Interesting Facts About Haywood County, NC

Here in Haywood County (Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Clyde, Canton) we are very proud of our county.  Our tall mountains and wide valleys make our county unique in the Eastern United States.  Here are a few facts you may not have known:

Haywood has more 6,000 feet + mountains (13) than any county east of the Mississippi River.

Shining Rock- 6010 feet, Grassy Cove Top 6055 feet, Tennent Mountain 6040 feet, Black Balsam Knob- 6214 feet, Sam’s Knob- 6055 feet, Rheinhart Knob- 6095 feet, Richland Balsam- 6410 feet, Cold Mountain- 6030 feet, Waterrock Knob- 6292 feet, Mt. Lynn Lowery- 6290 feet, Plot Balsam- 6088 feet, Mt. Guyot- 6621 feet, Big Cataloochee- 6180 feet

Haywood has the highest average elevation of any county in the East.

Haywood’s rivers, creeks and springs are its own.  All water in the county originates here.

Haywood is home to almost 10% (46 miles) of the Blue Ridge Parkway with entrances from Highway 276 at Wagon Wheel Gap, Highway 215 at Beech Gap, and Highway 23/74 at Balsam Gap, and Highway 19 at Soco Gap.  The highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway is in Haywood County.

Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County is part of the National Forest Scenic Byway, a 79-mile loop.

Haywood County is a Civil War site.  Kirk’s Raid occurred here in 1865.

Canton was originally Cherokee Indian Territory.  A post office first opened there in 1837.  The community was named Pigeon River at that time.

Haywood’s oldest church, now First Baptist Church in Canton, was established in 1801 as Locust Old Fields Church.

The railroad came to Canton in 1881 and to Waynesville in 1882.

Two of the world’s largest sapphires were found in Canton’s Old Pressley Sapphire Mine.

Clyde’s 1795 Shook House was home of Jacob Shook.  Bishop Asbury was the first Methodist Bishop consecrated in America and used the Shook House for services.

In 1891, Haywood County got its first library when a group of Waynesville women started the Waynesville Library.  In 1915, the Canton Library formed under the guidance of the Canton Women’s Club.

Canton was home to the Champion Paper Mill for 115 years.  The mill employed and provided an income to generations of workers in Canton.  The mill was closed in 2023.

I hope you enjoyed the facts about our county.