Sesquicentennial planners consider monthlong celebration

By Lynn Hotaling

Sesquicentennial events are being planned for each weekend between Saturday, Sept. 29, and Saturday Oct. 20, the projected date of the concluding festivities.

Though plans are not yet final, the tentative dates have received the approval of County Manager Jay Denton, said Jeff Carpenter, director of Jackson County Recreation and Parks and chairman of the Sesquicentennial Committee.

³I like the idea of multiple weekends,² said Maurice Moody, who represents Sylvaıs town board on the committee.

Sesquicentennial planners all agreed it would be a good idea to bury a time capsule at the Justice Center to mark the occasion. A time capsule was buried at the courthouse in 1951 during the countyıs centennial celebration, but that one will not be opened until Jackson Countyıs 200th birthday in 2051.

Perry Kelly, president of the Jackson County Arts Council, suggested finding a way to have some events in outlying locations and involving all of the countyıs communities.

It was decided that Carpenter will send a letter to Jackson Countyıs community development clubs to urge each to plan an sesquicentennial activity during the designated month.

Several countywide childrenıs activities were also suggested. The committee hopes to sponsor an art contest that would result in a design for a county flag, and an essay contest open to fourth- and eighth-graders who study North Carolina history. A day of of old-fashioned games and contests, like three-legged races and spelling bees, was also suggested.

The Jackson County Historical Association and Webster Historical Society have planned several programs to mark the countyıs sesquicentennial, said Joe Rhinehart, president of both historical societies. These will include a program on Western Carolina University founder R.L. Madison; an all-night ³singing² patterned after those held at local churches in years past; an outdoor concert at Judaculla Rock to demonstrate the relationship between Native American music and classical music; and a scholarly discussion by a leading historian on the significance of Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster in American history.

Jackson County was formed in 1851 from Macon and Haywood counties. Its government was organized in March 1853 during a two-day session at the Daniel Bryson homeplace in Beta. A monument was erected last fall along U.S. 23-74 near the Cope Creek intersection to mark the site of the countyıs first courthouse.

Jackson County is named for Andrew Jackson, a Democrat war hero who won an important victory over the British at New Orleans in 1815 and was twice elected president of the United States. Webster, the original county seat, was named for Daniel Webster, a prominent Whig orator and statesman who died a year before the 1853 formation of Jackson Countyıs government.

Webster was designated the county seat and served as the countyıs hub until 1913 when citizens voted to move their seat of government to Sylva.

The Sesquicentennial Committee will next meet Thursday, April 26, at 2 p.m. at the Recreation Department office in Sylva.

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