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- Town
4,313
56%
$47,899
11.1%
America/New_York
28716
Welcome:
The WikiXM 'Canton' platform is your gateway to becoming an active part of our vibrant community, regardless of your age or how long you've called 'Canton' home. It's more than just a news platform; it's a thriving hub where the collective wisdom of every 'Canton' resident converges to ignite discussions, foster learning, and empower one another with knowledge about our beloved town.
Here in 'Canton', we have a diverse tapestry of residents. Some have roots that run deep, their knowledge steeped in the rich history of our town. Others are students, dedicated to keeping us updated on school activities, while many are committed to sharing the ebb and flow of daily life.
What's more, from a civic and political perspective, there are countless opportunities for you to join in. Many in our community offer updates on policies and decisions, offering their unique insights. This platform is where all these local perspectives meld together, creating a better place for everyone to live, regardless of your age or how long you've been a part of 'Canton'.
So, whether you're a long-time resident or a newcomer, young or old, WikiXM is your invitation to dive into the heart of our community, to engage, and help us all create a more vibrant, inclusive, and connected 'Canton'. Join us and let's make a difference together!
Canton, NC - History
We would like to provide the residents of Canton a basic history overview.
Welcome to the Canton Home page. The Canton Home page provides as much information as possible on Canton. Knowing Canton’s history is essential to guiding its future. Within Canton’s Home page, you will also find Canton’s Founders, Holiday, and Birthday sections.
Canton has a population of 4313. 47.1% of Canton’s inhabitants are Male, and 52.9 are female. 39.9% of Canton is married and 55.8% own their own home. The Average Home price is $140,257, and the average rent is $676. Household median income in Canton is $47,899, and the individual median income is $24,258. Canton’s Ethnic is the following: White(95.8%), Hispanic(3.5%), Other(2.1%), Multiple(1%), Black(0.8%), Native(0.4%).
This area was long settled by succeeding indigenous cultures. What is known as the archeological Garden Creek site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located on the south side of the Pigeon River, approximately seven miles west of Canton. It was inhabited from 8000 BCE by successive cultures of indigenous peoples.
Villages were developed in the Middle Woodland (200-600 CE) and The Southeast Appalachian Mississippian culture ((1000 to 1450/1500 CE) periods. The Cherokee people are the most recent Native Americans to occupy this area, which is part of their homelands in the western Carolinas, southeastern Tennessee, and northeastern Georgia.
The Cherokee in Western North Carolina are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a federally recognized tribe. The prehistoric peoples built a total of four earthwork mounds at the site. Three have been excavated, the last two platform mounds in the 1960s prior to residential development.European Americans did not begin to settle here until the late 1780s, following the American Revolutionary War, United States independence, and gaining cessions of land to the US by the Cherokee.
By 1790, Jonathan McPeters was farming the banks of the Pigeon River at the site where Canton developed. Around 1815 the first church was built in what was to become Canton; it was called the Locust Old Field Baptist Church. "Old Field: is a common term referring to areas cultivated or occupied by the Cherokee people, as this was known to be part of their traditional homelands.Canton was founded in 1889 as "Buford".
Later that same year, the name was changed to "Vinson". The name was changed to "Pigeon Ford" in 1891, and to "Canton" in 1893. The town was named for Canton, Ohio, the source of the steel for the bridge that was built across the Pigeon River. Canton's river location enabled the development of industry that used water power.
Peter G. Thomson had built Champion Coated Paper Company of Hamilton, Ohio into one of largest manufacturers of paper in the United States. He visited Western North Carolina in 1905 looking for a location for a pulp mill to supply his company. The area had large forests that would supply timber. Leaders of communities farther to the west tried to convince Thomson to choose their areas.
While the timber supplies were greater to the west, Thomson wanted areas with more spruce and settled on Canton, which had the type trees Thomson wanted, enough land for a mill, and the Pigeon River to move logs to the mill. Thomson later realized the river did not have enough of a slope, so railroads were used to move logs instead.
Construction on the mill began in 1906. Many of the workers also had farms that they had to return to, so immigrants were hired to do much of the work.Canton had 350 people when work began. When the Champion Fibre Company mill opened in 1908, it had about 1000 employees and resulted in other related jobs being created, including construction of neighborhoods such as Fibreville, with 60 homes for employees.
Thomson had great respect for the workers, believing those who had wealth should provide jobs for those who needed them, and began an annual Labor Day celebration in 1906, which continued a hundred years later.When Champion owners decided to close the plant in 1997 because of environmental issues, the employees purchased the plant and formed Blue Ridge Paper Company.
Under an ESOP, the employees owned a 45% stake in the new company. The plant was sold to Evergreen Packaging, which in 2020 became Pactiv Evergreen. The Blue Ridge Southern Railroad serves the plant and has a small railyard next to it. The Canton Main Street Historic District and Colonial Theater are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.On August 17, 2021, Tropical Storm Fred flooded the town near the Pigeon River.
As of June 2022, many buildings surrounding the river are still not usable as a result of the storm. In nearby Cruso, six people died as a result from the flooding, many of which at Laurel Bank Campground.
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