Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

The Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA) invites you to join us for the second event in our special four-part Hikes With A Historian series where we explore the stories of several local cemeteries. Register for individual events, or all four at a discount. The first tour, Wednesday, September 14 from 11AM – 12:30PM takes place in Asheville’s Newton Academy and South Asheville cemeteries.

In the early-to-mid 1800s, people enslaved by the Smith and McDowell families began burying their loved ones in what today is known as the South Asheville Cemetery. There were over 2,000 individuals laid to rest in this cemetery, which closed to burials in 1943, though only about 100 graves are marked. Join WNCHA Executive Director Anne Chesky Smith on a tour that begins at the Smith-McDowell House, WNCHA’s facility, to learn about the lives of the people who were forced to work for the family. The tour will then proceed to Fernihurst Mansion to see the original burial site of the Smith matriarch and patriarch before viewing their present-day graves in the nearby Newton Academy Cemetery. The tour will end at South Asheville Cemetery. Chesky Smith will share stories of the emancipated Avery and Bailey families alongside the Smith and McDowell families who enslaved them and speak to how the lives of these families were intertwined long after the end of the Civil War. The tour requires some walking on uneven terrain – less than .5 miles.

Meet: 10:45AM at the Big Ivy Community Center (540 Dillingham Rd, Barnardsville, NC 28709

• We will carpool from the community center to the nearby Absalom Dillingham Cemetery (.75 miles away)

Hike Length: approximately .25 miles (easy difficulty)

What to Bring: Water, snacks, comfortable and sturdy shoes, weather appropriate clothing, any needed medications.

Rain Date: In the event of inclement weather, participants will be notified in advance, no later than 8PM the evening prior if the event is to be rescheduled. The alternate rain date will be rescheduled promptly.

• For single event – $10 for WNCHA members/$20 non-members.
• For Series: $20 WNCHA members/$35 non-members

We also have two no-cost, community-funded tickets available. We want our events to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you are able please consider making a donation along with your ticket purchase. These donations are placed in our Community Fund, which allows us to offer tickets at no cost to those who would not be able to attend otherwise.

Note: Those registering for the series need only register once. You will be manually registered for the remaining events.

Hike Leader:

This outing is led by Trevor Freeman, WNCHA public programs director. He has an MA in American history and is interested in both Appalachian and environmental history. He is also wilderness first aid/CPR certified.

Covid Precautions:

• Please do not attend if you feel unwell or have been exposed to someone with Covid
• Social distancing is recommended when hiking and when the group is stopped

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

This club meets in-person and virtually. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected] for more info and instructions! 

Join host and Malaprop’s bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across different periods of history. The club tackles challenging subjects, hence “NOTORIOUS.”  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets at Malaprop’s on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm.

Some of our greatest art has come in response to the pain of this world: war, accident, crime and punishment, physical and mental illness, racial and class-based inequities. As Asheville resident Nancy Sehested has written, “The deeply human questions of forgiveness, redemption, and mercy emerge from the ruins of broken lives…Pain is not the last word.”

On eight evenings from September to December, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy and the West Asheville Library will celebrate four memoirs of resilience and hope from the mountains of Western North Carolina. All events are free and will be at the West Asheville Library, except for the digital event on December 8.

About the Wilma Dykeman Legacy

The Wilma Dykeman Legacy is a tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 2012 to sustain and promote Wilma Dykeman’s values by sponsoring diverse workshops, events, and other programs.  The core values of this extraordinary woman from Buncombe County included environmental integrity, social justice, and the power of the written and spoken word.  For more information, visit www.wilmadykemanlegacy.org.

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Tours of St. John in the Wilderness are sponsored and led by a team of volunteer docents who seek to tell the story of our historic parish. Tours are held every third Saturday of the month at 11:00am and last about one hour.

There is no cost to tour the churchyard. Please wear comfortable shoes, and meet in the Carriage Entrance of the church. Space is limited to 30 people per tour

ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) announced 19 farms participating in the 2022 Farm Tour, Sept. 17–18, noon to 5 p.m. These farms showcase the diversity of agriculture in the region, from vegetables to livestock, orchards to creameries, and are all located within an hour of Asheville. Tourgoers can experience working farms through guided and self-guided tours, demonstrations, interacting with farm animals, u-pick produce and flowers, local food tastings, and more. The tour is appropriate for attendees of all ages and abilities.

The Farm Tour features four geographic clusters to help visitors maximize their time at farms. Tourgoers should select two to four farms to visit each day, spending around an hour at each. Descriptions of each farm’s offerings, plus a map, driving directions, tour tips, are available at asapconnections.org/farmtour. A free printed guide will be available at community locations in mid-August. Ten farms, noted with an asterisk, are new to the tour in 2022.

Haywood Cluster

*KT’s Orchard and Apiary

Sustainabillies/Two Trees Farm

Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa

The Ten Acre Garden

Leicester Cluster

Mount Gilead Farm/French Broad Creamery

*Davis Ranch

Franny’s Farm and The Utopian Seed Project

Addison Farms Vineyard

*Good Wheel Farm

McDowell Cluster

*Camp Grier

*Crow Fly Farms

*Sweet Betsy Farm

*Lee’s One Fortune Farm

Henderson Cluster

Raspberry Fields

*Creasman Farms

*Bee-utiful Farmstead

Holly Spring Farm

Sideways Farm and Brewery

*Jeter Mountain Farm

ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) announced 19 farms participating in the 2022 Farm Tour, Sept. 17–18, noon to 5 p.m. These farms showcase the diversity of agriculture in the region, from vegetables to livestock, orchards to creameries, and are all located within an hour of Asheville. Tourgoers can experience working farms through guided and self-guided tours, demonstrations, interacting with farm animals, u-pick produce and flowers, local food tastings, and more. The tour is appropriate for attendees of all ages and abilities.

The Farm Tour features four geographic clusters to help visitors maximize their time at farms. Tourgoers should select two to four farms to visit each day, spending around an hour at each. Descriptions of each farm’s offerings, plus a map, driving directions, tour tips, are available at asapconnections.org/farmtour. A free printed guide will be available at community locations in mid-August. Ten farms, noted with an asterisk, are new to the tour in 2022.

Haywood Cluster

*KT’s Orchard and Apiary

Sustainabillies/Two Trees Farm

Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa

The Ten Acre Garden

Leicester Cluster

Mount Gilead Farm/French Broad Creamery

*Davis Ranch

Franny’s Farm and The Utopian Seed Project

Addison Farms Vineyard

*Good Wheel Farm

McDowell Cluster

*Camp Grier

*Crow Fly Farms

*Sweet Betsy Farm

*Lee’s One Fortune Farm

Henderson Cluster

Raspberry Fields

*Creasman Farms

*Bee-utiful Farmstead

Holly Spring Farm

Sideways Farm and Brewery

*Jeter Mountain Farm

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

The Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA) invites you to join us for the third event in our special four-part Hikes With A Historian series where we explore the stories of several local cemeteries. This tour, Wednesday, September 21 from 10AM – 12:30PM takes place in various cemeteries in Hot Springs, North Carolina.

Hot Springs (formerly Warm Springs), North Carolina lies along the route of the former Buncombe Turnpike and later became a popular tourist resort as well. Its cemeteries contain travelers, early settlers from the 1800s, enslaved and free African Americans, and German POWs who were later reinterred. These stories and more intertwine in the cemeteries we will tour on this outing exploring local history in a mountain town.

Meet: 9:45AM at the Dorland Presbyterian Church (64 Bridge St, Hot Springs, NC 28743)

• Park in the shared parking lot behind the church. We will carpool to various cemeteries within a two mile radius.

Hike Length: approximately .5 miles (easy difficulty)

What to Bring: Water, snacks, comfortable and sturdy shoes, weather appropriate clothing, any needed medications.

Rain Date: In the event of inclement weather, participants will be notified in advance, no later than 8PM the evening prior if the event is to be rescheduled. The alternate rain date will be rescheduled promptly.

Tickets: $10 WNCHA members/$20 general admission. We also have two no-cost, community-funded tickets available. We want our events to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you are able please consider making a donation along with your ticket purchase. These donations are placed in our Community Fund, which allows us to offer tickets at no cost to those who would not be able to attend otherwise.

Hike Leader:

This outing is led by Taylor Barnhill. Taylor is a native North Carolinian and has lived in Madison County for forty-four years. Taylor currently enjoys wearing several hats ~ one as an architect, one as a consultant for non-profit organizations, and one for the Appalachian Barn Alliance documenting the historic barns of Madison County. His early architecture practice began as a way to serve disadvantaged communities and evolved to provide an integrated approach to sustainable design and community development. In his non-profit professional capacity, he has served as executive director with several regional conservation organizations. He spends his free time with friends and kids soaking up the local culture and hiking the region’s forests.

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Empower Yourself and Your Community at the YWCA!

The YWCA is back to offering in-person Empower Hour Tours! Experience firsthand the YWCA’s work through a tour of our building including stories that highlight how we are engaging nearly 3,000 community members annually in programs that advance racial justice, empower women, promote health, and nurture children.

After your Empower Hour Tour we hope you will be informed, inspired and ready to get involved!

Empower Hours take place 3 times per month on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00pm. In person tours include a light vegetarian lunch. Below are the dates, times, and information on how to join upcoming tours. We look forward to connecting with you!

Richard Misrach, Wall, Jacumba, California, 2009, pigment print, image: 60 × 80 inches, framed: 61 × 81 × 2 inches. Courtesy the Artist. © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7 pm on Zoom. Also meets on the second Monday of every month at 7 pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read.  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading and contact the club host to join. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Empower Yourself and Your Community at the YWCA!

The YWCA is back to offering in-person Empower Hour Tours! Experience firsthand the YWCA’s work through a tour of our building including stories that highlight how we are engaging nearly 3,000 community members annually in programs that advance racial justice, empower women, promote health, and nurture children.

After your Empower Hour Tour we hope you will be informed, inspired and ready to get involved!

Empower Hours take place 3 times per month on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00pm. In person tours include a light vegetarian lunch. Below are the dates, times, and information on how to join upcoming tours. We look forward to connecting with you!

Romance Book Club is a space to celebrate love in literature. Whether it’s set in early 1800s London, a distant planet years into the future, a fantasy world of magic, or our own contemporary universe, we are here for the stories that end with a happily-ever-after (or at least a happily-for-now).

Meetings will take place at 7:00 PM ET on the last Tuesday of each month via Zoom. Please visit the Romance Bookclub page for the monthly selection, and email Samantha at [email protected] for the link to join.

Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)

Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.

House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.

Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free

Hours of Operation

Join the Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA) Wednesday, September 28 from 11AM – 12:30PM as we conclude our special Hikes With a Historian: Cemeteries tours at the Christmount Christian Assembly in Black Mountain.

Renowned architect and builder, Rafael Guastavino and his wife, Francesca, retired to Black Mountain after he completed working on the Biltmore House in Asheville at the end of the 19th century. The couple built their own rambling estate on the grounds of what is now Christmount Christian Assembly. On this tour, WNCHA Executive Director Anne Chesky Smith will guide participants on an approximately 1.5 mile walk through ruins of the Guastavinos’ estate, including the foundations of the house, wine cellar, brick kiln, and small graveyard. The first mile of the walk is on relatively open, even ground; the last half mile is an optional moderate hike on a trail through woods to a small graveyard. Chesky Smith will share stories of the Guastavinos’ life in Black Mountain; of Rafael Guastavino’s career – including his work on Asheville’s St. Lawrence Basilica, Boston’s Public Library, and the numerous other locations across the nation and the world where his tile vaulting work can be found; and of the people laid to rest on the Guastavino property.

Details:

When: Wednesday, September 28

Time: 11AM – 12:30PM

Meet: 10:45AM at Christmount – 222 Fern Way, Black Mountain – park at first building on the left

Hike Length: approximately 1.5 miles (easy to moderate difficulty)

What to Bring: Water (1+ liter), snacks, comfortable and sturdy shoes, weather appropriate clothing, any needed medications.

Rain Date: In the event of inclement weather, participants will be notified in advance, no later than 8PM the evening prior if the event is to be rescheduled. The alternate rain date will be rescheduled promptly.

Tickets: $10 for WNCHA members/$20 non-members. We also have two no-cost, community-funded tickets available. We want our events to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you are able please consider making a donation along with your ticket purchase. These donations are placed in our Community Fund, which allows us to offer tickets at no cost to those who would not be able to attend otherwise.

Hike Leader: Anne Chesky Smith holds MA degrees in Appalachian studies and cultural anthropology. She serves as the executive director of the Western North Carolina Historical Association and lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her family.