Explore Asheville’s past with Tombstone Tales, a series uncovering the stories of iconic figures buried in the area. From local legends to unsung heroes, these historical highlights bring history to life—one grave at a time.
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Things to do in Asheville and WNC: Oct. 2-4 events
Bascom Lamar Lunsford Mountain Music Festival, Oktoberfest, Asheville Grass Open, Mars Hill First Friday, Sylvan Esso, theater and fall events are among the weekend options across WNC.
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Tombstone Tales: The countess, the governess and a family mystery in Flat Rock
Behind an iron fence at St. John in the Wilderness rest a French aristocratic family, a son who helped shape Hendersonville and the English governess they buried as one of their own.
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Tombstone Tales: Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s remarkable life
The Asheville lawyer, folklorist and festival organizer spent decades preserving Western North Carolina’s songs, dances and mountain traditions.
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Tombstone Tales: WNC soldier’s death tells another story of World War I
Horace G. Presley never saw a World War I battlefield. His death months after serving at an Army camp devastated by influenza reflects a question Americans faced at the time: What did it mean to die for your country?
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Tombstone Tales: A Fairview grave says James Brevard ‘became a seraph.’ Who was he?
Buried at Cane Creek Cemetery in 1847, the farmer, postmaster and state legislator left a public record that helps explain an extraordinary epitaph.
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Tombstone Tales: The Reems Creek pitcher who played one game in the Major Leagues
Richard “Rome” Chambers became the first known Western North Carolina native to play Major League Baseball before returning home to Buncombe County, where he died just one day before his 27th birthday.
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Tombstone Tales: A Revolutionary War veteran’s grave in Mitchell County tells a WNC story for July Fourth
At Kona Baptist Church Cemetery, a memorial to George Silver carries the story of American independence into the Toe River Valley and a family legacy deeply rooted in Western North Carolina.
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Tombstone Tales: Flat Rock grave links to Declaration of Independence signer
As America marks its 250th anniversary, a grave at St. John in the Wilderness Cemetery connects Flat Rock to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a young man remembered not for his famous name, but for his character.
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Tombstone Tales: Biltmore Estate stone was used to carve this historic Asheville cemetery angel
The Riverside Cemetery monument was carved by English stoneworker Fred Miles from limestone left over from Biltmore Estate’s construction.
