Alfred Burton Cline

 Lucy Ann (Raby) Cline

On 26 Jun 1871, the commissioners court was held at Lucy Ann (Raby) Cline's small store in the small village of Bear Springs. Lucy Ann was by then the widow of Alfred B. Cline, who had died in 1866. The name "Charleston" was selected to become the county seat. A pressing concern for the newly appointed county commissioners was the selection of a site to become the county seat.

Lucy Ann Cline offered 25-acres of land to Swain County for the sum of $100 to become the new county seat with the majority of commissioners gladly accepting her offer. A deed was prepared on 07 July 1873 from Lucy Ann Cline to Frank Leech, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for Swain County, for a portion of the tract known as the Big Bear Reservation for the purpose of locating the town of Charleston and on which to erect a courthouse, prison and other necessary public buildings for the use and benefit of said Swain County. Lucy Ann excepted and reserved three half acre lots # 1, # 2, and # 3 from the public square in the N.E. Block of said town as represented in the plat of a survey of the same lots # 2, # 6, and # 10 for herself and her heirs.   *see attached map below

The commissioners had hired Joseph Keener for the sum of $46.40 to survey the tract and to divide the property into lots. To complete the job, Mr. Keener was assisted by James Raby, who received $2.50 in pay and Samuel Conley, who received $3.00 in pay.

The town square was laid out on the south side of the Tuckaseigee River with the main street running parallel with the river and extending an equal distance east and west from the town square. The County was divided into Townships, and these, in turn were numbered and divided into districts. The Village of Charleston became incorporated on 03 February 1887.                                  

The first elected town officials were:

MAYOR: Captain Epp Everett 

TOWN COMMISSIONERS: William Thomas Conley and Robert L. Davis 

CONSTABLE: G. W. Battle. 

Two years later in 1889, J. A. Franks, a member of the N.C. Legislature, introduced a bill which would change the name of Charleston to "Bryson City" in honor of Colonel Thaddius Dillard Bryson. One stated reason for changing the name was that the mail intended for Charleston, North Carolina often found its way to the better known Charleston, South Carolina.

Thaddius Dillard Bryson

Records indicate that two sessions of court were held prior to the completion of the first courthouse. The first session was held at Cold Springs Baptist Church while the second session, for convenience sake, was held upstairs at the home of Captain Epp Everett. In the summer of 1873 James Raby's bid to build a courthouse and jail was accepted. He was to have the buildings constructed before the Spring 1874 term of Superior Court. Construction was completed and was accepted by the county in May 1874.

Information obtained from court minutes and commissioner's meetings describe the first courthouse as a two-story wooden structure. On the ground floor were the jailer's room, offices for the register of deeds and clerk of court. The jail, also known as the "Dungeon," was a log room within a room with stones and mud filling the space between the logs. The only entrance to the dungeon was a padlocked trap door from the floor above. When summoned for trial, the trap door was opened and a ladder was cautiously raised and lowered when required. The court room occupied the entire second floor and was additionally used as a school house, church house and for various social and public gatherings until separate buildings could be constructed. Tradition alleges that a fire occurred in 1879, thus creating the need for a new courthouse.

David Kimsey "D.K." Collins drew up the plans for a new courthouse which was ordered to be built from brick and was to follow the plan of the Jackson County Courthouse located in Webster. Thaddius Dillard Bryson is reported to be the lowest bidder and construction began in April 1881. Construction was completed and accepted by the county in May 1882. The lower level contained the county offices and the courtroom occupied the second floor. This building was the premiere site of social life and administrative affairs.

Unfortunately tragedy would strike, on 03 January 1908 the courthouse was completed destroyed by fire; again, resulting in the need for a new courthouse.

Swain County's Second Courthouse [1882-1908]

David Kimsey "D.K." Collins

The site was chosen for the third courthouse. After negotiations were completed the land was acquired and construction would soon follow in the warm summer days of June 1908 by the Falls City Construction Company of New Jersey whose principal office was located in Louisville, Kentucky. The company was bonded through Fidelity and Deposit Company in Baltimore, Maryland on 03 April 1908. David Kimsey "D.K." Collins and G. W. McCracken were the building superintendents. Architects for the new courthouse were Frank B. Milburn of Washington, DC and Robert S. Smith of Asheville. Milburn was a well-known architect who designed many buildings in North Carolina and throughout the south. Smith had first worked with Richard Morris Hunt at Biltmore Village and then independently.

The courthouse was a most ambitious structure for Bryson City; constructed as a large, early neo-classic revival style building set on a spacious corner lot. The two-story stuccoed building is a three-part composition. The central block has clipped corners and hipped roof and is fronted by a pedimented four-columned Ionic portico. Two-story flat roof wings project laterally beyond the core. The south facade has a pedimented entrance pavilion divided into three bays by Ionic pilasters. A heavy three-part cornice wraps around the building which is crowned with an octagonal Neo-Classic cupola containing clock faces on four-sides. The interior is a traverse hall plan with offices on the first floor with a courtroom and offices on the second floor. Most of the finishing details are intact and include a pressed tin ceiling with a classic egg and dart crown mold pattern and plain board door surrounds in the courtroom.

In a letter to the Swain County Board of Commissioners dated 04 April 1908, plans were drawn up to sell a series of thirty-five $1,000 "Court House Bonds"  through the Chase National Bank of New York with an interest rate of 6%, payable semi-annually to mature as follows: 1-Bond on 01 April 1913 and 1-Bond each year thereafter up to and including 01 April 1919.  2-Bonds on 01 April 1920 and 2-Bonds each year up to and including 01 April 1923. 3-Bonds on 01 April 1924 and 4-Bonds on 01 April 1925, 4-Bonds on 01 April 1926, 4-Bonds on 01 April 1927 and 5-Bonds on 01 April 1928; for a total of $35,000. In addition, the commissioners also authorized the Falls City Construction Company to get a "tower clock with a metal bell" at a cost of $850.

On 16 May 1905 a resolution was ratified by the Swain County Board of Commissioners to Construct and Equip a Fire-Proof Record Room. Later in the year on 01 July 1905 plans were drawn up to sell a series of Bonds. On 01 July 1907 J. A. Chambers, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, signed the Bond document as follows: 4-Bonds at $500 each and 1-Bond at $400 at a rate of 5% annually, for a total of $2,400.

On 07 Aug 1905 a resolution was passed by the Swain County Board of Commissioners to Construct and Equip a new jail. Later in the year on 02 October 1905 plans were drawn up to sell a series of Bonds and on 01 May 1907 J. A. Chambers, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, signed the Bond document as follows: 9-Bonds at $500 each and 2-Bonds at $1,000 each at a rate of 6%, annually for a total of $6,500. In a hand-written agreement dated 17 January 1906 by A. M. Newton and approved by the Swain County Board of Commissioners,                  [George Washington McCracken],  it allowed Sheriff W. B. Cole to move into the new jail prior to the completion and acceptance of the new courthouse.

This courthouse still remains on the town square today and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places  [#79001752]  in 1979.

Swain County Courthouse Under Construction  - Circa 1908

Swain County Courthouse - 13 Feb 2011

Swain County Administration Building - 13 Feb 2011

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