Clay County, North Carolina: History and Information

Clay County, North Carolina

Clay County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Hayesville
Year Organized: 1861
Square Miles: 215

Court House:

PO Box 118
County Courthouse
Hayesville, NC 28904-0118

Etymology - Origin of County Name

It was named in honor of Henry Clay.

Demographics:

History

Clay was formed in 1861 from Cherokee. It was named in honor of Henry Clay. It is in the western section of the State and is bounded by the state of Georgia and Cherokee and Macon counties. The present land area is 214.70 square miles and the 2000 population was 8,775. Commissioners were directed to hold their first meeting in the Methodist Church near Fort Hembree. Special commissioners were named to select a site for the courthouse and lay out a town by the name of Hayesville. Hayesville, named in honor of George W. Hayes, is the county seat.

Neighboring Counties:

State of Georgia

Cherokee

Macon

Cities and Towns:

- Hayesville (County Seat)

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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