Made up of the distinctive towns of Cashiers, Cherokee, Dillsboro, and Sylva, Jackson County is known for shopping, dining, culture, and charming locales.

Roanoke Rapids () is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,754 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids CSA, with a total population of 297,726 as of 2018.

Hampton County is a rural county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,090. Its county seat is Hampton. It was named for Confederate Civil War general Wade Hampton, who in the late 1870s, with the ending of Reconstruction, was elected as governor of South Carolina. The county includes two small urban clusters: Hampton (2000 pop.: 4,011) and Estill (3,637).

Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the Atlantic coastal plain region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population is estimated to be 53,922 as of 2019. It is the principal city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area, often called the "Twin Counties", which had an estimated population of 146,021 in 2018. Rocky Mount is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids Combined Statistical Area in northeast North Carolina with a total population of 297,726 as of 2018.Incorporated in 1867, the community at the falls of the Tar River that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the middle of the 1700s. Historically strong in rail transportation, textiles, and agriculture, the economy of Rocky Mount has diversified into biomedical pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and logistics. Forbes ranked the city as No. 6 for cost of doing business on its list of "Best Small Places For Business And Careers" in 2018. Rocky Mount has also twice received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League in 1969 and 1999.