Clay County, North Carolina

George and I visited Clay County, North Carolina, on October 27. Clay County is a neighbor of Cherokee County, our home base for vacation. Clay County is also surrounded by Macon County, plus three Georgia counties. It was formed in 1861 from part of Cherokee County, and is named for Henry Clay. It's the smallest county in area of all 100 counties in North Carolina.

Old Clay County Courthouse

 Hayesville (incorporated March 12, 1913) is the county seat of Clay County. With a population of about 300, it's a charming town, and I really enjoyed walking and driving around! This was one of the rainiest days George and I had on our trip, but we made the best of it. Here is the old Clay County Courthouse. A nearby plaque indicates it was in use from 1888 to 1972. There were a lot of technology changes in that time span! The new Clay County Courthouse is here. While I can appreciate the need for more space, the old Clay County Courthouse on the town square definitely has the charm factor going for it. I'm glad they've kept it!

Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville

 Moss Memorial Library, pictured here, is part of the Nantahala Regional Library (headquartered in Murphy), which serves Clay, Cherokee, and Graham Counties. This regional library was initially organized in 1937, initially for the library in Murphy to provide library services to the people involved in building Hiwassee Dam in western Cherokee County. When the initial contract with the Murphy Library expired near completion of Hiwassee Dam, voters approved tax money to expand the services of the Nantahala Regional Library, which became established in November 1940.

Friends of the Library Bookstore

Across the street from Moss Memorial Library is a small house-looking structure that is the Friends of the Library Bookstore. George and I both love used bookstores, so we really enjoyed spending some time in there after our stop in the library, especially considering the rain! (Click on the picture to make it bigger and see the big raindrops coming down.) The volunteer there was very nice and helpful, and steered us toward a local place for lunch.

Almost Touch the Clouds!

After our stop in Hayesville, we decided to go to Macon County. The clouds were so low, we could almost touch them! It gave us a different scenic view from what we were expecting, but it was still beautiful.

Bright Fall Colors

This is one of my favorite pictures of fall color from this trip! This was taken on the road between Clay and Macon Counties. The bending road in this shot was also a familiar site on our trip!

The rest of my Clay County pictures are here.