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Andrews is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census.
[edit] History
[edit] Cherokee eraIndigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years before European encounter. By the late 16th or 17th century, the Cherokee had a pronounced presence in the area. An 1805 European-American map shows the area as the Cherokee settlement Toonatla. It was later listed on a map of the Cherokee Nation as Gunahita. The removal of the Cherokee on their journey on the Trail of Tears had several related actions in the valley. Fort Delaney, one of five forts in the area, was located about from the mouth of the Valley River on the upper Hiwassee River. The road across Tatham Gap, directly north of Andrews, was built by the US Army to transport Cherokee from Fort Montgomery, which was located in what is now Robbinsville, North Carolina to Fort Delaney and beyond. [edit] White settlement and history[edit] AndrewsThe largest town within the township is Andrews. In the early 19th century, when most white settlers began arriving, the area was known as "Jamesville", after James Whitaker. An Indian trading post was established in 1837, just a short time before Cherokee removal. Soon after that, the community was known as "Valley Town". Andrews was established like many other southern towns, through a land auction. The Richmond and Danville Railroad had stopped construction of the Murphy Branch just east of here. In the late 1880s, Col. A.B. Andrews, who was a second vice president for Richmond and Danville, was sent to the area to establish a commissary for workers in the Nantahala construction camps. Andrews bought of land for the sum of $1,200. By spring 1890, Andrews was instructed to sell off the 50-acre tract at a land sale, which was held in September. The land was platted out, and about three quarters of the lots were sold at the initial sale. Some lots were donated for a schoolhouse and churches. The remaining lots were sold through private sales. In 1905, the town was incorporated, with David Samuel Russell appointed as the first mayor of the new town. The Franklin Pierce Cover House, First Baptist Church, and Walker's Inn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After African-Americans were forced out of Cumming, Georgia in 1912, some came to Andrews and started a community called Happytop. Andrews was home to the Wilhide brothers, Robert M. and Wilfred W. Wilhide, born between 1920-1922. Both were born and raised in Andrews, attended flight school at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as pilots during World War II. In the space of several days, after inflicting severe losses upon the Japanese fleet, both brothers were lost and killed during missions near Okinawa. The Wilhide brothers were given a memorial in the Valleytown cemetery, and a monument at Veterans Memorial Park in Andrews, not far from their childhood home and birthplace. [edit] Research Tips
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