Fast Facts

• Haywood County has 14 peaks over 6,000 feet.
• Haywood County has the highest average elevation of any county in the east.
• Haywood's rivers and springs are its own: all water in Haywood County originates here.
• 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.
• Waynesville was voted as a "low-cost Eden," best undiscovered town, best Main Street town, best small town and best mountain town in "Where to Retire" magazine's America's 100 Best Places to Retire (third edition).
• Canton was originally Cherokee Indian Territory. A post office first opened here in 1837 and the community at the time was named Pigeon River.
• 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 Waynesville in 1882.
• Novelist, poet and educator Fred Chappell grew up in Canton and graduated from high school there in 1954.
• Two of the world's largest sapphires have been found in Canton's Old Pressley Sapphire Mine, now open to visitors.
• Clyde's 1795 Shook House was home of Bishop Francis Asbury, the first Methodist Bishop consecrated in America.
• Raymond Fairchild, five-time World Banjo Champion, performs regularly at the Maggie Valley Opry House.

Haywood County
Incorporated 1808
Population 54,595
County Seat Waynesville

Maggie Valley
Incorporated 1907
Elevation 3,020'
Population 607

Waynesville
Incorporated 1871
Elevation 3,600'
Population 9,232

Canton
Incorporated 1837
Elevation 2,609'
Population 4,029

Clyde
Incorporated 1889
Elevation 2,539'
Population 1,324

Lake Junaluska
Elevation 3,540'
Population 2,482