In this Issue of Hey Cherokee County…

✅ The Data on Andrews Tells a Different Story Than the One People Keep Repeating

✅ Jan Griggs Selected for November Ballot, Sworn In as Interim District 5 Commissioner

Cherokee County Events

August 11th

August 13th

August 15th

August 20th

August 22nd

August 26th

September 10th

September 16th-19th

September 26th

October 31st

November 21st

Publisher’s Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series based on an interview with Pam Hartley, a lead volunteer with Andrews Vision who also works statewide on education and workforce.

Ask around and you'll hear it — the quiet resignation in someone's voice when the conversation turns to Andrews. “It used to be such a great town.” The implication hangs in the air like old smoke: the best days are behind it, and everyone knows it.

That narrative has roots. Andrews carries real history — the kind that comes from watching a region's economy shift over generations. The loss of major employers. The hollowing out of the civic fabric that comes with it.

There's just one problem with that story. The data says it's dead wrong.

"A misconception that folks have is that Andrews is shrinking and that Andrews used to be a great town," said Pam Hartley, a lead volunteer with Andrews Vision who also works statewide on education and workforce. "That is not the case. Andrews is growing by every data point."

That growth isn't limited to within municipal boundaries, either. When Hartley talks about Andrews, she's talking about the Andrews Valley, Topton, Nantahala, and Marble.

"Usually when I'm talking about Andrews, I'm talking about Greater Andrews — the whole community that really counts on the town of Andrews and lives and works and plays here,” she said. 

The data reveals something else too: "Andrews is functioning at a much higher level than a market this size would normally suggest," Hartley said. 

What does that actually mean? In plain terms, Andrews pulls in far more dollars than you'd expect from a town its size. The retail spending happening within Andrews' municipal limits doesn't just come from the people who live inside those limits. It comes from a much wider orbit.

Hartley said around 12 percent of homes in the 28901 zip code are seasonal residences, with estimates climbing to 18 percent in the Marble zip code and 43 percent in Topton and Nantahala — people who own property in the area and spend months of the year pouring money into local restaurants, shops, and services. Add to that Andrews' role as a regional hub. 

"And so we pull in a lot — a large number of people and a lot of dollars. And that number continues to grow,” Hartley said. 

According to tourism data compiled by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Andrews draws approximately 117,100 unique visitors who return an average of 9.65 times — generating roughly 1.1 million annual visits to the town. The top points of origin are the Andrews area, Marble, Topton, and Robbinsville — a pattern that aligns closely with the seasonal resident population Hartley describes, people who own property in the area and make repeated trips into town throughout the year. 

Cherokee County added a net of 2,190 residents between 2020 and 2024, according to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management. Hartley said that number keeps climbing for two reasons: more people are moving into the zip code and surrounding areas, and tourism through the region keeps rising. In fact, Cherokee County and the Andrews area are quietly doing something that much of rural North Carolina can't claim. They're growing.

"We're one of the few western counties in North Carolina that are seeing strong sustained population growth," Hartley said. "It's over 6 percent growth since 2020 and that's really all attributed to people moving in — what we call in-migration into the county — and we're seeing that all over the county including the eastern part here in Andrews."

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 11 of the 23 counties most commonly included in the Western North Carolina region had flat or negative population change from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Cherokee County was not among them. 

So, while other rural counties across the state are watching residents pack up and leave, Andrews is gaining neighbors. The question Andrews is now actively wrestling with isn't how to make the town grow. It's what kind of town it grows into — and that's a question the community gets to answer together. 

The Town of Andrews is hosting a Public Visioning Session on Tuesday, August 11th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Andrews Community Center, 535 Main Street. Whether your interest is supporting local businesses, attracting new investment, or protecting what already makes this place worth staying for — town leaders encourage community members to attend and help build the town’s new Five-Year Strategic Economic Development Plan. 

In the next issue: Andrews is growing — but not evenly. There's one group the data says the town is quietly losing, and why that matters more than the growth numbers themselves. 

Jan Griggs officially returned to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners after being selected as the Republican candidate for the District 5 seat in the November 2026 general election and sworn in as interim commissioner the following day.

The Cherokee County Republican Party Executive Committee met Aug. 4 and selected Griggs as its nominee for the District 5 seat on the November ballot. According to party officials, Griggs was the only eligible applicant to complete the application process and was nominated following a vote of the executive committee.

The nomination came approximately two weeks after the Cherokee County GOP Executive Committee recommended Griggs to temporarily fill the seat left vacant last month by the resignation of Commissioner Alan Bryant.

Griggs was sworn in Aug. 5 to serve as interim District 5 commissioner. She will serve in the position while seeking election in November to complete the remainder of Bryant's unexpired term.

Griggs previously represented District 5 on the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners from 2020 through 2024.

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