History of Highlands NC
Legend has it that Highlands was founded in 1875 after Samuel Truman Kelsey and Clinton Carter Hutchinson drew lines from Chicago to Savannah and from New Orleans to New York on a map. They decided that the place where the lines met would eventually become a great trading center and commercial crossroads. Though Highlands has never really gained the population the two predicted, it has become a popular summer retreat for many.
By 1883, nearly 300 immigrants occupied Highlands. The town began to develop its own community with more than eight country stores, a post office, a hotel and boarding house by the early 1880s.
The town remained the same for many years until the Chamber of Commerce was established in 1931 causing the population to increase.
Today, Highlands remains a small community that nearly doubles in size in summer months. With many zoning laws the land in and around the community maintains a wilderness feel.