Battle of Perryville

Andrews is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,667 at the 2020 census.[4]

Postcard of main street in 1950s

History

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Valley River was inhabited by Muscogee people. They constructed platform mounds in the centers of their towns. At least 14 existed within the limits. By the beginning of the 18th century, the Cherokee had pushed the Muscogee out and taken over their townsites. Many of the towns retained their original names.

Andrews was the site of two substantial Cherokee sister towns, Tomotla and Konohete. The meaning of Tomotla is lost. Konehete or Gu'nahitun'ya on the other hand can be translated to mean "Long Place" or "Long Valley."[5] The remains of the Andrews Mound[6] survived until 1975, when the land owner bulldozed the structure after it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. All of the other mounds have been destroyed either through farming or malicious land owners.

The area was originally called Jamesville, and then the Whitaker Settlement, in honor of settler James Whittaker. In 1852, Cherokee County’s first industry, a tannery northeast of what would become Andrews, was established by James Stewart. The town’s first school was a log structure built on Fairview Road in the early 1880s. In the late 1880s, Col. A.B. Andrews, second vice president of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, bought 50 acres in the area to build a commissary for the railway. Trains began visiting in 1891.[7]

The town's establishment

Former First Baptist Church

In 1905, the town of Andrews was incorporated, with David Samuel Russell appointed as the first mayor. The Franklin Pierce Cover House, First Baptist Church, and Walker's Inn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[8] On October 27, 1906, the dedication of the Andrews Public School occurred, and its first classes began in August 1907 in the Masonic Lodge.[7] The building was used until its demolition in the summer of 1961.[9]

After African-Americans were forced out of Cumming, Georgia, in 1912, some came to Andrews and started a community called Happytop.[10] A Carnegie library was built in Andrews in 1914. It was demolished in 1979 to make room for the current Andrews Public Library building.[11][12] The Andrews Public Library joined the Nantahala Regional Library system in 1940.[13]

Andrews was home to the Wilhide brothers, Robert M. and Wilfred W. Wilhide, born between 1920 and 1922. Both were born and raised in Andrews, attended flight school at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as pilots during World War II. In the space of several days, after inflicting severe losses upon the Japanese fleet, both brothers were lost and killed during missions near Okinawa. The Wilhide brothers were given a memorial in the Valleytown cemetery, and a monument at Veterans Memorial Park in Andrews, not far from their childhood home and birthplace.[14]

In October 1920, the Peavine Railroad was completed between Andrews and Hayesville. It hauled mainly lumber and was dismantled in 1951. Passenger service between Asheville, Murphy, and Andrews ended in 1948.[7]

Late 20th century to present

District Memorial Hospital on Whitaker Lane was demolished in 2008. Photo c. 1979.

The town’s first hospital was located downtown, founded by Dr. Van Gorder.[7] In 1956, a 30-bed non-profit regional hospital named the District Memorial Hospital of Southwestern North Carolina was constructed in Andrews at a cost of $375,000 (in 1956).[15][16] A complete renovation and expansion was done in 1970, making it a 64-bed facility. Citing uncollected payments, District Memorial declared bankruptcy in 2000, closed in June 2003, and was demolished in late 2008.[17][18] Today the town is served by Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital 12 miles (19 km) southwest in Peachtree.

The former Baker Furniture factory in 1979. Baker moved out in 2000.
The former Berkshire facility that closed in 1979. It was home to the HD Lee Company until 2002. Since 2003, it has been home to Industrial Opportunities Inc.

Industrial Opportunities, Inc. (IOI) was founded in 1974 to serve Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties. The Andrews nonprofit hires mentally and physically disabled adults to manufacture military, medical, and commercial goods.[19] IOI opened as a 1,200 square foot factory in Marble, North Carolina, and had operated in Marble until early 2003. IOI Road in Marble is the only piece left of IOI in Marble. The current factory was once home to the H.D. Lee company (now just Lee) that already had been in Andrews for several years until its closure on January 11, 2002.[20] The factory opened its Andrews location on February 28, 2003. It was also home to Berkshire Corporation until its closure around 1979. Andrews had two more industries during the late 20th century: Baker Furniture and Owenby Manufacturing. Baker Furniture's Andrews plant opened in 1965 as Andrews Furniture Industries, Inc.[21] The plant also made Magnavox stereos and TV cabinets.[22] The plant closed on July 1, 2000.[23] Owenby Manufacturing opened in 1955, and its closure date is unknown.[24]

In 1976, the West End Plaza shopping center opened on the west side of town on Main Street.[25] Owned by Wells and West, Inc., the shopping center was fully occupied by about 20 businesses, including Ingles Markets Store Number 47. The Happy Flounder, a very popular local restaurant in the area opened its first location in Andrews at the shopping center, and had three locations in Andrews and Murphy. The Happy Flounder closed all its locations in the late 1990s and the West End Plaza location was replaced by a KFC, which closed in 2009. Wells and West's Valley Village shopping center in Murphy opened earlier and Bryson City's shopping center of the same name opened later. West End Plaza was the only shopping center in Andrews until 1990, when the Andrews Town Centre shopping center opened on the corner of Main Street and what is now Wilson Street. Andrews Town Centre was also fully occupied by many businesses at the time of its opening, with the largest store being a Food Lion. Ingles moved to its present-day location in 1990 and opened that spring. Both West End Plaza and the Andrews Town Centre have declined in businesses over the last 20 years. The last major stores to close or move from the two shopping centers were Fred's (2020), Family Dollar (2009), Food Lion (2000s), and Dollar General (2010). Dollar General moved in 2010 to its current location. In 2021, Family Dollar returned to Andrews as a combo store with Dollar Tree and opened on July 31, 2021, at Andrews Town Centre, in the former Food Lion.

A four-lane highway was built between Andrews and Murphy around 1977.[26] Andrews did not charge churches for city water until 1999.[27]

Mayoral history

  1. David Samuel Russell (1905–c.1928)
  2. J.H. Chrsity (1929–)
  3. D.S. Russell (1931–)
  4. D.H. Tillitt (c.1939)
  5. R.T. Heaton (c.1943)
  6. Percy B. Ferebee (c.1961–1966)
  7. Ty Burnette (1971–1985)
  8. Mitch Rhinehardt (2001–)
  9. Nancy Curtis (2013–2017)
  10. James Reid (2017–present)[28]

Geography

Andrews is located in northeastern Cherokee County on the south side of the Valley River, a southwestward-flowing tributary of the Hiwassee River and part of the Tennessee River watershed.[citation needed]

U.S. Routes 19, 74, and U.S. Route 129 form a four-lane bypass around the northern edge of the town; the highways lead northeast 8 miles (13 km) to Topton, where they diverge, and southwest 15 miles (24 km) to Murphy, the county seat. Bryson City is 32 miles (51 km) northeast via US 19/74, and Robbinsville is 20 miles (32 km) north via US 129.[citation needed]

According to the United States Census Bureau, Andrews has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.2 km2), all land.[4]

Valleytown Township dominates the eastern part of Cherokee County. The area is bordered by Graham County to the north, Clay County to the south, and Macon County to the east. Within the township are the towns of Marble in the west, Andrews at the center, and Topton in the far east at the Macon and Graham county lines.[citation needed]

Climate

Climate data for Andrews, North Carolina, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1909–2008
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 78
(26) 		81
(27) 		86
(30) 		90
(32) 		96
(36) 		100
(38) 		100
(38) 		98
(37) 		98
(37) 		94
(34) 		88
(31) 		76
(24) 		100
(38)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 50.0
(10.0) 		54.4
(12.4) 		61.9
(16.6) 		69.7
(20.9) 		77.3
(25.2) 		83.7
(28.7) 		86.2
(30.1) 		86.0
(30.0) 		81.6
(27.6) 		72.4
(22.4) 		61.2
(16.2) 		53.4
(11.9) 		69.8
(21.0)
Daily mean °F (°C) 38.4
(3.6) 		41.5
(5.3) 		48.3
(9.1) 		55.6
(13.1) 		63.9
(17.7) 		71.1
(21.7) 		74.3
(23.5) 		73.4
(23.0) 		68.6
(20.3) 		57.9
(14.4) 		47.3
(8.5) 		41.3
(5.2) 		56.8
(13.8)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 26.7
(−2.9) 		28.6
(−1.9) 		34.8
(1.6) 		41.6
(5.3) 		50.6
(10.3) 		58.5
(14.7) 		62.4
(16.9) 		60.8
(16.0) 		55.7
(13.2) 		43.4
(6.3) 		33.5
(0.8) 		29.1
(−1.6) 		43.8
(6.6)
Record low °F (°C) −19
(−28) 		−11
(−24) 		−4
(−20) 		15
(−9) 		23
(−5) 		33
(1) 		42
(6) 		41
(5) 		26
(−3) 		16
(−9) 		0
(−18) 		−4
(−20) 		−19
(−28)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 5.79
(147) 		5.87
(149) 		5.42
(138) 		4.67
(119) 		5.51
(140) 		5.57
(141) 		5.02
(128) 		5.46
(139) 		4.85
(123) 		3.47
(88) 		5.40
(137) 		6.08
(154) 		63.11
(1,603)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 9.9 9.6 11.2 9.7 10.9 11.5 11.9 11.2 8.3 7.5 9.9 10.8 122.4
Source 1: NOAA (precip/precip days 1981–2010)[29][30]
Source 2: XMACIS2[31]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910936—
19201,63474.6%
19301,7487.0%
19401,520−13.0%
19501,397−8.1%
19601,4040.5%
19701,384−1.4%
19801,62117.1%
19902,55157.4%
20001,602−37.2%
20101,78111.2%
20201,667−6.4%
2022 (est.)1,690[32]1.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[33]

2020 census

Andrews racial composition[34]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 1,388 83.26%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 21 1.26%
Native American 25 1.5%
Other/Mixed 94 5.64%
Hispanic or Latino 139 8.34%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,667 people, 714 households, and 400 families residing in the town.

2010 census

In the 2010 census, the total population was 1,781 people residing in 780 households including 452 family units. The population density was 1,090 people per square mile.[35]

Transportation

The Western Carolina Regional Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the central business district of Andrews.[36][37]

Andrews was served by railroad from 1891 until the 1980s when Norfolk Southern decided to close the Murphy Branch west of Sylva, North Carolina, because of declining freight traffic. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad operated passenger excursions from Dillsboro, North Carolina to Andrews from 1988 until 2010.[38][39]

Law enforcement

The Andrews Police Department

The Andrews Police Department occupies a 1940s stone building that was also the town hall until the city administration moved to a building on West End Plaza in 2023. The town's police department faced turmoil in the early 2020s, according to the Cherokee Scout newspaper, as it went through eight police chiefs in six years and the town became known as a "chief killer."[40][41][42] In March 2014, four officers resigned in protest.[43] In 2020, the police chief resigned after the mayor ordered him to establish checkpoints and harass visitors to prevent COVID-19 from entering Andrews.[44] In 2021, an officer wrecked a patrol car at a high speed downtown. Afterwards, officers contemplated disabling their automatic vehicle locators so they couldn't be tracked.[45] That same year the city's entire police force was suspended after officers reportedly moved cameras facing locations like the station's evidence room.[46] In May 2023, the assistant chief was wounded after he was accidentally shot with an AR-15 style rifle.[47] In June 2023, a female officer who allegedly stalked a 16-year-old Andrews High School student she dated was ordered to stay away from the girl.[48] In September 2023, the police chief was suspended after he was charged with obtaining property under false pretenses and obstruction of justice. He died before arrest.[49]

Education

Andrews Elementary School

The town of Andrews has three schools. Andrews Elementary, Andrews Middle, and Andrews High School are part of the Cherokee County School System.

Until the early 1960s, all Andrews schools were located next to each other on the property of the current elementary school. A 1935 topographic map of Andrews shows each school building, marked with a flag, located adjacent to each other on Walnut Street (now Jean Christy Avenue) and Fourth Street.[50] The current high school and current elementary school appears first in the 1975 map. Between 1935 and 1975, the school zone has dramatically changed.

Andrews Elementary School in 1979. At the time this photo was taken, AES operated as a Pre-K through Grade 6 school and had just had its first expansion.
Andrews Elementary had it's second expansion in 2003.

Andrews Elementary (AES) is a Pre-K thru Grade 5 school. The current school building was constructed around the 1950s. The building has had two expansions. In 1979, new classrooms, a cafeteria, and a school library were added. This first expansion happened after the Andrews Grammar School, which was located just to the right of the small elementary building, was burned. The school's second and most recent expansion occurred in 2003, with the addition of a gymnasium connected to the building on the west side of the building. The old rock gym east of the school was demolished that same year. With this expansion, Jean Christy Avenue was cut off and is now only a loop in the front of the school, and a road leading up to a turn onto Fourth Street behind the school.

Andrews High School (AHS) is a 9 thru 12 school built in 1962, after a fire burned down the original campus built in 1914. From 1963 to 1999, Andrews High held students of Junior and Senior High.

In 1998, a new campus built between Wakefield Road and US-19 Business was constructed. The land was donated by the H.D. Lee factory (now the Industrial Opportunities, Inc. factory) west of the site. This site was the home of the new Andrews Middle School, established and opened in late 1999. Junior High was turned to Middle School, and AES and AHS operated as a Pk-5 and a 9-12 school.

Andrews Elementary, Junior, and Senior High School were part of the Andrews City School District. Each city school district (Andrews and Murphy) had their own board of education and superintendent. Each district was in charge of many purchases for their schools, such as school transportation. Andrews was the first in Cherokee County to receive a school bus in 1926 and the first to receive an activity bus in 1951. The individual districts merged with Cherokee County Schools in 1969.[51]

Andrews City Schools Superintendents:

  1. Isham Barney Hudson (1935-1951)
  2. Charles O. Frazier (c.1962-1969)

After the merger of Andrews and Murphy's districts in 1969, Cherokee County's superintendent was John Jordan.

Media

Andrews was served by the weekly Andrews Journal newspaper from 1959 until January 1, 2019, when it merged with the Cherokee Scout in Murphy. Andrews no longer has a newspaper of its own.[52] After the town's newspaper closed, Mayor James Reid began offering a quarterly e-newsletter.[53]

Notable people

References

  1. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Andrews, North Carolina
  3. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Andrews town, North Carolina". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  5. ^ Chesnut, Don. "Eastern Cherokee Place Names". Don Chesnut's Homepage.
  6. ^ Steere, Benjamin A. (2015). "Revisiting Platform Mounds and Townhouses in the Cherokee Heartland: A Collaborative Approach" (PDF). Southeastern Archaeology. 34 (3): 196–219. doi:10.1179/2168472315Y.0000000001. ISSN 0734-578X.
  7. ^ a b c d Foster, Sarah (December 1, 2023). "Andrews: the Comeback King". Celebrating Our Communities of Cherokee County. Vol. 1. Cherokee Scout.
  8. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  9. ^ White, Alice Davis, ed. (1987). The Heritage of Cherokee County North Carolina Volume I 1987. Murphy, North Carolina: Hunter Publishing Company. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-89459-247-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. ^ Neufeld, Rob (May 2, 2016). "Visiting Our Past: Andrews Author Provides Insight into 'Affrilachia' May 2". Asheville Citizen-Times.
  11. ^ Scott, Ralph Lee (1981). "The Carnegie Public Library Movement in North Carolina". North Carolina Libraries. East Carolina University. p. 26.
  12. ^ "A Short History of the Andrews Carnegie Library". North Carolina Collections. DigitalNC.org.
  13. ^ "History of the Nantahala Regional Library". Nantahala Regional Library. Murphy, NC. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Gobeo, Gary (June 24, 2016). "Guest Columnist: Brothers Killed Days Apart at Okinawa Remembered". Asheville Citizen-Times. Gannett. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  15. ^ "Andrews to Get $345,000 District Hospital Soon". The Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina. May 20, 1954. p. A1. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  16. ^ "Asheville Citizen-Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. January 29, 1961. p. 77. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  17. ^ "Hospital Briefs". Modern Healthcare. Crain Communications. June 12, 2000. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  18. ^ McGoun, Bill (July 25, 2020). "McGoun: Pondering the Plight of Rural Hospitals in WNC from One of Their Beds". Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina: Gannett. Retrieved January 18, 2024. District Memorial Hospital in Andrews is long gone and its buildings have been razed.
  19. ^ "Work Rehab Centers Across WNC Band Together To Make PPE". BPR. April 30, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  20. ^ "Apparel Plant Closing Rocks Southern Town". ABC News. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  21. ^ Tipper (August 3, 2023). "Baker Furniture Andrews, NC". Blind Pig and The Acorn. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  22. ^ "The Cherokee Scout and Clay County Progress. (Murphy, N.C.) 1961-1980, December 09, 1965, Section B, Image 14". No. 1965/12/09. December 9, 1965. p. 2.
  23. ^ Joyner, Amy (July 12, 1999). "BAKER FURNITURE TO CLOSE ANDREWS PLANT". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  24. ^ "Jan 29, 1961, page 77 - Asheville Citizen-Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  25. ^ Welcome to Andrews 1979. Retrieved April 24, 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
  26. ^ Ward, Trawick (April 1977). An Archaeological Survey of the New U.S. 19-129 Route Between Andrews and Murphy in Cherokee Co (PDF). The Research Laboratories of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
  27. ^ Brown, David. "This week in local history". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, NC. p. 2A.
  28. ^ Brown, David (November 8, 2023). "This Week in Local History". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers.
  29. ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Andrews, NC (1991–2020)". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  30. ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Andrews, NC (1981–2010)". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  31. ^ "xmACIS2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  32. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in North Carolina: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022". Census.gov. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  33. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  34. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  35. ^ "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 (DP-1): Andrews town, North Carolina". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  36. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for RHP PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective July 29, 2010.
  37. ^ "Andrews-Murphy Airport". Cherokee County. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  38. ^ "Special Excursions". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. 2001. Archived from the original on January 26, 2001. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  39. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. 2002. Archived from the original on December 16, 2002. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  40. ^ Foster, Randy (December 29, 2023). "Officer settling in as hometown police chief". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. p. A1. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  41. ^ Foster, Randy (October 17, 2023). "Andrews hires new police chief". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  42. ^ Brown, David (April 10, 2024). "Good times here in Andrews". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, NC: Community Newspapers Inc. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  43. ^ Brown, David (April 10, 2024). "This Week in Local History". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, NC: Community Newspapers Inc. p. 8A. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  44. ^ Ray, Penny (July 16, 2020). "Andrews police chief resigns". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  45. ^ Ray, Penny (April 20, 2021). "Entire town police force suspended". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  46. ^ Knoepp, Lilly (April 26, 2021). "Entire Andrews Police Force Suspended, Placed On Paid Leave". Blue Ridge Public Radio. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  47. ^ Foster, Randy (May 26, 2023). "Ass't. chief wounded when rifle goes off outside Andrews PD". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  48. ^ Foster, Randy (June 27, 2023). "Police officer accused of stalking teen". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, North Carolina: Community Newspapers. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  49. ^ Emert, Jennifer (October 11, 2023). "New police chief appointed in Andrews following former chief's death and legal controversy". WLOS. Asheville, North Carolina: ABC 13 News. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  50. ^ "Historic Aerials: Viewer". historicaerials.com. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  51. ^ "The Cherokee scout and Clay County progress. (Murphy, N.C.) 1961-1980, March 27, 1969, Image 1" (1969/03/27). March 27, 1969. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  52. ^ "The Andrews Journal (Andrews, N.C.) 1959-Current". Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries. Library of Congress.
  53. ^ Reid, James. "The Andrews Memo". AndrewsNC.org. Town of Andrews. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  54. ^ Brown, David (March 13, 2024). "This week in local history". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, NC: Community Newspapers Inc. p. 8A. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  55. ^ "Dave Bristol at North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  56. ^ "Our State Magazine Charles Frazier Profile". OurState.com. August 31, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrews,_North_Carolina