Welcome to Leicester ...

Leicester is located in Buncombe County<1>.

The location of Leicester has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Leicester, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1859.

Leicester is 2,080 feet [634 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Leicester lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Leicester is within the boundaries of the (828) area code.

Communities Also Named Leicester ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Leicester - they are located in Massachusetts, New York and Vermont.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Leicester.

Communities near Leicester ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Leicester.

• Asheville
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asheville
  • Asheville is located in Buncombe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 92,852 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Asheville <4>
• Fletcher
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fletcher have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
  • Fletcher is located in Henderson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,439 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fletcher <4>
• Mills River
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills River
  • Mills River is located in Henderson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,471 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mills River <4>
• Woodfin
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodfin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfin
  • Woodfin is located in Buncombe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,679 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodfin <4>
• Canton
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
  • Canton is located in Haywood County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,369 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <4>
• Weaverville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaverville
  • Weaverville is located in Buncombe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,039 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weaverville <4>
• Mars Hill
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
  • Mars Hill is located in Madison County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,881 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mars Hill <4>
• Biltmore Forest
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Biltmore Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Forest
  • Biltmore Forest is located in Buncombe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,431 people
• Clyde
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
  • Clyde is located in Haywood County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,308 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <4>
• Marshall
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Marshall is located in Madison County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 916 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshall <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Leicester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Leicester.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Leicester. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Leicester.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Leicester. See our Newspapers Page for Leicester.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Leicester ...

Looking for more information about Leicester? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Leicester, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Leicester.

Adding Leicester to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Leicester in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Leicester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Leicester post office opened in 1859.

We also found Leicester in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Leicester.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Leicester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Buncombe County: www.buncombecounty.org/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/