Place:Buncombe, North Carolina, United States

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Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 Census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In December, 1792 and April 1793, John Dillard was a Commissioner in a local political dispute of determining where the county seat of Buncombe County should be located. It was provided in an act creating Buncombe County that a committee of five persons be appointed for the selection of the site. A dispute arose between two factions of Buncombe County residents on opposite sides of the Swannanoa River, one faction pressing for the county seat to be north of Swannanoa, which is now the center of Asheville, and the other faction demanding it to be at a place south of Swannanoa River which later became known as the "Steam Saw Mill Place" and which is now the southern part of the City of Asheville.

Buncombe County was organized by European Americans after the Revolutionary War in the home of Col. William Davidson, a cousin of William Lee Davidson and elected as the county's first state senator. The first meeting of the county government took place in April 1792 in Col. Davidson's barn (located on the present-day Biltmore Estate).

At first, deeds were recorded in Morganton, the nearest county seat. This was inconvenient for residents as roads were poor. In December 1792 seven men met to select a courthouse location for the county. The first courthouse was built at the present-day Pack Square site in Asheville.

The county was formed in 1791 from parts of Burke and Rutherford counties. It was named for Edward Buncombe, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War, who was captured at the Battle of Germantown. The large county originally extended to the Tennessee line.

Many of the early settlers were Baptists. In 1807 the pastors of six churches, including the revivalist Sion Blythe, formed the French Broad Association of Baptist churches in the area.

As population increased in this part of the state, parts of the county were taken to organize new counties. In 1808 the western part of Buncombe County became Haywood County. In 1833 parts of Burke and Buncombe counties were combined to form Yancey County. In 1838 the southern part of what was left of Buncombe County became Henderson County. In 1851 parts of Buncombe and Yancey counties were combined to form Madison County. Finally, in 1925 the Broad River township of McDowell County was transferred to Buncombe County.

In 1820, a U.S. Congressman whose district included Buncombe County, unintentionally contributed a word to the English language. In the Sixteenth Congress, after lengthy debate on the Missouri Compromise, members of the House called for an immediate vote on that important question. Felix Walker rose to address his colleagues, insisting that his constituents expected him to make a speech "for Buncombe." It was later remarked that Walker's untimely and irrelevant oration was not just for Buncombe—it "was Buncombe." Buncombe, afterwards spelled and later shortened to bunk, became a term for empty, nonsensical talk. This, in turn, is the etymology of the verb .

Timeline

Date Event Source
1790 Court records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1791 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1791 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1800 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1815 Probate records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1842 Marriage records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1887 Birth records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1930 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1800 5,812
1810 9,277
1820 10,542
1830 16,281
1840 10,084
1850 13,425
1860 12,654
1870 15,412
1880 21,909
1890 35,266
1900 44,288
1910 49,798
1920 64,148
1930 97,937
1940 108,755
1950 124,403
1960 130,074
1970 145,056
1980 160,934
1990 174,821

Note: Created in 1803 as a Georgia county and reported in 1810 as part of Georgia; abolished after a review of the State boundary determined that its area was located in North Carolina. By 1820 it was part of Buncombe County.

Research Tips

External links

www.buncombecounty.org


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