Formerly called the Smith-McDowell House Museum, the Asheville Museum of History is located on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, 1.5 miles from downtown Asheville.
The Smith-McDowell House is one of the "finest antebellum buildings in Western North Carolina." Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was the Asheville's first mansion and is the oldest surviving brick structure in Buncombe County.
In addition to restored period rooms spanning 1840 through 1900, the house also functions as the headquarters of the Western North Carolina Historical Association, an exhibit space, and a center for youth history education.
The grounds are an Official Treasured Tree Preserve and were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in 1900.
The Museum’s grounds are also home to the Buncombe County Civil War Memorial. Built by one of antebellum North Carolina’s most influential citizens, it was once the home of mayors, a Confederate Major, and friends of the Vanderbilts at nearby Biltmore Estate (just three miles away). It was built 55 years before the Biltmore House.