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Local residents
call Jackson County the "Great Variety Show." Visitors to the area
quickly learn that Jackson County has indeed earned the title. Within the
county's 499 square miles you will find spectacular scenery, important
historical locations, and a large part of the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Other
major points of interest include the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway
(Balsam Mountain) and, on the Jackson and Transylvania County line, Whitewater
Falls, the highest waterfall in Eastern United States. Western Carolina
University, located in Cullowhee, began in 1889 as a small school for mountain
children. Today the school is a comprehensive state university with more than
seven thousand students. Located at the entrance to the University is the
Mountain Heritage Center. This unique museum houses major exhibits which
illustrate the mountain society both past and present. In addition, a permanent
exhibit, "Migration of the Scotch-Irish People," portrays the history
of the Scotch-Irish as they left their native Scotland to settle in North
Ireland. Later generations came to the New World to settle in the hollows and
valleys of Western North Carolina. The Center is also home to the Mountain
Heritage Day, a festival that attracts more than 35,000 visitors for mountain
music, food, and crafts on the last Saturday in September. In 1880, the
Western North Carolina Railroad completed its track from the Piedmont to
Asheville. The track reached Waynesville by 1882, Bryson City in 1884, and
Murphy in 1891. The Railroad was responsible for much of the growth of the area.
Dillsboro began where the track ended until a tunnel could be built. Convict
laborers using pickaxes built the 836-foot tunnel. Nineteen laborers died in its
construction. Unused for
several years, the old Norfolk Southern lines were purchased by the state and
leased to the Great Smoky Mountains Railway. Again the railroad has been
responsible for much of the growth of the area. Based in Dillsboro, the railway
offers trips from Bryson City to the Nantahala Gorge, and from Dillsboro to
Bryson City. The trains are made up of passenger cars, both open and closed, and
pulled by either red, yellow, and blue diesel locomotives or by steam
locomotive. Traveling at 15 miles per hour, you have time to really enjoy the
view and the ride. Whiteside
Mountain, east of Highlands and west of Cashiers, is one of the most spectacular
mountains you will see in Western North Carolina. The mountain a part of the
Nantahala National Forest rises 2,100 feet with sheer rock walls rising
vertically four hundred to seven hundred feet.
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce/ Tourism
Authority, 773 West Main Street • Sylva, North Carolina 28779
828-586-2155 Campgrounds and cottage rentals with websites are underlined use your back button to return to us.
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