Clay County Heritage

Clay County heritage includes a brick building constructed in 1912 that served as the county jail until 1972 and still retains thick concrete walls, steel doors, and jail cells. The county’s history also includes the early life of the Cherokee in the beautiful Hiwassee River valley northeast of Hayesville, where hundreds of Cherokee lived for many years at Spikebuck Town, or Quanassee Village, on rich river bottomland. The town’s large earthen mound served as its ceremonial center for hundreds of years, and Spikebuck Mound is preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Clay County’s heritage also includes the courthouse on the town square, built in 1888, where the large courtroom and surrounding square hosted civil activities as well as annual singing conventions, concerts by well-known musicians, and contests for individuals, groups, and choirs, traditions now continued in the town square. The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Hayesville, North Carolina · United States