Jackson County Year in Review
January: A fire in the River Park Mobile Home Park claimed the life of a Cullowhee man. George Pope, 70, was found dead in his trailer off Devin Drive, near Ledbetter Road. Pope was a Vietnam veteran, having served two tours of duty, and would be buried with full military honors, a GoFundMe page set up to help defray funeral expenses said.
January: Regional Walmarts partnered with an Ohio firm to create city-centric board games based on Hasbro’s classic Monopoly board game, and Sylva was one of its latest targets, with the game featuring iconic hangouts, activities and properties exclusive to Jackson County. By rolling the dice and landing on the right space, they all can be bought in Sylvaopoly.
February: Jackson County’s historic Courthouse and the Rotary Club of Sylva’s Flags for Heroes were featured in a short segment produced by Fox Sports during the telecast of Super Bowl LIV. The 3 minute, 15 second short, titled “Ragged Old Flag,” was shown before the football game. It featured Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter.
February: Smoky Mountain High School students attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the “most people hugging soft toys simultaneously” in the school’s gymnasium. More than 800 students and staff from SMHS and the Catamount School participated in unofficially breaking the record, which was set at 654.
March: The Sylva Police Department was investigating a parking lot brawl that took place at the former Ryan’s Steakhouse, allegedly involving children and adults. The participants met in the lot at 3 a.m., Police Chief Chris Hatton said.
March: The first case of COVID-19 appeared in Jackson County. The patient was a Maryland resident who had traveled to their secondary home here.
April: Locked doors, “closed” signs and empty parking spaces and sidewalks were the new norm for much of downtown Sylva, thanks to COVID-19. Many town businesses were turning to digital technology and other resources to carry on.
April: The Dillsboro town board voted unanimously to close Haywood Road during bridge construction in exchange for a cash payout. The money would come from the contractor replacing the existing 80-year-old structure.
May: The body of missing hiker Chandler Manuel, 24, of Rockwell, was located Wednesday, May 6, at the bottom of Whitewater Falls, where he was last seen on Monday, May 4. His body was extracted by a National Guard N.C. Heart helicopter. During the search for Manuel, Eldon Jamison, a member of the Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad for more than 40 years, fell to his death.
June: Hundreds of people marched in Sylva to protest the death of George Floyd; a candlelight vigil was held at the fountain downtown as well.
June: Signatures were piling up on dueling change.org petitions – one to remove Sylva’s Confederate monument and one to leave it alone.
July: Two groups of protesters gathered in Sylva to call for the preservation or removal of the Confederate monument on the old Courthouse steps standing sentinel over Sylva.
July: Sylva’s town board voted 3-2 approving a resolution asking county commissioners to remove Sylva’s Confederate monument. The authority to remove the monument belongs with Jackson County and the state.
August: The Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to leave the Confederate statue on the steps of the former courthouse, a place it has inhabited for more than 100 years. The board decided to cover the Confederate flag with a plaque relating the county’s involvement in the Civil War and the soldiers from Jackson County who served and remove the words “Our Heroes of the Confederacy.”
August: A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 8:07 a.m. near Sparta. It was felt by people as far south as Atlanta, and reported by numerous people in Jackson County. The largest earthquake in North Carolina was in 1916, when a 5.5 magnitude quake occurred near Skyland. Locally, damage was limited to rattling.
September: About 500 Western Carolina students, staff and faculty gathered at the campus fountain for the “Whee United March,” organized by students in reaction to racist videos involving students released the previous weekend and as part of the greater, state- and nation-wide reaction to police brutality and systemic racism.
September: R-5600, the project to reshape Sylva’s commercial corridor, was postponed from fiscal year 2022 to 2025.
October: “Chalktober” saw a local group spreading messages on Sylva sidewalks promoting social justice, but a few of the messages and the cost of cleaning raised hackles in some corners.
October: One of Jackson County’s iconic properties, The Jarrett House, was headed to the auction block at the Justice Center. Iron Horse Auction Company of Rockingham was handling the sale for First Citizens Bank.
November: Political newcomer Madison Cawthorn, a Republican, defeated Democratic nominee Moe Davis in the 11th District congressional race. Cawthorn won Jackson by a 11,013-9,221 count.
November: Long-time local pharmacist and businessman Robert “Bob” Douglas Kelley, died at the age of 81. Kelley had served the community since the 1960s.
December: A resolution passed 4-1 at Sylva’s town board meeting requesting the Jackson County Commissioners change the namesake – not the name – of the county, from President Andrew Jackson to former EBCI Chief Walter Jackson.
