Herald's history series:

Knowing Jackson County... From A to Z

"Many of the names have passed out of use today. Some are forgotten and perhaps lost forever as to origin and location. A letter saved in a trunk here, an attic there - for generations - could give hints of such."

Perhaps one would begin with Kullaughee, Unadantiyi, Stikayi.

Kullaughee, of course, is Cullowhee. The Indian translation, legend says, is valley of the lilies. But a Herald subscriber once wrote the editor that a very old Indian once told her father, who had passed away at an old age, that Cullowhee means honey locust.

Unadantiyi was an Indian settlement near the present-day Webster.

Stikayi was a large Indian village about where Whittier is located. The village was destroyed in 1776 by Colonel William Moore, one of General Rutherford's aides.

There must have been many other Indian villages. One of them possibly was where the Singing Waters Camp Ground is located, on Trout Creek. Artifacts of a number of different tribes have been found in the area, indicating a possible trading post or a crossroads for nomadic peoples. Or perhaps it was a battleground.

After the Meigs and Freeman line was drawn, dividing Indian from white territory, East LaPorte (French for Eastern gate) was "founded." And Foster Trading Station was established on the right bank of Scotts Creek at the mouth of Kitchen Branch.

White men moved west from those points. And as he did he gave "English" names to the settlements, creeks, mountains, churches, and later, schools. They begin with all letters of the alphabet, except possibly X.

Many of the names have passed out of use today. Some are forgotten and perhaps lost forever as to origin and location. A letter saved in a trunk here, an attic there ­ for generations ­ could give hints of such.

From various sources, this column compiled the following list from which by no means claims to be complete; it includes communities, settlements, churches, schools, post offices:

Argura, Addie, Beta, Barkers Creek, Bessie, Big Ridge, Balsam, Balsam Grove, Canada, Cashiers, Caney Fork, Cowarts, Cope Creek, Custer, Cullowhee, Charley Creek (School), Dillsboro, Deets, Dicks Creek, Double Spring.

Erastus, East LaPorte, East Fork, Fidelity, Fallcliff, Foster, Granite, Georgetown, Gay, Greens Creek, Glenville, Grimshawes, Hall, Hornet, Horney Head, Hamburg, Indian Place, Heady Mountain (church), Judaculla Old Field, Jackson, Johns Creek, Kullaughee, Liberty, Lovesfield, Locust Field, Moses Creek (church), Norton, New Webster, Ocala, Oak Hill, Oscar, Old Settlement.

Painter, Pumpkintown, Pleasant Grove, Pine Creek, Quallatown, Rock Bridge (school), Riverview, Ruby City, Rich Mountain, Sols Creek, Soco, Sylva, Savannah, Speedwell, Shoal Creek, Scotts Creek, Telpha, Tuckasegee, Tennessee Gap (school), Unadantiye, Upper Barkers Creek.

Whiterock, Whittier, Willets, Whiteside Cove, Wolf Mountain, Wilmot, Wayyehutta, Webster, Yellow Mountain, Zion Hill.

Cullowhee, Kullaughee, and Painter, of course, are all the same place. And Savannah includes New Savannah, Old Savannah, Little Savannah. And some other places in Jackson are or have been known by more than one name.

Perhaps significant among the names is Johns Creek. An Indian, who obviously had adopted a "Christian" name, lived in an owned land in that section of Jackson County. The area quite naturally was referred to by the name of the property owner as Chief John sold parcels of the land.

And significance could be attached to the lack of Biblical city names, from the lack of flowery names, from the lack of names of well-known European cities, from the lack of familiar names in colonial history.

Editor's note: This is the weekly installment of a review of our back issues as The Sylva Herald and Ruralite celebrates its 75th anniversary throughout 2001. This article was taken from J.D. McRorie's "Knowing Jackson County" column.

Back to Archive: 09/20/01.