The mayor of Hendersonville recently declared it to be "The Friendliest City for Retirees in America!" We think it’s pretty friendly to most everybody. During sweltering summers in the 1800s, residents from the Low Country of South Carolina would journey up the mountain to find relief in the cool air. There were so many Charlestonians that spent summers here that it became known as Little Charleston.

It is often said, "you can’t go home again." In fact, Thomas Wolfe from nearby Asheville wrote a book about it and was further inspired by an Italian marble angel in Oakdale Cemetery to pen Look Homeward Angel.

Walking just a short distance down Main Street, you’ll feel right at home in Downtown Hendersonville. And you’ll be walking in the footsteps of many famous visitors like George Vanderbilt, who stayed in Hendersonville part of the time while the Biltmore Estate was being built. Built in 1905, The Syndicate Building has hosted civic groups, shoppers, and even hosted a "turkey drop," and today it extends an invitation to you to wander back in time.