Copyright Notice: This content is from the North Carolina Gazetteer, edited by William S. Powell and Michael Hill. Copyright © 2010 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

This content is from the North Carolina Gazetteer, edited by William S. Powell and Michael Hill. Copyright © 2010 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

Some place names included in The North Carolina Gazetteer contain terms that are considered offensive.

Preface to the 2nd edition
Preface to the 1st edition
Acknowledgments
Tips for Searching the Gazetteer

"The North Carolina Gazetteer is a geographical dictionary in which an attempt has been made to list all of the geographic features of the state in one alphabet. It is current, and it is historical as well. Many features and places that no longer exist are included; many towns and counties for which plans were made but which never materialized are also included. Some names appearing on old maps may have been imaginary, but many of them also appear in this gazetteer.

Each entry is located according to the county in which it is found. I have not felt obliged to keep entries uniform. The altitude of a place, the date of incorporation of a city or town, may appear in the beginning of one entry and at the end of another. Some entries may appear more complete than others. I have included whatever information I could find. If there is no comment on the origin or meaning of a name, it is because the information was not available. In some cases, however, resort to an unabridged dictionary may suggest the meaning of many names."

--From The North Carolina Gazetteer, 1st edition, preface by William S. Powell

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Place Description
Nantahala Lake

in Clay and Macon Counties on the headwaters of Nantahala River. Dam completed in 1942. Area 1,605 acres; max. depth 225 ft.; shoreline 30 mi. Owned by Nantahala Power and Light Company and used for the generation of electricity. Nantahala is an Indian word meaning "sun in the middle" and was applied to the gorge through which the river runs.
Nantahala Mountain Range

lies between the Great Smoky Mountains on the N and the Blue Ridge on the s. It extends about 50 mi. across Macon County from the junction of Nantahala and Little Tennessee Rivers in Swain County to Tallulah Falls, Ga.
Nantahala National Forest

in portions of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Swain, and Transylvania Counties, was est. in 1911 and includes 531,286 acres. Nature trails, mountain climbing, picnicking, and other recreational uses. See also Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.
Nantahala River

rises in SW Macon County and flows NW to the Clay-Macon county line, which it forms for a part of its course; it then flows into Graham County, where it enters Little Tennessee River. See also Camp Branch Falls.
Nantahala Township

NW Macon County.
Naomi Falls

See Randleman.
Naples

community in N Henderson County. Alt. 2,080. A cooperative school and hospital are maintained there by Seventh-Day Adventists. Named 1901 when a post office was est. there because Mud Creek in the valley below often flooded, reminding a local resident of the Bay of Naples.
Narassa

community in NE Brunswick County. Produces lumber and fertilizers.
Narhantes

See Nahunta Swamp.
Narrow Ridge

NE Yancey County between Green Mountain and Brush Creek.