Was Biltmore Built by Slaves?

by Mark Derewicz. When Darin Waters was growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, people told him that George Vanderbilt

forced blacks off their land to create the Biltmore Estate — some 120,000 acres and a huge chateau in the middle of Appalachia.

Were there slaves at the Biltmore House?

The old Shiloh neighborhood included approximately a dozen former slaves. It included several homes dotted along what once was the land of their former owner, a church, and a cemetery. When Vanderbilt bought the property, he paid $1,000 to the church.

Who built Biltmore Estate?

After visiting Asheville in 1888, George Vanderbilt began the process of building his country home. Construction began in 1889 and Biltmore House was first opened to friends and family on Christmas Eve, 1895.