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Sylva, the seat of Jackson County, was chartered in 1889 and takes its name from a wayfaring Dane, William D. Sylva, who once worked as a handyman for E. R. Hampton, the man who owned most of the land where the town now sits. When it came time to apply for a post office, Hampton asked his small daughter, Mae, what the town should be named. "Sylva," said the young girl, who had taken a liking to her father's hired hand. With the coming of the railroad in the late 19th century, the town developed into the commercial center of southwestern North Carolina. In 1912, a county-wide referendum moved the county seat from Webster to Sylva, leading to the construction of Western North Carolina's most photographed building, the historic Jackson County Courthouse, which sits atop a hill overlooking Main Street.
Greer, an 1876 railroad town, was founded by people who moved from farms, the mountain region of the Dark Corner, and other small communities to the area around Greer's Depot with high expectations of prosperity promised by railroad commerce and, later, the cotton mills. Like a colorful quilt with its individual patches, the early population of Greer included farmers, store keepers, laborers skilled and unskilled, and their wives and families. As the town grew, investors funded three local cotton mills; mill hands and supervisors arrived to operate them. The bankers, attorneys, physicians, teachers, and ministers followed. Eager to succeed, they all labored long and hard, some heroically like Officer William Foster and volunteer fireman Carl Miller, who died in the line of duty. Greer folk reared families, provided education, and imbued their children with strong moral and religious values. Their descendents continue to populate the city today with a strong sense of community pride.