Webster is a town in Jackson County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 363, down from 486 in 2000. Webster was the first

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

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

Geography

Webster is located in north-central Jackson County at (35.345264, -83.213460), north of the

Tuckasegee River The Tuckasegee River (variant spellings include Tuckaseegee and Tuckaseigee) flows entirely within western North Carolina. It begins its course in Jackson County above Cullowhee at the confluence of Panthertown and Greenland creeks. It flows ...

. North Carolina Highway 116 runs through the town, leading east to

North Carolina Highway 107 North Carolina Highway 107 (NC 107) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway runs north–south from the South Carolina state line, near Cashiers, to US 23 Business in Sylva. Route description ...

and west across the Tuckasegee to

U.S. Route 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...

. 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

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Webster has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 486 people, 200 households, and 141 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 303.3 people per square mile (117.3/km). There were 227 housing units at an average density of 141.7/sq mi (54.8/km). The racial makeup of the town was 94.03%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 2.06%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.03%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.41% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.47% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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 recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

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 t ...

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

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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

are within the town. The Lucius Coleman Hall House, the Elisha Calor Hedden House, the Walter E. Moore House, and the old

Webster Rock School __NOTOC__ The Webster Rock School is an historic school building located NC 116 / Main St., at Webster, North Carolina, Webster, Jackson County, North Carolina. It was built between 1936 and 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, and is one ...

house, built by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

in 1936, were all listed in 1990. The Webster Baptist Church, built in 1900, and the

Webster Methodist Church Webster Methodist Church is an historic Methodist church located on NC 116 / Main St., at Webster, Jackson County, North Carolina. It was built in 1887, and is a one-story, three bay, rectangular Vernacular Gothic Revival style frame church. I ...

, 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,

(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