Willets, North Carolina
Encyclopedia
Willets is an unincorporated community in Jackson County
, North Carolina
, United States
. Willets is located along US 74, West of Balsam
and East of Sylva
. It is home to the Balsam-Willets-Ochre Hill fire department, a church, and many homes. It formerly was a thriving unincorporated town along the Murphy Branch
of the Western North Carolina Railroad
, but seriously declined during the great depression in the 1930s, consolidations of the schools in the Scott Creek Township in 1951, and the widening/straightening of US 23 in the early 1950s and early 1970s. Today it is a tiny bedroom community for the larger population centers of Waynesville
and Sylva
.
of the Western North Carolina Railroad
, later the Southern Railway
. US 23 was first blazed through Willets in the 1920s, with sharp curves, steep grades, and one-lane wooden or concrete bridges, many of which still serve the old roadway, now known as Old US 19-23, Dark Ridge Road, Willets Road, and Old Balsam Depot Road. The realignment, widening and straightening of US 23 in 1950s made the community more accessible from the outside world than ever. Further construction of a new 4-Lane roadway, US 74/23 in the 1970s, cut further into the Willets community, led to the demolition of several historic buildings, and opened Willets to the outside world. At this time the remaining stores in Willets closed permanently Today it is largely a bedroom community for Sylva and Waynesville. The stores are all long closed though a few of the old store buildings still stand and the schools were consolidated into Scotts Creek Elementary in 1951. The mills are long closed and demolished. Balsam still has a post office, but mail hasn't been delivered to Willets in a long time, as Willets Post Office closed in 1934, around the same time as the collapse of the lumber and mining industries in the area. Willets Depot is long gone, and it is a shadow of the thriving small town it was from the 1900s up until the 1930s.
Jackson County, North Carolina
Jackson County is a county located in the southwest of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 40,271. Since 1913 its county seat has been Sylva, replacing Webster.-History:...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Willets is located along US 74, West of Balsam
Balsam, North Carolina
Balsam is an unincorporated community located in the Scott Creek township of Jackson County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 49. There is one United States Post Office in the town...
and East of Sylva
Sylva, North Carolina
Sylva is an incorporated town located in central Jackson County, in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 2,588. It is the county seat, having taken over from nearby Webster in 1913.-Geography:Sylva...
. It is home to the Balsam-Willets-Ochre Hill fire department, a church, and many homes. It formerly was a thriving unincorporated town along the Murphy Branch
Murphy Branch
The historically important Murphy Branch is the western most part of what was the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway and today the Norfolk Southern Railway. The branch runs between Asheville, North Carolina in the east and Andrews in the west. It...
of the Western North Carolina Railroad
Western North Carolina Railroad
The Western North Carolina Railroad was a 19th century railroad that ran from Salisbury to Murphy, North Carolina.Future American Civil War officer Samuel McDowell Tate was instrumental in planning and sponsoring the construction of the first leg of the railroad in 1855, then in managing it in the...
, but seriously declined during the great depression in the 1930s, consolidations of the schools in the Scott Creek Township in 1951, and the widening/straightening of US 23 in the early 1950s and early 1970s. Today it is a tiny bedroom community for the larger population centers of Waynesville
Waynesville, North Carolina
Waynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in Western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about or 50 km southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue...
and Sylva
Sylva, North Carolina
Sylva is an incorporated town located in central Jackson County, in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 2,588. It is the county seat, having taken over from nearby Webster in 1913.-Geography:Sylva...
.
History
The community of Willets is located near Balsam and is sometimes confused as being a part of Balsam, though it is not. Willets had several churches, two mills, a depot, school, post office, stores and homes. It was a small railroad town along the Murphy BranchMurphy Branch
The historically important Murphy Branch is the western most part of what was the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway and today the Norfolk Southern Railway. The branch runs between Asheville, North Carolina in the east and Andrews in the west. It...
of the Western North Carolina Railroad
Western North Carolina Railroad
The Western North Carolina Railroad was a 19th century railroad that ran from Salisbury to Murphy, North Carolina.Future American Civil War officer Samuel McDowell Tate was instrumental in planning and sponsoring the construction of the first leg of the railroad in 1855, then in managing it in the...
, later the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
. US 23 was first blazed through Willets in the 1920s, with sharp curves, steep grades, and one-lane wooden or concrete bridges, many of which still serve the old roadway, now known as Old US 19-23, Dark Ridge Road, Willets Road, and Old Balsam Depot Road. The realignment, widening and straightening of US 23 in 1950s made the community more accessible from the outside world than ever. Further construction of a new 4-Lane roadway, US 74/23 in the 1970s, cut further into the Willets community, led to the demolition of several historic buildings, and opened Willets to the outside world. At this time the remaining stores in Willets closed permanently Today it is largely a bedroom community for Sylva and Waynesville. The stores are all long closed though a few of the old store buildings still stand and the schools were consolidated into Scotts Creek Elementary in 1951. The mills are long closed and demolished. Balsam still has a post office, but mail hasn't been delivered to Willets in a long time, as Willets Post Office closed in 1934, around the same time as the collapse of the lumber and mining industries in the area. Willets Depot is long gone, and it is a shadow of the thriving small town it was from the 1900s up until the 1930s.