Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina

Jul 11, 2015 Sat0

Laurie and I like riding our Gold Wing motorcycle. But it is easy to get into a rut and just ride the same roads. So to force ourselves to ride to places we would not normally visit we made a goal to visit and photograph all 100 North Carolina courthouses within 1 year.

As usual, we got a little behind. We started in July 2015 and finished 99 out of 100 by June 2018. The last courthouse was in our home county of Wake and it took us until Feb 2021 to get that final one. But we made it! This blog is about one of those visits.

Many NC courthouses were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The nomination form has some interesting facts about the various courthouse styles over the years.






Courthouse Information


Wikipedia says the following about the courthouse:

The County Courthouse of Clay County, North Carolina, is located on Main Street in Hayesville, North Carolina. The T-shaped two-story brick building was built in 1888, and is a prominent local example of vernacular Italianate architecture. Its most visible feature is a three-story square tower, which projects for half its width from the main facade, and through which entry to the building is gained.






County Information


The North Carolina History Project lists the following information for this county:

Formed from Cherokee County in 1861, Clay County's name is derived from legendary senator Henry Clay, who ironically, was not from North Carolina. Cherokee Indians widely inhabited the area until Scotch-Irish and English settlers arrived in the late-eighteenth century. Thirty years after the county's establishment, Hayesville was incorporated as the county seat. The town is named after George W. Hayes, a North Carolina General Assembly member who worked for Clay County's establishment.

For more than a century, agriculture was the backbone of the county's economy; however, tourism now supports much of the county's economy. The most popular tourist destination is the Smoky Mountains, which is the backdrop to the county's rural landscape. Within the range are notable peaks, including Jack Rabbit Mountain, Chunky Gal Mountain, Yellow Mountain, the Pinnacle, and Standing Indian Mountain.

Other natural features attract tourists. Some geographic points of interest in Clay County include the Nantahala National Forest, which covers a sizeable portion of the county, as well as the Hiwassee River. Trout fishing and boating are the main recreational activities on the Hiwassee.

Tourists also enjoy purchasing homemade crafts and visiting the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, founded in 1925. The historic site tells Clay County's history and cultural traditions, with indigenous artifacts and reminds tourists of the local tales and myths.






Our Experience


There was a very neat festival in the courthouse square on the day we visited. It was the "Festival on the Square" sponsored by the Clay County Historical and Arts Council. We would have stayed a while and checked out all the booths but we were in a hurry to get back to "Wings over the Smokies" in Cherokee.

This was a nice downtown and it appeared they were raising money to renovate the courthouse. It was hard to get a decent photo because of the trees surrounding the courthouse.

Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:32:17 AM EDT Altitude: 1931 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Laurie
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:33:03 AM EDT Altitude: 1931 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Laurie
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:33:37 AM EDT Altitude: 1931 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:35:10 AM EDT Altitude: 1931 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:37:11 AM EDT Altitude: 1891 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:39:48 AM EDT Altitude: 1891 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina
Jul 11, 2015 Sat 10:40:50 AM EDT Altitude: 1891 ft Camera: Nikon D5100Display on Google Map
Clay County Courthouse in Hayesville, North Carolina



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Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva, North Carolina




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