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Cherokee County, North Carolina
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==History== This area was occupied for thousands of years by indigenous peoples who settled in the river valleys. It was part of the historic [[Cherokee]] homelands, a large territory composed of areas of what are now western Virginia, western North and South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northeastern Georgia. The area that would become Cherokee County was explored by Spanish conquistador [[Hernando de Soto|Hernando DeSoto]] as early as 1540.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cherokee County, North Carolina |url=https://www.carolana.com/NC/Counties/cherokee_county_nc.html |access-date=April 13, 2024 |website=www.carolana.com}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Conn |first=J. Stephen |title=De Soto Historical Marker |date=September 24, 2010 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/6860035880/ |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref> In 1813, the first highway was built through the area. The [[Unicoi Turnpike]] was the first to link [[East Tennessee]], [[North Georgia]], and [[Western North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hyatt, Jr. |first1=Bass |title=Brasstown Valley Myths & History |chapter=Unicoi Turnpike |editor-last=Avett |editor-first=Wally |location=Blairsville, Georgia |publisher=Straub Publishing |year=2018 |page=14 |isbn=9780991372669 }}</ref> Early white farmers who wed [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were granted property along the [[Nottely River|Nottley River]] in 1817.<ref name=":03">{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Sarah |date=December 2023 |title=Culberson: Railroad powerhouse of Cherokee County |work=Celebrating our communities of Cherokee County: Volume 1 |publisher=[[Cherokee Scout]] |pages=32β36}}</ref> A Baptist mission center was established in the area as early as 1820.<ref name=":3">{{Citation |last=Williams |first=Ms. Michael Ann |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form β Harshaw Chapel and Cemetery |date=July 14, 1983 |url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/CE0003.pdf}} Retrieved April 15, 2024.</ref> European Americans began to settle near present-day Murphy and a [[trading post]] was established prior to 1828.<ref name="walker">{{Cite book |last=Walker-Freel |first=Margaret |title=OUR HERITAGE |publisher=The Miller Printing Company |year=1956 |location=Asheville, N.C. |pages=51}}</ref> The Old Tatham House at the base of Pisgah Road near [[Andrews, North Carolina|Andrews]] was built in 1833. The two-story log cabin built by Thomas Tatham is the oldest surviving structure in the county.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=David |date=2024-09-18 |title=This week in local history |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=7A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Skirmish at Hanging Dog Creek was one of Civil War's last |url=https://eracmh.blogspot.com/2009/08/skirmish-at-hanging-dog-creek-was-one.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Tales From a Mountain Real Estate Office}}</ref> [[Fort Butler (Murphy, North Carolina)|Fort Butler]] was built near Murphy in July 1836 and early court trials were held there.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Voyles |first=Bruce |date=April 11, 2023 |title=Southwest North Carolina a land of forts |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/opinion/southwest-north-carolina-land-forts |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC}}</ref> In fall 1838, the area's land was put up for public sale in [[Franklin, North Carolina|Franklin]].<ref name=":3" /> Cherokee County was formed in 1839 from [[Macon County, North Carolina|Macon County]] and named for the Cherokee Native Americans.{{sfn|Corbitt|1987|p=62}} A proposal to name the county [[Junaluska]], in honor of the Cherokee leader, was rejected.<ref>{{cite news |last=Voyles |first=Bruce |date=January 17, 2024 |title=Five courthouses in Cherokee County |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/opinion-newsletter/five-courthouses-cherokee-county |access-date=January 21, 2024 |work=Cherokee Scout |publisher=Community Newspapers, Inc. |location=Murphy, NC |page=5A}}</ref> The county's first brick courthouse was constructed in 1844 in downtown Murphy.<ref name="courthistory">{{cite news |date=1927-11-18 |title=Formally open Cherokee's new courthouse |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83004710/1927-11-18/ed-1/seq-1/ |work=The Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, NC}} Retrieved January 25, 2024.</ref> Murphy was incorporated as the county seat in 1851.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Murphy {{!}} Murphy NC |url=https://www.townofmurphync.com/community/page/about-murphy |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=www.townofmurphync.com |language=en}}</ref> Cherokee County's first industry, a tannery northeast of what would become Andrews, was established by James Stewart in 1852.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Sarah |date=December 1, 2023 |title=Andrews: the Comeback King |work=Celebrating Our Communities of Cherokee County |publisher=[[Cherokee Scout]] |volume=1}}</ref> As European-American population increased in the area in the 19th century, the state legislature created new counties. In 1861 the southeastern part of Cherokee County became [[Clay County, North Carolina|Clay County]]. In 1872, its northeastern part was separated and organized as [[Graham County, North Carolina|Graham County]]. [[Harshaw Chapel and Cemetery|Harshaw Chapel]], the oldest brick structure and church building in Cherokee County, was constructed in 1869.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Harshaw Chapel and Cemetery Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=187501 |access-date=April 13, 2024 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> In the late 19th century, there was widespread interest in Native American cultures. In the 1870s, the Valentine brothers of [[Richmond, Virginia]], caused extensive damage to at least eight ancient mounds in Cherokee, Haywood, Jackson, and Swain counties. They roughly excavated and looted them, seeking artifacts for the museum of their father, Mann S. Valentine, which he operated in Richmond.<ref name="stone">{{cite news|url=https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18153-protecting-the-past-mounds-hold-key-to-understanding-cherokee-history|title=Protecting the past: Mounds hold key to understanding Cherokee history|last=Stone|first=Jessi|work=Smoky Mountain News|date=August 3, 2016|access-date=December 19, 2020}}</ref> The railroad came to Cherokee County in 1887, with Georgia & North Carolina Railroad's narrow gauge line from [[Marietta, Georgia|Marietta]] to [[Culberson, North Carolina|Culberson]] β then the largest town in the county.<ref name=":03" /> The train reached Murphy the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fain, George Mercer, 1820-1893 {{!}} ArchivesSpace Public Interface |url=https://wcu.lyrasistechnology.org/agents/people/340 |access-date=April 15, 2024 |website=wcu.lyrasistechnology.org}}</ref> The county's newspaper, the ''Cherokee Scout'', was founded in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/about |access-date=April 15, 2024 |website=Cherokee Scout}}</ref> ===20th century to present=== The first known brick house in the county, the John Tatham House, was north of Andrews. It was destroyed in the early 1900s.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2007 |title=Town of Andrews Design Guidelines |url=https://regiona.org/wp-content/uploads/Town-of-Andrews-Design-Guidelines_9-27-2007.pdf |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Regiona.org}}</ref> The 43-inmate Cherokee County Jail was built in downtown Murphy in 1922. The current [[Cherokee County Courthouse (North Carolina)|Cherokee County Courthouse]] was constructed next door four years later.<ref name="courthistory" /> The jail was demolished in 2008 after a new 150-inmate detention center was completed on Regal Street.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Randy |date=2024-10-23 |title=Inmate injured in escape attempt |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |pages=1A, 8A}}</ref> The nation's oldest and largest folk school, [[John C. Campbell Folk School]], was founded in southeast Cherokee County in 1925.<ref>{{cite web |last=Eiben |first=Vicky |date=2015 |title=A brief history of folk schools |url=https://folkschoolalliance.org/a-brief-history-of-folk-schools |work=Folk Education Association of America |publisher=Folk School Alliance |quote=The John C. Campbell Folk School founded in 1925 in Brasstown, North Carolina is the largest folk school in the U.S. today.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=region: Brasstown, Hayesville |url=https://www.visitsmokies.org/regions/brasstown-hayesville/ |work=Great Smoky Mountains North Carolina |quote=Nation's oldest folk school founded in 1925.}}</ref> The county's first medical institution was Petrie Hospital, founded in November 1933 by Dr. R.W. Petrie, an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. The hospital was a two-story white brick building atop a hill on Peachtree Street in downtown Murphy. It started with four registered nurses and a capacity of 21 patients.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83004710/1935-12-24/ed-1/seq-1/#words=PETRlE+HOSPITAL |access-date=January 18, 2024 |title=Petrie Hospital Here is Granted a State Charter |work=The Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, NC |date=December 24, 1935 |page=A1}}</ref> The [[Sisters of Providence of Holyoke]] came to Murphy in 1956 to manage Petrie Hospital and renamed it Providence Hospital.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://st-william.net/history |access-date=January 18, 2024 |title=Our History |work=St. William Catholic Church}}</ref> The 22-bed Murphy General Hospital was built by Dr. F. V. Taylor in 1941 and closed in July 1969 due to insufficient staff and property.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=McKeever |first=Mrs. Hobart |date=January 29, 1961 |title=Cherokee County Shows Greatest Progress During 1950-60 Decade |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/201809295/?terms=cherokee%20county&match=1 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]] |page=77}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 24, 1969 |title=Murphy General Hospital Ceases Operation |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn95072291/1969-07-24/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=1}}</ref> In 1956, a $375,000, 30-bed non-profit regional hospital named District Memorial was constructed in Andrews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jan 29, 1961, page 77 - Asheville Citizen-Times at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/201809295/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83004710/1954-05-20/ed-1/seq-1/#words=District+Memorial |access-date=January 18, 2024 |title=Andrews to get $345,000 district hospital soon |work=The Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, NC |date=May 20, 1954 |page=A1}}</ref> In January 1974 the Murphy Town Council approved spending $4,000 on a study to see whether constructing a new hospital was feasible. Following this study, Providence Hospital closed in 1978 and Murphy Medical Center was founded in 1979.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=David |title=This week in local history |work=Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, NC |publisher=Community Newspapers, Inc. |date=January 17, 2024 |page=9A }}</ref> Citing uncollected payments, District Memorial Hospital declared bankruptcy in 2000, closed soon afterward, and was demolished.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20000612/PREMIUM/6120308/hospital-briefs |access-date=January 18, 2024 |title=Hospital Briefs |work=Modern Healthcare |publisher=Crain Communications |date=June 12, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McGoun |first=Bill |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/2020/07/25/pondering-plight-rural-hospitals-wnc-one-their-beds-asheville-nc-mission/5502080002/#:~:text=District%20Memorial%20Hospital%20in%20Andrews,in%201997%20to%20form%20WestCare. |access-date=January 18, 2024 |title=McGoun: Pondering the plight of rural hospitals in WNC from one of their beds |work=Citizen-Times |location=Asheville, NC |publisher=Gannett |date=July 25, 2020 |quote=District Memorial Hospital in Andrews is long gone and its buildings have been razed.}}</ref> Cherokee County operated on [[Central Time Zone|Central]] time as late as 1934.<ref>{{cite news |last=Robertson, Jr. |first=A.T. |date=September 27, 1934 |title=TVA Co-operating In Brasstown Program |pages=8β9 |work=The Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, North Carolina |format=PDF |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83004710/1934-09-27/ed-1/seq-9/ |access-date=October 30, 2023}}</ref> It is now located in the [[Eastern Time Zone]]. In the late 1930s, [[Hiwassee Dam]] was built in northwest Cherokee County by the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]], creating [[Hiwassee Lake]].<ref name="report1">Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Hiwassee Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Hiwassee Project'' (Hiwassee Valley Projects Volume 1), Technical Report No. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946), pp. 1β8, 39β40, 211, 230, 242, 248.</ref> It is the highest overspill dam in the Eastern United States and was the tallest in the world when it was completed in 1940.<ref name="NC Markers 2023-08-05">{{cite web |title=Hiawassee Dam |url=http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=Q-54 |accessdate=August 6, 2023 |work=North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program |publisher=North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources}}</ref> A second TVA dam, [[Apalachia Dam|Apalachia]], was built near the Tennessee border in 1942.<ref name="report12">Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Hiwassee Valley Projects Volume 2: The Apalachia, Ocoee No. 3, Nottely, and Chatuge Projects'', Technical Report No. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948), pp. 1β13, 33, 34β35, 331, 493β494, 517, 526, 531.</ref> In the 1950s, the world's largest and most powerful pump was added to Hiwassee Dam.<ref name=":0" /> The [[Nantahala Regional Library]], headquartered in Murphy, was organized in 1937. It is the oldest regional library in North Carolina and one of the first regional libraries formed in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Nantahala Regional Library |url=http://proofing.youseemore.com/redesigns/nantahala/contentpages.asp?loc=54 |access-date=March 4, 2024 |website=Nantahala Regional Library |place=Murphy, NC}}</ref> In the early 1940s, religious tourist attraction [[Fields of the Wood]] opened in western Cherokee County with the world's largest Christian cross and biggest [[Ten Commandments]], covering a mountainside.<ref name=":0" /> In June 1955, the county health department moved into a new building at its current location.<ref name=":0" /> [[Tri-County Community College]] was founded in [[Peachtree, North Carolina|Peachtree]] in late 1964.<ref name="Moorebook">{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Carl S. |title=Clay County, N.C.: Then and Now |publisher=Genealogy Publishing Service |year=2008 |isbn=978-1881851240 |location=Franklin, N.C.}}</ref> Cherokee County's only animal shelter, Valley River Humane Society, was founded in [[Marble, North Carolina|Marble]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Valley River Humane Society |url=https://valleyriverhumanesociety.org/about-vrhs/ |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=Valley River Humane Society}}</ref> A four-lane highway was built between Murphy and Andrews around 1977.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ward |first=Trawick |url=https://www.rla.unc.edu/Publications/pdf/misc/Andrews.pdf |title=An Archaeological Survey of the New U.S. 19-129 Route Between Andrews and Murphy in Cherokee Co. |date=April 1977 |publisher=The Research Laboratories of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill}}</ref> An F4 tornado in western Cherokee County killed four people (including two children) and injured 40 on April 3, 1974. It destroyed 45 homes near Murphy, causing $13 million (1974) in damages. The F4 was the deadliest of four tornadoes that struck the county during the first four days of April that year in the [[1974 Super Outbreak]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Brittany |date=April 6, 2017 |title=Murphy, N.C. woman remembers deadly tornadoes of 1974 |url=https://newschannel9.com/news/local/murphy-nc-woman-remembers-deadly-tornadoes-of-1974 |access-date=April 12, 2024 |website=WTVC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=David |date=April 10, 2024 |title=This Week in Local History |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/local/week-local-history-108 |access-date=April 12, 2024 |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=8A}}</ref> An EF-2 tornado hit Murphy the night of March 2, 2012, in the [[Tornado outbreak of March 2β3, 2012]], damaging businesses and temporarily closing two schools. An EF-1 tornado hit the Peachtree community on the night of May 8, 2024, in the [[Tornado outbreak of May 6β9, 2024]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=WTVC |date=2024-05-10 |title=NWS confirms tornadoes touched down in northeast Alabama, western North Carolina |url=https://newschannel9.com/news/local/nws-confirms-tornadoes-touched-down-in-northeast-alabama-western-north-carolina |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=WTVC |language=en}}</ref> The Cherokee County Historical Museum was founded in 1977 and occupies a former [[Carnegie library|Carnegie Library]] building in downtown Murphy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Randy |date=2025-01-15 |title=Town, museum tour old PD HQ |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |pages=1-8A}}</ref> In 2014, the [[U.S. Forest Service]] made the decision to close Hanging Dog Campground in Nantahala National Forest.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=David |date=2024-05-08 |title=This Week in Local History |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/local/week-local-history-111?check_logged_in=1 |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=6A}}</ref> A proposal to open a 1,200-acre state park at the site was dismissed by the [[North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources]] in 2023, as officials said the project would cost more than $20 million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cherokeescout.com/local-newsletter/hanging-dog-state-park |title=Hanging Dog State Park? |work=Cherokee Scout |location=Murphy, NC |publisher=Community Newspapers, Inc. |date=December 29, 2023 }}</ref> In 2025, Cherokee County's board of commissioners unanimously approved a petition to the federal government stating that the U.S. Forest Service owns too much land in the county, restricting private and commercial development, particularly along Hiwassee Lake. The petition further stated that the Forest Service is incapable of maintaining its property, hampering wildfire control, and it called on the agency to loosen logging restrictions. Lastly, the commission called for the Forest Service to relinquish property for a state park in the county.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Randy |date=2025-05-14 |title=Commissioners send a 'petition' of grievances to federal agencies |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=2A}}</ref> Tourism has become a major industry for Cherokee County. As of 2023, the tourism industry employs at least 590 people in the county and generates more than $100 million in annual visitor spending.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=David |date=2024-09-04 |title=County spending increases 2.6% |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |page=4A}}</ref>
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