Webster is a town in Jackson County,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 363, down from 486 in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Webster was the first

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Jackson County, until Sylva assumed the role in 1913.

Geography

Webster is located in north-central Jackson County north of the Tuckasegee River. North Carolina Highway 116 runs through the town, leading east to North Carolina Highway 107 and west across the Tuckasegee to U.S. Route 23. NC 107 runs along the eastern edge of Webster, leading north to Sylva and south to

Cullowhee Cullowhee (
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the University of North Carolina at Chap ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Webster has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 486 people, 200 households, and 141 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 227 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.03%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.06%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.03% Asian, 0.41% from other races, and 2.47% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population. There were 200 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.72. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 72.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,313, and the median income for a family was $46,042. Males had a median income of $40,000 versus $30,278 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $21,019. About 14.5% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over. Webster Courthouse

History

Webster was founded in 1851 in order to serve as the

of Jackson County. A massive fire and the railroad's failure to come to the town caused the larger and more powerful railroading center of Sylva to take over the position of county seat. Webster once had a courthouse and many shops, but few of the buildings that hint at its vibrant past as a thriving county seat survive. Several buildings on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

are within the town. The Lucius Coleman Hall House, the Elisha Calor Hedden House, the Walter E. Moore House, and the old Webster Rock Schoolhouse, built by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

in 1936, were all listed in 1990. The Webster Baptist Church, built in 1900, and the Webster Methodist Church, next to the old school and built around the same time, were listed in 1989; the former is across the Tuckasegee River outside the town limits but still considered to be in Webster.Town of Webster History
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Photo gallery

File:Webster Post Office, Webster, NC (46563220032).jpg, U.S. Post Office, Webster, NC File:Webster Methodist Church, Webster, NC (32741166348).jpg, Webster Methodist Church (1887) File:Rhinehart House, Webster, NC (39650363493).jpg, Rhinehart House (1935) File:Elisha Calor Hedden House, Webster, NC (46563249852).jpg, Elisha Calor Hedden House (1910) File:Lucius Coleman Hall House, Webster, NC (46615212631).jpg, Lucius Coleman Hall House (1891) File:Walter E. Moore House, Webster, NC (39650296463).jpg, Walter E. Moore House (1886)

References

External links