RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Swain County >> ElaIndex...

Welcome to Ela ...

Ela is located in Swain County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Ela, you might consider that their post office opened in 1910.

Ela is 1,790 feet [546 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Ela lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Ela: 828

Communities Also Named Ela ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Ela - they are located in Illinois and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ela.

Communities near Ela ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ela.

  • Franklin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Gatlinburg
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Sylva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylva is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylva
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,739 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sylva <3>
  • Bryson City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Maggie Valley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Webster
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Webster is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 386 people
  • Forest Hills
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Hills is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
    • Forest Hills has also been known as:
    • Forest Hills village
    • Village of Forest Hills
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest Hills <3>
  • Dillsboro
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Cherokee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Oconaluftee Indian Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ela. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ela.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ela. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ela.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ela. See our Newspapers Page for Ela.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ela ...

Looking for more information about Ela? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Ela, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Ela.

Adding Ela to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Ela in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Ela was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<4>

From that list, the Ela post office opened in 1910. The Ela post office closed in 1936.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Ela.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Swain, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Ela - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/