Dillsboro is a town in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 213 at the 2020 census down from 232 at the 2010 census.

History

Dillsboro was founded when the Murphy Branch Railroad came to the area in the 1880s. In 1882, the first post office in the area opened. Called the Tunnel Post Office, it was named after the nearby Cowee Tunnel. In 1882, the postmaster, William Allen Dills, built a large home on a hill overlooking the Tuckasegee River, later the home of Charles Joseph Harris and now The Riverwood Shops. The unincorporated village was called Depot, New Webster, and Webster Station until the state legislature had its name officially changed to Dillsboro when the village was incorporated as a town in 1889 to honor William Allen Dills, the town's founder) Railroad executive Alexander Boyd Andrews suggested the town be named Dillsboro.

left|thumb|The first house in Dillsboro was home to William Dills and C.J. Harris. Today it is Riverwood Shops.

One of the oldest buildings in the town dates to the 1870s, before the town was officially founded. As of 2024, it serves as a barber shop. The building is one floor and was built on Front Street when the town was largely farmland. Around 1884, the historic Jarrett House hotel was constructed by Dills. In a relatively short time period, Dillsboro became a thriving town; by 1888, it was the most important town on the Murphy Branch of the Southern Railway in the areas of Industry, with two sawmills, two clay mines, a locust pin company, a corundum crushing plant, a chestnut pole yard, a chestnut corkwood yard, two livery stables, six general stores, a large hotel, and a shoemaker.

left|thumb|[[The Jarrett House in 2024]]

A rivalry existed between Sylva and Dillsboro in their early days, as the efforts of one town were matched by the other, and the two towns were very much alike, and the same distance from the then-county seat of Webster. But a flood in 1894 ended the milling operations of the Blue Ridge Lumber Company, and near the turn of the century, two back-to-back floods at a tannery construction site in Dillsboro caused owner C.J. Harris to move the factory to the present site of the Jackson Paper Plant in Sylva. Around 1899, Dillsboro was the most-populated non-county seat town in the state west of Asheville with about 750 residents.

thumb|Aerial photo of downtown Dillsboro

Dillsboro's population has declined over the years, mostly due to little new housing being built in town limits and the fact that many homes are now shops in the downtown area. Since 1975, when Wade W. Wilson became mayor due to many write-in votes, Dillsboro has made a successful effort to restore many older buildings in the town to their original appearance.

In 2012, the Dillsboro Dam and Powerhouse were demolished to restore the Tuckasegee River's ecosystem. Downtown Dillsboro was partially flooded in 2024 during Hurricane Helene.

The Jarrett House and Elias Brendle Monteith House and Outbuildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Gertrude Dills McKee, first woman elected to the North Carolina State Senate, was a native of Dillsboro; she was the daughter of William Allen Dills.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

|+Dillsboro racial composition

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

|-

!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)

| 168

| 78.87%

|-

!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

| 1

| 0.47%

|-

!scope="row"| Native American

| 6

| 2.82%

|-

!scope="row"| Asian

| 5

| 2.35%

|-

!scope="row"| Other/Mixed

| 17

| 7.98%

|-

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino

| 16

| 7.51%

|}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 213 people, 112 households, and 53 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the census

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Jackson County, North Carolina

References

  • Town of Dillsboro