Robert Lafayette Cooper House

Nantahala Regional Library is the oldest regional library in North Carolina and one of the first regional libraries formed in the United States. Its headquarters is in Murphy, North Carolina. The library has branches in Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties. The board of directors consists of nine members (three from each county) serving six-year terms. The library is funded by local governments. In fiscal year 2023-24, the library received approximately $463,000 in county funding, $367,000 in state funding, and $303,000 in municipal funding.

The Cherokee County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Murphy, North Carolina, United States, the county seat of Cherokee County, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Cherokee County Schools manages the 13 public schools in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States, with an enrollment of 3,081 students and a 12.7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.The School Superintendent is Dr. Keevn Woody. As of 2023, Cherokee County Schools' graduation rate is 92 percent. The state average is 86.5 percent.

Harshaw Chapel and Cemetery is a historic Methodist chapel and cemetery at Church and Central Streets in Murphy, Cherokee County, North Carolina. The chapel was built on land gifted to the church by Joshua Harshaw, who was a prominent slaveholder in the area. The chapel was completed May 1, 1869, and is a vernacular Greek Revival style brick church. The surrounding Murphy Methodist Cemetery contains graves dated as early as about 1840.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Murphy is a town in and the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Hiwassee and Valley rivers. It is the westernmost county seat in the state of North Carolina, approximately 360 miles (580 km) from the state capital in Raleigh. The population of Murphy was 1,608 at the 2020 census.

The Valley River is a tributary of the Hiwassee River. It arises as a pair of springs in the Snowbird Mountains of Cherokee County, North Carolina and descends 2,960 feet (900 m) in elevation in approximately forty miles (64 km) to enter the Hiwassee embayment at present-day Murphy, North Carolina. The Valley River flows generally southwest. US 19 runs parallel to it between Topton and Murphy, North Carolina, where it crosses the river via a small bridge. The river has a total watershed of 120 m2 (11.15km2)

Fort Butler was an important site during the Cherokee removal known as the Trail of Tears. Located on a hill overlooking present-day Murphy, North Carolina on the Hiwassee River, Fort Butler was the headquarters of the Eastern Division of the U.S. Army overseeing the Cherokee Nation. It was the military force charged with forcing Cherokee emigration. Fort Butler was located along Hitchcock Street near Lakeside Street in what in the 21st century is a private residential neighborhood. Down the hill from this location, Cherokee Street follows the route of the former Unicoi Turnpike along which the Cherokee were marched to Fort Cass and on to Indian Territory (Duncan 2003:190). Fort Butler, originally named Camp Huntington, was established in July 1836 by General John E. Wool and a force of Tennessee volunteer militia sent to the region to keep order after the ratification of the Treaty of New Echota. The camp was abandoned after a month but then reoccupied in 1837 and renamed Fort Butler after Benjamin Butler. The site was of strategic importance because there the Unicoi Turnpike crossed the Hiwassee River at Christie Ford as well as the road up Valley River to the Cherokee "Valley Towns." In early 1838 it became clear that most Cherokee would not willingly leave their lands. After a deadline in May passed, the United States Army prepared for forced removal. Fort Butler was enlarged with barracks, officers' quarters, offices, shops, kitchens, and other buildings. General Abraham Eustis took command of the fort in late May, 1838. Troops fresh from the Second Seminole War in Florida were assigned to Fort Butler. The military removal of the Cherokee began in Georgia in late May, but reports of abuse and mistreatment of the prisoners caused General Winfield Scott, the overall commander stationed at Fort Cass, to suspend operations until early June. Southwest North Carolina was one of the most densely populated regions of the Cherokee Nation and was believed to be an area with the potential for violent resistance. Therefore, General Scott travelled to Fort Butler in order to personally direct the roundup of Cherokee in the region, which began on June 12, 1838 (Duncan 2003:190). During the early summer of 1838 more than 3,000 Cherokee prisoners from western North Carolina and northern Georgia passed through Fort Butler en route, via the Unicoi Turnpike, to the larger internment camps at Fort Cass, Tennessee. Unlike the long imprisonment at Fort Cass, most of the prisoners spent only a few days at Fort Butler, although some remained for a few weeks (Duncan 2003:189).

Martin Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is a tributary to the Hiwassee River. Martin Creek was named after the pioneer Martin family, which settled near its banks in the 1830s.

Texana is an unincorporated community in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

Murphy High School (MHS) is a public high school in Murphy, North Carolina, it serves grades 9–12 and is one of only three high schools in the Cherokee County Schools. As of 2007 it had a full-time teaching staff of 42 teachers giving an average of 12 students per teacher. It has a GreatSchools rating of 5/10 and an average community rating of 4/5 stars. In the 2023-24 school year, 431 students were enrolled. The school has a capacity of 746 students.In May 2020, the Cherokee County Board of Education voted to consolidate Andrews, Murphy, and Hiwassee Dam High Schools. In September 2022, a grant of $50 million was given to the school system for this purpose, but in January 2023 new members of the Cherokee County Board of Education voted to return the money instead.“Practically all of Murphy High School is in need of dramatic repairs and improvements or a complete replacement altogether,” the Cherokee Scout newspaper wrote in 2023.Murphy High was voted as the best school in Cherokee County in the Scout's 2023 Readers' Choice awards.

Murphy Adventist Christian School is a private Christian school located in Murphy, North Carolina. It covers grades pre-kindergarten through 12 with an active enrollment of 18 students. It has a student to teacher ratio of 18:1.

The Nottely River is a river in the United States. The river originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia. The river flows for 51.1 miles (82.2 km) into the artificial Hiwassee Reservoir in North Carolina. The Nottely River is dammed in Georgia, creating Lake Nottely. Arkaqua Creek is a tributary.