Clustered about the grounds are six log outbuildings, including a corn crib, springhouse, smokehouse, loom house, slave house, and tool house. The Visitor Center houses exhibits portraying the life of Vance.

Colburn Earth Science Museum
The Colburn Earth Science Museum's Mission is to foster an appreciation of the Earth and its mineral resources through exhibits, educational programming, and the collection and care of specimens. Their areas of focus include mineralogy, geology, gemology, meteorology, oceanography, astronomy, and paleontology. There are displays of mineral crystals and gemstones from North Carolina and around the world.

Asheville Art Museum
The Asheville Art Museum engages, enlightens and inspires individuals and enriches community through dynamic experiences in American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Health Adventure, Inc.
The Health Adventure is a fun-filled educational adventure that sparks curiosity about health and science. Founded in 1968 by the Buncombe County Medical Alliance, the organization is a nonprofit, health and related sciences attraction located in Asheville, NC. The Health Adventure reaches schools, community groups, and families from all over the reagion using hands-on, interactive approaches and exciting, dynamic exhibits. With its innovative approach to education, the organization has gained national and international recognition.

Southern Highland Craft Guild
The Southern Highland Craft Guild is a non-profit 501(c)(3), educational organization of over 700 craftspeople living and working in the mountainous regions of nine southern states: AL, GA, KY, MD, TN, VA, WV, SC and NC. Since its inception in 1930, the Guild has worked to instill and maintain standards of excellence in the design and workmanship of crafts taught, produced and marketed in the southern Appalachian region. The history of the Guild dates back to the turn of the century during what is known as the Southern Arts and Crafts Revival. The Guild's headquarters, the Blue Ridge Parkway's Folk Art Center, is located just five miles east of downtown Asheville, North Carolina.

Biltmore Industries
Estes-Winn Memorial Automobile Museum
Housed in the building that held Biltmore Industries' weaving looms, the Estes-Winn Antique Automobile Museum contains automobiles dating from 1913 to 1959 including two Model Ts, a 1950 M.G. "TD" Roadster, and a 1957 Cadilac El Dorado, among many others. There are also horse drawn carriages and an authentic moonshine still.

Biltmore Company
Museum Services
The Special Collections at Biltmore House document the construction and operation of the estate, as well as the farming and forestry operations of the Biltmore estate. They also include the 23,000-volume library of George W. Vanderbilt, Biltmore's original owner.

YMI Cultural Center
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the YMI has served Asheville's minority citizens since it was first established in 1893 as the Young Men's Institute. The YMI Cultural Center houses numerous exhibits, many dealing with the history of African Americans in Western North Carolina, and sponsors such cultural events as Asheville's Goombay! Festival, an Annual Kwanzaa Celebration and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration.

Western North Carolina Historical Association
Smith-McDowell House Museum
The Smith-McDowell House, built in ca. 1840, is the oldest brick house in Buncombe County. The house was built by James McConnell Smith (1787-1856) a leading North Carolina businessman. The house was subsequently owned by James' business partner and son-in-law, William Wallace McDowell, who organized the Buncombe Rifemen in the Civil War. In 1900, the owners of the house Dr. and Mrs. Charles Van Bergen commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design the grounds. The house had other owners through the years, then the Western North Carolina Historical Society rescued the house from demolition and was opened as a museum in 1981. The house interprets historic periods spanning from the 1840s to the 1900s as well as featuring rotating exhibitions its gallery rooms. The grounds preserve much of Olmsted's design.

Montreat College
Special Collections, L. Nelson Bell Library
The Montreat College Special Collections Department collects, organizes, preserves, and makes available for research purposes documents pertaining to the history of Montreat College. These papers are housed separately from the general collection and are available for research in the library. There is also a collection of books and papers relating to the lives and work of Juliette and Crosby Adams, noted musicians where were connected with the College for many years. The Adams papers are available for research in the library.

West Asheville Public Library (Asheville Buncombe Library System)
West Asheville History Project
The mission of the West Ashville History Project is to collect and preserve the history of West Asheville, as recalled by residents and recorded in documents and photographs with an emphasis on the 20th century and individual neighborhoods. The project highlights and further defines the role of the Asheville-Buncombe Library System as the chief public conservator of local histories and renews the sense of community in West Asheville through community-wide reminiscing and re-examination of roots. The West Asheville History archive is housed at the West Asheville Branch Library and includes newspaper articles ranging from the 1900s to the present day, oral histories, scrapbooks, and materials on West Asheville businesses and people.

Big Ivy Historical Society
Big Ivy Historical Park
The mission of the Big Ivy Historical Society is to preserve sites and properties of historic or architectural importance within the Big Ivy Community, and to promote knowledge of and appreciation for the history of the area and its people. The Historical Society interprets a 19th century cabin, spring house, and kitchen on the grounds of the Barnardsville Community Center. There is also a replica of Barnardsville's school house, which has displays of artifacts and an exhibit about the Civilian Conservation Corps and their role building the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930s. The Society's next project is to re-erect the Snowball Mountain Fire Tower near the other historical structures on the grounds of the Community Center.

Pack Memorial Library (Asheville Buncombe Library System)
Pack Memorial Library Special Collections
The North Carolina Collection at Pack Library contains published materials, historic documents, genealogies, postcards, maps, and oral histories reflecting history, literature and life in Western North Carolina. Within the collection there is a particular emphasis on material relating to Asheville and Buncombe County. Of interest is the Thomas Wolfe Collection of materials documenting the life Asheville native Thomas Wolfe including editions of his books, photographs, and documents.

Buncombe County Law Library (Asheville Buncombe Library System)
The Buncombe County Law Library is a public law library. It is part of the Asheville Buncombe Library System. Its mission is to serve the legal needs of the general public and the legal community. The Library's collection contains approximately 20,000 volumes with an emphasis on North Carolina materials. The collection includes reported state and federal appellate cases and a representative collection of statutes, local ordinances, regulations, treatises, periodicals and law reviews, form books, directories, and commentary. The Law Library also has a collection of photographs of Asheville attorneys dating back to the 1890s.

Biltmore Industries
North Carolina Homespun Museum
Located beside the Grove Park Inn, the North Carolina Homespun Museum presents a historical overview of Biltmore Industries. Photographs depict important events from its origin in 1901 by Mrs. George Vanderbilt to its revitalization by Harry Blomberg. The museum has samples of Biltmore Homespun fabric, many items of furniture made by the Roycrofters, and one of the 60 year old 4-harness looms. The museum is open April - December from 10am to 5pm, tours of the original mill building are available by appointment.

Dry Ridge Historical Museum, Inc.
Located on the lower level of the Weaverville Library, the Dry Ridge Historical Museum was established in 1983 to preserve the cultural heritage of Reems Creek and Flat Creek townships. The permanent collection includes furniture, tools, photographs, musical instruments, manuscripts, and books dating back to 1787. There is a display of artifacts relating to Weaverville founder Michael Montraville Weaver as well as a photographic exhibit celebrating the people of Weaverville. In addition to the permanent collection, there are rotating exhibits that highlight contemporary and historical aspects of Weaverville. The museum is open regular hours from March to November and by appointment.

National Climatic Data Center
The Weather Museum
The Weather Museum at the National Climatic Data Center contains displays documenting the history of the NCDC, artifacts relating to collecting climatic data, and examples of 19th century weather diaries, among other items. The museum is open to the public by appointment.

Asheville School
Class of 1923 Memorial Archive
The archives of the Asheville School exists to document preserve, and make accessible the records of the administrative, legal, and historical aspects of the school. Holdings include records of administrative offices, academic and athletic departments, faculty, administrative, and student organizations, committees, and teams, school and student publications, photographs, slides, moving image and sound recordings, and memorabilia and other ephemeral material. The archives are open to researchers by appointment.

Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society
The objectives of the Buncombe County Genealogical Society is to promote interest in family history and genealogy and raise standards of genealogical research and compilation by means of educational programs, workshops, and the publication of genealogical data. The Society's library contains genealogy and history books on Western North Carolina as well as resources relating to other states and countries. The Society has Buncombe County census records in hard copy from 1790 to 1880 and on microfilm from 1900 to 1920. There are also obituary files dating back to 1977 and family histories, among other items.

Southern Appalachian Radio Museum
The Southern Appalachian Radio Museum focuses on the history of wireless communications and those who make it happen. The museum collection includes radios dating from 1920 to 1960, including those made by Philco, RCA, Harvey Wells and many more manufacturers. Items of interest include one of the first commercial radios made by RCA, the superheterodyne radio invented by radio pioneer Edwin Armstrong, a navy receiver from the 1920s, and a World War II "Gibson Girl" receiver. The museum has a working amateur radio station W4AFM, where visitors can transmit with the help of the museum's licensed operator. The museum is located on the grounds of Ashevill-Buncombe Technical College and is open regular hours. Tours are also available by request.

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Holly Library
Holly Library provides students with access to books and electronic resources to mee their information needs. Unique collections include a North Carolina Collection, A-B Tech materials, audio books, and feature films. The Research Central area is on the main level where students can use the Internet and electronic databases. Wireless access is located throughout the building and laptops can be checked out with your library card.

Center for Diversity Education
The Center for Diversity Education works to increase the ways diversity is covered in the daily life of the classroom in grades K-12 and on the college level. Exhibitions produced by the CDE are on view at UNC-Asheville and around town. Digital versions of CDE exhibitions are found on the Center's website. Materials relating to some exhibitions produced by the CDE are housed in Special Collections at the Ramsey Library at UNC-Asheville.

Blue Ridge Parkway
Museum Collections
The Blue Ridge Parkway museum collections include cultural and natural history objects as well as archival materials pertaining to both. The archives were formed in 1990; their focus is documenting the conception, development, construction and management of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The archives contain over 400 linear feet of material, 10,000 + historic photograph collection, documentation on the Moses Cone Estate, the Smith Sisters slide and journal collection which documents wildflower along the Parkway; and administrative records of Parkway offices. Cultural objects in storage include original surveying equipment, Civilian Conservation Corps tools and equipment, natural history collections including geology specimens and herbarium specimens, musical instruments.

Boundary End Archaeology Research Center
Center for Maya Research - Center for Ancient American Studies

Biltmore Company
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore House is a French Renaissance inspired chateau in Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt between 1888 and 1895. Privately owned, the 250 room house sits on 8,000 acres and contains a rich art collection including paintings by Sargent, Whistler and Renoir, 16th century Flemish tapestries and Napoleon's chess set. The original 125,000 acres of forest was the home to the first school of forestry.