This is the new and modern Jackson County Justice Center, completed in 1995 and is a short distance…read morefrom the historic courthouse in downtown. While the older courthouse is a Classical Revival landmark, the Justice Center reflects late twentieth-century civic architecture focused on efficiency and consolidated county services. It has a modern institutional design, prioritizing function over ornament. The building is a two story brown colored brick structure in a rectangular shape with large window bands and controlled entry points, reflecting modern security needs. The northeast and southwest sides are the only real ornamentation - the entrances are flanked by stone pillars. Jackson County was formed in 1851 and Webster was the original county seat. In 1913, the county seat was moved to Sylva which is also when the historic courthouse was built. [Review 530 of 2026 - 4625 in North Carolina - 25712 overall]

Nice courthouse, plenty of good parking and professional, friendly courthouse staff…read more Make certain to arrive early, as it can take some time to go through security. Leave all weapons, mace, etc., at home.

The Haywood County Courthouse is adjacent to the modern Haywood County Justice Center. The historic…read morecourthouse was completed in 1932 in a Classical Revival / Neo-Classical style, a three story stone-veneered structure. It has a projecting entrance pavilion, a pedimented frontispiece (the triangular "temple front" design) and engaged Doric columns, all characteristic of the style and of the times when counties were still choosing monumental, traditional forms to project stability. The county was formed in 1808 from Buncombe County and named for John Haywood, longtime North Carolina state treasurer. The county seat has always been here, though it was originally named Mount Prospect and renamed Waynesville in 1811. Adjacent but part of the same street address is the Haywood County Justice Center, a contemporary purpose-built judicial complex that was designed for efficiency, security and high-volume daily court operations. It's a sharp contrast to its neighbor and was completed in 2005. On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, both buildings were secured but that did make it easy to find parking and then walk the grounds to get photos and examine the many war memorials. The Confederate veterans memorial is a simple granite stone with a brass plaque. [Review 535 of 2026 - 4630 in North Carolina - 25717 overall]

OK, quick anecdote. In the very late eighties, I had an Estée Lauder addiction. Once, at the shore…read moremall, I went for my tri-monthly fix of blue liquid anything. The woman who worked the EL counter was annoyed that a teen was trying to buy her products. In fact, she would not let me buy what I wanted. She suggested a spray hair oil. As I used to be majorly passive, I bought the spray. When I went to use it, I discovered it was broken. Flash forward to the mid-late nineties this time to Center City Philly, Strawbridge's. A well dressed employee was berating her fellow employee loudly, basically telling her to get out of her way. The yellee just smiled and tried her best with her huge, awkward burden to get out of her way. I instantly recognized the yeller as the EL seller from South Jersey. I quickly found out how to complain, and marched up faux Greek temple steps and into the arms of devastating Englishmen. Well, not quite, but I did lodge a complaint about that monster. Moral of the story: You never know who you will have to deal with in the future- Dike or Medusa. Which ties in to this review. June Ray, the past clerk, has moved on to be the clerk of Cherokee County. Sometimes, she was OK. Other times, she was not. If I had known that nobody had ever challenged her position as clerk, I would have run for clerk, pigeon toe and all. The first time I went to the clerk's office, Ms. Ray did not want to give me a copy of my grandmother's will. In the time it took to subtly harass me, she would have finished the task. Sometimes she acted bothered, sometimes she gave you a free copy or extra info. Despite the fact that she kept an all-female staff, I think she liked men better. Speaking of Ms. Ray's staff, some of them may still be there. And some of them were not so great. One woman was visibly annoyed that she had to work. If you rung the bell for service, most of the women ignored your plea for help. The women who came to the window seemed random; it may have very well been their job to help the public. The estate clerk was a sweetheart. She was an expert and took the time to educate me. Here is the crux: We had been trying to evict my deceased father's wife and company from our shared business premises. When my Ashevillian lawyer faxed in a continuance for the case to the clerk's office, she was told that she could not do so. They told her that she had to do it in person. That was a lie. After I fired my lawyer, we went shopping for a local one. One local lawyer told us that he had no problem faxing over continuances. That means that the clerk's office employees- some of who may still work there presently- had no problem lying to us or wasting hundreds, nay, even thousands of my dollars. Even though my lawyer was going on her third monthly vacation, the employees who refused her continuance fax cost me extra because I had to pay her to work through that problem. Every day that my father's wife and her alcoholic clique stayed at our business caused us to lose business and property (due to destruction and theft). Was someone just in a bad mood that day? Or was it favoritism? An anti-urban/Asheville element? I will never know. On top of that, later, when I was composing a complaint about my former lawyer to submit to the state bar, I asked an employee to speak with the magistrate, Mr. Wood, whom had presided over my eviction case. The employee told me that he had left the building and told me to go the sheriff's office, as Mr. Wood had headed over there. This may have been a lie. Mr. Wood never showed up at the sheriff's, or he arrived through the back door and hid, or he was still chillin' at the clerk's office. (In a bizarre twist, the Sheriff's office gave me the same runaround.) Ironically, if you want to complain about a clerk, you have to ask to talk to a magistrate. You may be thwarted from doing so. Even worse, Mr. Wood, who campaigned to become the new clerk after Ray left, was found to have acted unethically while he was a magistrate. Can you imagine if he had become clerk? We may provide through taxes the salary of the clerk and the employees who work at the clerk's office. We deserve to be treated justly and fairly. We are their job security. If nobody needed wills or judgement documents, they would not have a job. In the end, this clerk's office affected my past, present, and future- both positively and negatively. I hope you have better luck. Note: Mr. Hunter Plemmons is the new clerk. Re: Yelp review on the Sheriff's Office of Haywood County.

Just a block from the Historic Swain County Courthouse (now the Heritage museum), this marker…read morepoints out some Civil War history that took place nearby. The marker reads, "Site of Union attack on Thomas's Legion, Feb. 2, 1864. Reduced Cherokee support for Confederacy. One mile northeast." and it is marker Q-8. It was erected in 2010 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. Brigadier General Robeert Vance's brief 1864 raid into Gatlinburg collapsed when Union cavalry scattered his force, leaving Colonel William Holland Thomas and his small Cherokee detachment to retreat into North Carolina. Union troops caught Thomas at Deep Creek on February 2, overrunning the camp and capturing thirty-two men, including eighteen Cherokees who later took the Union oath, and in some cases, enlisted in the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry. A second raid soon captured thirty-three more of Thomas's Cherokees, who were courted by Union authorities and likewise switched allegiance. The Deep Creek defeat, combined with hunger, inflation, internal tensions, and continued Union raids, shattered Cherokee support for Thomas and accelerated desertion from the Confederate cause. [Review 528 of 2026 - 4623 in North Carolina - 25710 overall]

As several counties have done, the Swain County Courthouse was turned into a heritage museum when…read morecourthouse functions were moved to a modern building elsewhere. This is the "historic" courthouse. Completed in 1909 and designed by Frank Milburn who has done several other courthouse I have visited (Wayne County Courthouse in Goldsboro North Carolina, the Columbia County in Lake City Florida, Wise County Virginia, Boyd County Catlettsburg Kentucky and Lowndes County Valdosta Georga). The front has a large portico supported by four ionic columns with a pediment at the roof line. On the center of the roof is an octagonal dome with a clock. On this rainy Saturday afternoon, we opted not to tour the museum but did walk the grounds. It's an imposing building, much more so than the current modern courthouse not far away. [Review 524 of 2026 - 4619 in North Carolina - 25706 overall]

BLUF: Museum telling the history of Swain County plus a Gift Shop for Smoky Mountain National Park…read morein the historic circa 1907 courthouse. I love local museums so I was looking forward to checking out the exhibits in the former Swain County courthouse that dates back to 1907. Today the courthouse is the Swain County Heritage Center and in addition to providing exhibits that tell the history of the county, it also has a sizable gift shop related to Smoky Mountains National Park. As a bonus, those planning to visit the National Park can purchase a parking pass at the gift shop. Also, there are restrooms inside the building. I was impressed with how nice the exhibits were and it was helpful to understand the roots of Swain County. I particularly enjoyed learning about the original purpose of the tracks that are now used by the Smoky Mountains Railroad for tourism purposes. The museum is well curated and covers many different aspects of Swain County. For those wanting to pop into the museum, there is street parking in the area as well as a small lot behind The Hotel Everett that is right next to the museum. We appreciated how welcoming the employees were.

This marker sits just off US-19, right across the river from Bryson City, with a handy parking lot…read moreadjacent that makes it an easy pull-off. It highlights Horace Kephart, the writer, naturalist and librarian whose book "Out Southern Highlands" became one of the defining works about life in the Appalachian Mountains. The marker also notes that a nearby peak, Mount Kephart, was named in his honor. If you're passing through, it's a quick and worthwhile stop. The setting is quiet, the river is right there and the marker gives you a snapshot of a man who helped shape both the literature and the preservation of the Smokies. It is marker number Q-41 and it was erected in 1951 by the Archives Conservation and Highway Departments. [Review 521 of 2026 - 4616 in North Carolina - 25703 overall]

Times change and the language we use to describe those times changes. This marker near the Swain…read moreCounty Heritage Museum in the center of Bryson City used to say something else. The Treaty of New Echota set the stage for the forced removal of the Cherokee, and although many North Carolina Cherokee resisted, including Tsali who became the most famous of the resisters with oral tradition portraying him as a martyr who surrendered himself so that others could remain in North Carolina, even though government records show he never voluntarily gave himself up and was executed after being captured. The aftermath allowed Euchella's group and the Oconaluftee Cherokees to stay, and over time Tsali's story grew into a powerful but romanticized legend central to Cherokee cultural memory. The original marker said, "Tsali. Cherokee brave, surrendered to General Scott to be shot near here, 1838, that remnant of tribe might remain in North Carolina." Today, the marker reads, "Tsali. Cherokee who resisted removal and escaped from United States troops, executed nearby, 1838. Story inspired 'Until These Hills.'" This is marker number Q-3 and it was erected in 2010 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. [Review 527 of 2026 - 4622 in North Carolina - 25709 overall]

Start here! Great resource for brochures, maps, recommendations, basic tourist information. We were…read morelooking for a restaurant and the friendly volunteer gave us several recommendations with sample menus. Answered my questions about pottery for sale in the area with a very handy map. Then helped us find a new route home for some additional sight seeing...with a map! All the info was friendly and FREE! Just follow the visitor info signs and start your day here to make life easier. :)

One of the friendliest Mountain Towns in America with everything an active family needs to be…read moreoutdoors with Nature.

It's a small town with a few stores to go to. They have the Bryson City train (steam and diesel)…read moreit's a 4 hr ride. It cost about 56-60 for the general admission. We missed the time frame (11am) so we didn't get to go. They offer one with dinner and drinks I believe and it's of course more expensive. They have a Walgreens, a dollar general, two gas stations and they have a visitors center. Small but cute. They have cabins up in the hills and it's close to the National park.