Asheville's first mansion, the Smith-McDowell House, dates to about 1840. 1840 brick mansion long described as one of the “finest antebellum buildings in Western North Carolina. This was the first mansion built in Asheville and remains the oldest surviving brick structure in Buncombe County, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and, since October, 2023, home to the Asheville Museum of History.
The house was constructed c. 1840 for James McConnell Smith on a portion of land owned by his father, Colonel Daniel Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran. Daniel Smith purchased 300 acres at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers in 1796 from William Steward for $100.
James Smith went on to be the second mayor of Asheville and one of the region’s wealthiest landowners and businessmen. He was also one of Buncombe County’s largest enslavers, holding at least 70 people captive around the time this house was constructed; it is likely that enslaved people built the house and provided labor for most of his money-making endeavors. His businesses included a toll bridge across the French Broad River and the Buck Hotel.
Picture the enslaved laborers whose work likely built this brick house and Smith's fortune.