As Haywood County begins to tackle the challenges of 2013, it’s a fitting time to look at where the county was 50 years ago.

From church building to road construction to industry expansion to increased tourism, there was a lot going on in Haywood County in 1963. In just a year, both the pace and the sheer number of projects showed that what was happening five decades ago set the tone for current life across the county.

News items included in the Waynesville Mountaineer told the week-by-week story of much that took place in the county as it unfolded.

Business and industry

In January, the Carolina Division of Champion Papers, Inc. announced it would tackle a major modernization effort by expanding the smelter operation to 800 tons a day and expand the paperboard production to 500 tons ...