►
From YouTube: This Day in History: The Walton War (December 15)
Description
North Carolina’s borders haven’t always been clearly defined as they are today. In 1804, North Carolina and Georgia had a dispute over a tract of land at the NC/Georgia border known as the Orphan Strip.
Subscribe to stay up-to-date on all of our latest news & videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/bcgovtv.
For more information about Buncombe County Government, visit http://www.buncombecounty.org/.
A
North
Carolina's
borders
haven't
always
been
clearly
defined,
as
they
are
today
in
1804,
North,
Carolina
and
Georgia
had
a
dispute
over
a
tract
of
land
at
the
North
Carolina
Georgia
border,
known
as
the
orphan
strip.
In
those
days,
Buncombe
County
stretched
across
the
majority
of
Western
North
Carolina
and
included
the
orphan
strip
within
its
borders.
In
fact,
Buncombe
County
was
commonly
referred
to
as
the
state
of
buncombe.
The
federal
government
gave
this
trip
to
Georgia
in
1802,
but
due
to
poor
cartography,
it
was
difficult
to
determine
where
state
lines
began
and
ended.
A
This
led
to
confusion
and
conflict
when
Georgia
established
Walton
County
in
the
region
and
attempted
to
collect
taxes.
Folks
in
the
newly
established
County
found
themselves
divided.
Those
with
North
Carolina
land
grants
would
only
pay
taxes,
the
Buncombe
County,
while
those
with
georgia
and
south
carolina
land
grants
aligned
with
walton
county.
These
divisions
came
to
a
head
on
December
15th
1804,
when
Walt
own
ians
killed
Buncombe
County
constable
john
Hafner.
His
death
led
buncombe
counties
government
to
call
in
the
militia
for
protection
and
to
arrest
havanese
murderers.
A
The
resulting
arrests
of
10
Walton
County
officials
effectively
caused
the
county's
government
to
collapse
and
within
two
years,
North
Carolina
and
Georgia
agreed
to
a
joint
commission
to
resolve
the
quarrel.
It
was
found
that
the
orphan
strip
arrested
inside
North
Carolina's
territory
and
by
1811
Georgia
gave
up
control
of
the
strip.
Today.
The
orphan
strip
is
a
part
of
both
transylvania
in
Jackson
County
in
a
historic
marker
for
the
Walton
war
can
be
found
on
us
276
just
outside
of
reward.