Biltmore Village, formerly Best, is a small village that is now entirely in the city limits of

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

. It is adjacent to the main entrance of the

Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The main residence, Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II ...

, built by George W. Vanderbilt, one of the heirs to the

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanth ...

fortune. Once known as the town of Best, George Vanderbilt created this village as a "company town" for the estate workers. The community was planned and designed to reflect the qualities of an English country village. The village had its own church, which is still in operation today as the Cathedral of All Souls, an Episcopal

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

. The village also had a hospital, shops, a school, a

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

, and other services available. Biltmore Village was incorporated into the City of Asheville in the early 20th century. Biltmore Village is now a commercial district that has an eclectic collection of shops, restaurants, and other businesses. The village has been home to the main office of monthly news magazine ''

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

'' since 2011.

Historic floods

In July 1916, Biltmore Village was flooded by up to nine feet of water during the Great Flood of 1916. In September 2024, Biltmore Village was flooded by up to six feet of water from the

Swannanoa River The Swannanoa River flows through the Swannanoa Valley of the region of Western North Carolina, and is a major tributary to the French Broad River. Its headwaters arise in Black Mountain, North Carolina; however, it also has a major tributary ...

during

Hurricane Helene Hurricane Helene ( ) was a deadly and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across the Southeastern United States in late September 2024. It was the strongest hurricane on record to ...

References

External links

Biltmore Village Historic MuseumHistoric Biltmore VillageAll Souls CathedralAsheville, North Carolina, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
Tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina Villages in Buncombe County, North Carolina Vanderbilt family {{BuncombeCountyNC-geo-stub

Historic floods

See also

References

External links