The first Graham County Courthouse was constructed in Robbinsville in 1874, but its floor collapsed two decades later while the building was packed during a murder trial.

[8] The facility was torn down in 1952 and replaced with a newer building which opened on April 6, 1953.

[7] An F2 tornado struck Graham County during the 1974 Super Outbreak causing two deaths and 11 injuries.

The river is used for whitewater rafting about 17 days per year, based on a water-release schedule from Santeetlah Dam.

Seventy-five percent of Lake Santeetlah shoreline borders national forest.

The eastern terminus of the Cherohala Skyway is located in northwestern Graham County.

The 43-mile (69 km) Cherohala Skyway connects Graham County with Tellico Plains, Tennessee.

The Cherokee name for the area, Nantahala, is translated as "land of the noon-day sun" because 90% of the land is slopes of 30 degrees or greater, suggesting that in the valleys one sees the sun only in the middle of the day.

[12] As of 2024, Graham County has the third lowest amount of agricultural acreage in the state.

Graham County is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners.

The county is a member of the regional Southwestern Commission council of governments.

[24] It was the last dry county (in which alcohol sales are generally forbidden with only a few exceptions) in North Carolina.

Many smaller communities in Graham County are named for bodies of water, notable landscape features, or early settlers.