BUNCOMBE COUNTY

The county was formed in 1791 from parts of Burke County and Rutherford County. It was named for Edward Buncombe, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War, who was captured at the Battle of Germantown.

In 1808 the western part of Buncombe County became Haywood County. In 1833 parts of Burke County and Buncombe County were combined to form Yancey County, and in 1838 the southern part of what was left of Buncombe County became Henderson County. Finally, in 1852 parts of Buncombe County and Yancey County were combined to form Madison County.

In 1820, a U.S. Congressman, whose district included Buncombe County, unintentionally contributed a word to the English language. In the Sixteenth Congress, after lengthy debate on the Missouri Compromise, members of the House called for an immediate vote on that important question. Instead, Felix Walker rose to addres his collegues, insisting that his constitients expected him to make a speech "for Buncombe." It was later remarked that Walker's intimely and irrelevent oration was not just for Buncombe--it "was Buncombe." Thus, buncombe, afterwards spelled bunkum and then shortened to bunk, became a term for empty, nonsensical talk.

The French Broad River enters the county at its border with Henderson County to the south and flows north into Madison County. Yhe source of the Swannanoa River, which joins the French Broad River in Asheville, is in northeast Buncombe County at Mount Mitchell. A milestone was achieved in 2003 when Interstate 26 was extended from Mars Hill (north of Asheville) to Johnson City, Tennessee completing a 20-year half-billion dollar construction project through the Blue Ridge Mountains.