Italwa

Italwa lies in the mountain country along the French Broad River, near Marshall. North of Asheville the river passes through steep valleys toward Tennessee. The Buncombe Turnpike followed its course, providing a route for drovers carrying livestock to markets farther south. Completed in 1827, the road brought traffic through the mountains; in the 1830s David and Mira Vance opened a drovers' stand near Marshall to serve travellers.