CHEROKEE COUNTY

Cherokee was formed in 1839 from Macon. It was named in honor of the Indian tribe who still live in the western part of the State. It is in the western section of the State and is bounded by the states of Georgia and Tennessee and Graham, Swain, Macon and Clay counties. The present land area is 455.19 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 27,444. Of that population, 25,700 were white, 350 were black or African American, 363 were American Indian, 132 were Asian, 9 were Pacific Islander and 215 were of a different race. Another 675 were reported to be of two or more races and 688 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The courts were ordered to be held at one of the houses at Fort Butler until a courthouse could be erected. Fort Butler was in the town of Murphy. Murphy is the county seat.

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Most of Cherokee County is in the Hiwassee River Basin but some of it falls in the Little Tennessee River Basin. It is located in the mountain region of the state.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections. (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)