SWAIN COUNTY

Swain was formed in 1871 from Jackson and Macon counties. It was named in honor of David L. Swain, Governor of North Carolina and president of the University of North Carolina. It in the western section of the State and is bounded by the state of Tennessee and Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Cherokee, and Graham counties. The present land area is 528.10 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 13,981. Of that population, 9,315 were white, 76 were black or African American, 3,775 were American Indian, 67 were Asian, 4 were Pacific Islander and 150 were of a different race. Another 594 were reported to be of two or more races and 540 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The first court was ordered to be held at Cold Spring Meeting House. Special commissioners were named to select a site for the courthouse, provided all the commissioners could agree on a certain place. If they could not agree, the county commissioners were to submit the question of selecting a place to the voters. The county commissioners were to lay out a town by the name of Charleston which was to be the county seat. In 1889 Charleston was changed to Bryson City in honor of Colonel Thad Dillard Bryson. Bryson City is the county seat.

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Swain County is in the Little Tennessee River Basin and a part of 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)