Peachtree is a community located in Cherokee 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 ...

. It is named after the numerous peach trees found in the area. Due to its central location near the border of Cherokee and

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

counties, Peachtree has also been home to major institutions serving the area. The Cherokee County Prison Camp opened in 1939 but was abandoned after 25 years following multiple escapes. Its property became the main campus of

Tri-County Community College Tri-County Community College is a Public college, public community college in Murphy, North Carolina. It was founded in 1964 to serve Cherokee County, North Carolina, Cherokee, Clay County, North Carolina, Clay, and Graham County, North Carolina ...

, which opened in 1964 and serves Cherokee, Clay, and

Graham Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

counties. Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital, the only hospital in North Carolina west of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

and

Bryson City Bryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The population was 1,558 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in what was historically the land of the Cherokee, Bryson City was found ...

, was founded in Peachtree in 1979. In 2003,

Moog Inc. Moog Inc. ( ) is an American-based designer and manufacturer of electric, electro-hydraulic and hydraulic motion, controls and systems for applications in aerospace, defense, industrial and medical devices. The company operates under four segmen ...

established a manufacturing facility in Peachtree employing more than 400 people to build motors and blowers for the aerospace industry. Peachtree is home to a 134-bed nursing home which was built in 2020 and the Cherokee County headquarters for the

North Carolina Forest Service The North Carolina Forest Service, formerly known as the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources is a North Carolina state government agency responsible for providing land management assistance to landowners. The agency's primary responsibili ...

. Also, the $20 million, 66,000-square-foot Cherokee County School of Innovation & Technology campus opened in 2023.

History

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Native Americans had a courthouse building named the Hiwassee Townhouse located in Peachtree. Around 1755, after being scattered by war, the

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States ** Natchez slave market, Mississippi * ...

Native Americans also established a town near Peachtree. In 1820, a Baptist Mission School at the Natchez town was founded by Rev. Evan Jones. The Native Americans were forcibly removed from the area during the summer of 1838 via the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. In 1837, settlers established a Baptist church in Peachtree. Retrieved April 15, 2024. Peachtree had its own

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

from 1839 to 1866 and again between 1878 and 1907. The community was considered as a site for the Western Carolina Regional Airport, which was later constructed northeast in

Marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. Peachtree Elementary School was constructed in 1947. After a fire in 1986, the classroom building was rebuilt in 1989. The community was formerly the site of the "Murphy Drive-In" movie theater. The theater's screen was flattened by high winds in 1974. The Peachtree Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1974. Its current facility was built in 2009. The Peachtree Community Center was built in the mid-1970s and serves as the local polling place. The center was renovated in 2024. The 332-employee Peachtree Products plant closed in January 1975. Aegis Power Systems founded its Peachtree plant in 1995. In the early 2020s Peachtree was the planned site of a single consolidated high school for Cherokee County, combining

Andrews Andrews may refer to: Places Australia *Andrews, Queensland *Andrews, South Australia United States *Andrews, Florida (disambiguation), various places *Andrews, Indiana *Andrews, Nebraska *Andrews, North Carolina *Andrews, Oregon *Andrews, South ...

Hiwassee Dam Hiwassee Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is one of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s ...

, and

Murphy Murphy is an Irish surname meaning "Sea Warrior". Origins and variants The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac Murchaidh"/" Mac Murchadh" (son of "Murchadh") derived ...

high schools. In 2023, however, new members of the Cherokee County Board of Education voted against the plan. On the night of May 8, 2024, an EF-1 tornado hit Peachtree, as part of the

Tornado outbreak of May 6–9, 2024 A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

. One home was destroyed and seven suffered major damage. This is the most recent confirmed tornado in Cherokee County, the previous being around 2018. A tornado was said to have also hit Peachtree on March 3, 2023.

Education

Cherokee County Schools operates several local public schools: Peachtree Elementary, Tri-County Early College, and Cherokee County School of Innovation & Technology. According to a 2024 statewide teacher survey, Peachtree Elementary performs worse than other district schools when it comes to robbery/theft, gang activity, vandalism, threats of violence, and weapon possession. As of 2024, Peachtree Elementary had the highest reading and math achievement scores in western North Carolina. Students also attend Murphy and Andrews Middle School, and

and Andrews High School. Higher education is offered by Tri-County Community College. Other nearby universities and colleges include

North Georgia Technical College North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) is a public technical college in Clarkesville, Georgia, with additional campuses in Toccoa (known as the Currahee campus, named after nearby Currahee Mountain) and Blairsville. It is part of the Technical ...

Young Harris College Young Harris College is a Private college, private Methodist-affiliated Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Young Harris, Georgia, United States. History Origins The school was founded in 1886 by Artemas Le ...

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU ...

, Southwestern Community College, and

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public university with multiple campuses in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013, through a m ...

. The John C. Campbell Folk School, the oldest and largest folk school in the United States, is located southeast in nearby Brasstown. The institution focuses on creative folk arts for all ages and offers musical concerts and community dance entertainment.

References

{{coord, 35, 05, 38, N, 83, 56, 34, W, type:city_region:US-NC_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Populated places in Cherokee County, North Carolina