Jackson County, North Carolina

	Jackson County
	Founded 1851
	Website www.jacksonnc.org

Jackson County is a county located in the southwest of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 33,121. Since 1913 its county seat has been Sylva Template:GR, replacing Webster.

History

The county was formed in 1852 from parts of Haywood County and Macon County. It was named for Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1829 to 1837.

In 1861 parts of Jackson County and Henderson County were combined to form Transylvania County. In 1871 parts of Jackson County and Macon County were combined to form Swain County.

Law & Government

Jackson County is a member of the regional Southwestern Commission council of governments.

Jackson County contains a portion of the Qualla Boundary, a tribal reservation for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which is subject mostly to tribal/federal laws rather than county or state laws.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 494 square miles (1,281 km²), of which, 491 square miles (1,271 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (10 km²) of it (0.77%) is water.

Townships

The county is divided into fifteen townships: Barker's Creek, Canada, Caney Fork, Cashiers, Cullowhee, Dillsboro, Greens Creek, Hamburg, Mountain, Qualla, River, Savannah, Scotts Creek, Sylva, and Webster. (map)

Adjacent counties

Haywood County, North Carolina - northeast
Transylvania County, North Carolina - east
Oconee County, South Carolina - south
Macon County, North Carolina - west
Swain County, North Carolina - northwest

National protected areas

Blue Ridge Parkway (part)
Nantahala National Forest (part)

Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 33,121 people, 13,191 households, and 8,587 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile (26/km²). There were 19,291 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.68% White, 1.67% Black or African American, 10.20% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.38% from two or more races. 1.74% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.5% were of American, 13.7% English, 11.3% Irish, 10.5% German and 9.2% Scots-Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.3% spoke English, 2.1% Spanish and 1.5% Cherokee as their first language.

There were 13,191 households out of which 25.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.40% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.00% under the age of 18, 17.90% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 25.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,552, and the median income for a family was $40,876. Males had a median income of $27,738 versus $22,029 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,582. About 9.50% of families and 15.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 15.20% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Map of Jackson County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

Balsam (unincorporated, Scott Creek township)
Cashiers (unincorporated, Cashiers township)
Cullowhee (unincorporated, Cullowhee township)
Dillsboro (incorporated town, Dillsboro township)
Forest Hills ("village")
Glenville (unincorporated, Hamburg township)
Highlands (10% of incorporated town, Cashiers township)
Savannah (unincorporated)
Sylva (incorporated town, Sylva township)
Webster (incorporated town, Webster township)

Transportation

Roads & Highways

Jackson County is serviced by three main roads: The Great Smoky Mountains Expressway runs East-West across the northern half of the county and connects the county seat of Sylva to Waynesville and Asheville in the east and Cherokee, Andrews and Murphy in the west. North Carolina State Highway 107 connects Sylva and Western Carolina University to Cashiers in the south. U.S. Highway 64 traverses East-West across the southern part of the county connecting Cashiers to Brevard in the east and Highlands in the west.

Railroads

Norfolk Southern Railway operates a portion the Murphy Branch through Jackson County, providing a rail connection with the rest of the country. In Sylva, NC, Norfolk Southern connects with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Interchange between the two lines is handled near Jackson Paper Company. Great Smoky Mountains Railroad operates the rest of the Murphy Branch from Dillsboro, NC to Andrews, NC.

Airports

The county contains one airport, the Jackson County Airport located one mile (1.6 km) east of Cullowhee.

Churches

Buff Creek Baptist Church is located just outside of Sylva. It is a small, conservative church with a family atmosphere. Church Website

Grace Community Church is a new church with casual, contemporary worship that meets at the Sylva Inn. Rich Peoples is the church's pastor. Church Website

Dick's Creek is a road and community just west of Dillsboro, North Carolina, off of highway 74 in Jackson County. Just over Template:Convert up the road on the right is historic Dick's Creek Baptist Church built in 1903. Until 1946 this church was used as both a church and school. As of 2009, services are still held.

LifeWay Community Church is located in the heart of downtown Sylva. A non-denominational church, LifeWay meets weekly on Sunday mornings at their main campus and has small group meetings on Wednesday evenings throughout Jackson and Swain counties. Church Website

Popular culture

Several movies have been filmed in the county including the 1993 blockbuster action-adventure The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, the 1972 drama Deliverance and the 1996 comedy My Fellow Americans starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner.

The train wreck scene in The Fugitive was filmed in Dillsboro along the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. The wreckage set can still be viewed on outbound train excursions from Dillsboro. The later scene in a small hospital was filmed at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva.

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad was also used in the filming of My Fellow Americans when they stumble on to a charter train full of UNC-Chapel Hill fans headed for the NCAA Final Four.

Mill Street on the back side of downtown Sylva was used for a short driving scene in the filming of Deliverance.

Ron Rash's 2008 novel, "Serena," features Jackson County.

References

External links

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia adapted for use as a quick research reference on this wiki. The original content was here: Jackson County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the ENC Phillips Group Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.