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 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains.

In the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 9,232 with an estimate (by the town government) of 10,000 as of early 2007 and 9,869 at the 2010 census and 9,789 in 2012. Waynesville is located just outside the Pisgah National Forest and is close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Waynesville and Haywood County are part of the four-county Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area, currently the 5th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. It is the third largest town in the MSA behind the cities of Asheville and Hendersonville.

Geography

Waynesville is located at 35°29′00″N 82°59′40″W / 35.483226°N 82.994511°W / 35.483226; -82.994511 (35.483226, -82.994511).

Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Maggie Valley is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 1,150 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park and Cataloochee Ski Area.

Maggie Valley is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The community gets its name from Maggie Mae Setzer; her father John "Jack" Sidney Setzer founded the area's first post office and named it after one of his daughters.

Geography

Maggie Valley is located at 35°30′52″N 83°4′1″W / 35.51444°N 83.06694°W / 35.51444; -83.06694 (35.514430, -83.067013).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 607 people, 297 households, and 179 families residing in the town. The population density was 372.8 people per square mile (143.8/km²). There were 565 housing units at an average density of 347.0 per square mile (133.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.38% White, 1.32% African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.16% of the population.

North Carolina

North Carolina (ⁱ/ˌnɔːrθ kærəˈlaɪnə/) is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the 50 United States. North Carolina is known as the Tar Heel State and the Old North State.

North Carolina is composed of 100 counties. Its two largest metropolitan areas are among the top ten fastest-growing in the country: its capital, Raleigh, and its largest city, Charlotte. In the past five decades, North Carolina's economy has undergone a transition from reliance upon tobacco, textiles, and furniture-making to a more diversified economy with engineering, energy, biotechnology, and finance sectors.

North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet (2,037 m) at Mount Mitchell, the highest point in North America east of the Mississippi River. The climate of the coastal plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles (500 km) from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate.

Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains and the name is commonly shortened to the Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and, with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most-visited national park in the United States.

The Great Smokies are part of an International Biosphere Reserve. The range is home to an estimated 187,000 acres (76,000 ha) of old growth forest, constituting the largest such stand east of the Mississippi River. The cove hardwood forests in the range's lower elevations are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America, and the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest that coats the range's upper elevations is the largest of its kind. The Great Smokies are also home to the densest black bear population in the Eastern United States and the most diverse salamander population outside of the tropics.