Henderson County was founded in 1838 for the southern portion of Bumcombe County. The county covers and area of 375 square miles. The county seat is Hendersonville. Henderson County received its name in honor of Leonard Henderson who served as the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1833.
During war time Henderson County supplied the Confederate States Army with 1,296 soldiers and 130 Union troops, this from a total population of approximately 10,000 .
Henderson County was pretty much isolated from the outside world until 1879 when the first rail line reached Hendersonville, marking the beginning of a new era. The county was so isolated until then that many people had made this there second home because of a major land boom, then the crash of 1929, severely deflated the valuations of the homes and land. This left many structures abandoned unfinished or incomplete. Henderson County once again began to flourish in the 1960’s with many of the rural areas being over populated with housing developments.
Henderson County has its fair share of historical sites, one being the Woodfield Inn, built in 1852, another being Connemara, originally known as Rock Hill, which was the final home of the well known Carl Sandberg.
The elevations of Henderson County vary from the lowest point of 1,200 feet above sea level to its highest peak of 5,200 feet above sea level.