Thomas Wolfe Memorial

This photo of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial was taken at 52 North Market Street Asheville, North Carolina.  The Thomas Wolfe Memorial was the home of of the American author Thomas Wolfe who lived here during his boyhood from 1906 to 1916.  His mother, Julia, purchased the boarding house, originally named Old Kentucky Home, in 1906.  She and Thomas moved in permanently soon afterwards while the rest of the family stayed at the Woodfin Street residence.  Thomas Wolfe used this place as the backdrop of his first novel Look Homeward, Angel published in 1929.  In addition many of the characters in the book were local Asheville persons. This did not set very kindly with some of the residents in Asheville and as a result Thomas Wolfe would not return to Asheville until many years later.