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This post is ultimately about my visit to The Smith-McDowell House Museum, but first I needed a minute to reflect. A year like 2021 will make a person do that. I have lived in Asheville, North Carolina for just about 3 1/2 years. I’ve gone through a lot since moving here and acclimating to the area took longer than expected. By the time I was ready to get out and about Covid-19 entered stage left (and hasn’t “left” yet). Just like the rest of the country, the tourist spots closed down. By the time things started reopening I was working too much to go anywhere. I still work a lot but was fortunate enough to have a whole week off between Christmas and New Years’ Eve.
I’ve had the word “purpose” as my word of the year since 2019. My intention has been to be purposeful and try to add value to people’s lives in some small way no matter what type of work I’m doing. Since 2020 and 2021 have led to a series of unfortunate events for myself in addition to the global pandemic I’d like to mix it up. I was going to do the word quest because I forever feel unfulfilled and like I’m not on the right path.
Asheville has never felt like a long-term plan. In fact, I don’t like to make long-term plans period. When I looked up the dictionary definition of quest, I discovered that my perpetual state of being in an existential crisis has inevitably put me on a quest as is. So, I’m back in the market for a new word of intention. This year has taught me how short life is so I’m leaning towards “explore.” I have major wanderlust. My family thinks I’m kidding about being a digital nomad. For now, I don’t have the logistics of that worked out.
For the time being I decided I can be more adventurous by venturing out to history related places within driving distance. I want to pivot my website to sharing about these visits instead of giving teaching tips. Let’s face it, I’m no longer in the traditional classroom. I feel that I can shine a light on overlooked spots and geek out a lot along the way. I hope teachers and students get excited about visiting these places in person like I do, or they are inspired to seek out local spots in their own area!
I think EXPLORE is the perfect fit for me and 2022. I intend to explore more in my local area and branch out when possible. I decided to go ahead and start before 2021 wrapped up! The first step was visiting the Smith-McDowell House Museum. I chose it because I’ve spent 2 years driving by it while on campus at AB Tech! It was way past time to get a tour. I had planned to go when they had a WWI exhibit corresponding with the release of the movie 1917, but Covid had other plans.
Before we talk about my visit specifically, I want to talk about the logistics in case you want to visit!
- First step, sign up for the https://www.wnchistory.org/ email and/or follow them on social media to stay up to date about when the Smith-McDowell House Museum is open. I know you are going to be super excited to visit after this post, but you are going to have to be patient. It’s currently closed for renovations. In the meantime, the Western North Carolina Historical Association offers lots of other programming for locals and resources for educators in the area!
- The museum is only open on a limited basis when it isn’t under renovation. You have to book tickets on the website through Eventbrite. They are very low cost. I just saved the tickets on my phone. Your visit will be an hour time slot. There are clear directions for parking and what to do when you arrive on the site.
- The Smith-McDowell House Museum is located on the Asheville-Buncombe Technical College (AB Tech) campus in what is basically downtown Asheville. It’s not too far from the Biltmore Estate.
- Stay informed about Covid protocols! When I visited December 30, 2021 masks were required. The county mask mandate was recently lifted. That being said, some places in Asheville still require masks. Check the website before your visit to get the latest info.
- Make sure and check out https://www.civilwartrails.org/ and follow them on social media as well. There is a North Carolina Civil War Trails sign in front of the house. If you’re a real history nerd, make sure and post a selfie with the sign and tag them on Twitter or Instagram. They are very responsive! I know because I posted one haha.
- When you arrive, a docent will give you an introduction on the history of the house and then be available to answer questions as you check out the place by yourself. There is an outdoor component that you can look at it, but if the weather is bad you should still get a lot out of the inside.
- Much to my disappointment, there is no gift shop. I am a sucker for a gift shop. So maybe it’s a good thing they don’t have one. They do have free post cards. Don’t tell anyone that I took 2 of them!
- They do offer field trips. My teacher heart loved how things were labeled for a scavenger hunt! Stand by for more info about a special activity kiddos can do (on a field trip or not) before leaving!
Now that we have that stuff out of the way, let’s get to my visit! Like I mentioned I did make a TikTok video and take a selfie upon arrival. That’s kind of my “MO.” You can skip that part. You start by knocking on the front door. When I went is was decorated for Christmas which you can tell in the videos! The docent will do a much better job at giving you historical details than I will, so I am not even going to attempt to do so. I’ll just give you some of the takeaways I found to be most interesting.
- What I found to be unusual was the number of owners that the home has had. Normally a historic home stays in one family. This one definitely has not.
- Naturally there is a friends of the Vanderbilt family connection with one set of owners. The home was even vacant for a number of years in addition to being some kind of boys’ school.
- There is “graffiti” etched into the bricks and is thought to have been done by some rowdy boys.
- There has been a wedding in the house. One part of the staircase was added for that specific purpose. There are some other cool facts involving the architecture of the staircase that you’ll find out about when you visit!
- At one time the house was a learning space for interior design students! You can see all kinds of various techniques utilized with wallpaper and other décor.
- Speaking of décor, each room is designed to showcase a different time period. There are signs with additional information about the time period as accompaniment.
- Lots of WNCHA programming now features the history of African Americans in the region. When you visit the Smith-McDowell House Museum, you will notice the inclusion of the history of enslavement in the area which is a part of Buncombe County’s past visitors may not be aware of.
The first thing I did when I got there was go to visit the basement part on the off chance that it was creepy. I noticed that the docent and a couple of other people were going so I thought it would be perfect to go with them. This is coming from a person who freaked out in a haunted museum in San Diego. Turns out it wasn’t creepy because there was a window. And it just wasn’t scary period. There were all kinds of cool kitchen artifacts and some of that “graffiti” I mentioned above.
The next part of the house I visited was the Fort San Juan exhibit in the main level. This is the part of the museum that can vary. To be honest, I had no idea there was a Spanish occupation of any of North Carolina. I learned a lot from this exhibit! In my defense, I am a Georgia native! Make sure and check out the unique design style of the room no matter what exhibit is going on when you visit.
The last part of the interior house I visited was the upstairs. I took lots of pictures and videos. I was definitely there my entire hour! I was respectful and did not live stream inside haha. It didn’t seem to be an issue to take pictures or videos inside. The docent was fully aware. Always pay attention to those sort of policies when you visit historical sites! Here is an overview to give you a glimpse into some of the sights. You’ll get the details from a far more qualified person when you visit. The docent was very friendly and happy to answer questions.
As someone who is a mom and a teacher by trade in addition to being an American History nerd, my favorite part of the visit was outside in a separate building. This is where you can create something that encapsulates you as a sort of time capsule. There are all sorts of supplies. I had all the feels seeing the creations! I didn’t make my own despite really wanting to.
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