Webster, North Carolina

This Hilltop Town, Founded in 1859, Faded when the Railroad Went Another Way

Webster was incorporated in 1859, and was the county's seat and industrial center for some 25 years. Webster was bypassed, though, when the railroad came through in 1884, and rumors held that Sylva folks plied certain state officials with liquor -- thus attracting the train to Sylva -- just prior to the deciding vote. Webster was devastated by a major fire in the fall of 1910. That fire consumed a 20-room hotel, a ten-room boarding house, a pharmacy and a bank, as well as a couple of residences, and Webster never recovered. In a heated1913 vote, Jackson County citizens moved the county seat to Sylva.