Smith-McDowell House

This 1840 brick mansion was the home of William Wallace McDowell. McDowell organized the Buncombe Rifleman North Carolina Volunteers Company E, the first Confederate troops in western North Carolina. The house is restored with period rooms and special history exhibits. Also on the grounds is the Buncombe County Civil War Memorial, which lists the names of the 553 Union and Confederate soldiers from Buncombe County who died during the war.