Clay County is a county located in the far western part of U.S. state North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 11,089. The county seat is Hayesville.
Murphy is a town in and the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Hiwassee and Valley rivers. It is the westernmost county seat in the state of North Carolina, approximately 360 miles (580 km) from the state capital in Raleigh. The population of Murphy was 1,608 at the 2020 census.
Hayesville is a town in Clay County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 311 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Clay County.
The John C. Campbell Folk School, also referred to as "The Folk School", is located in Brasstown, North Carolina. It is the oldest and largest folk school in the United States. It is a non-profit adult educational organization based on non-competitive learning. The Folk School offers classes year-round in over fifty subject areas including art, craft, music, dance, and nature studies. Established in 1925, the Folk School's motto is "I sing behind the plow".
Hillside High School is a four-year high school located in Durham, North Carolina. Hillside is one of seven high schools in the Durham Public Schools system. Of more than 300 historically black high schools that once operated in the state before desegregation, only five remain today, with Hillside being the oldest. Hillside is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
North Carolina Highway 69 (NC 69) is a 3.876-mile-long (6.238 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It runs north–south from the Georgia state line to Hayesville, west of Chatuge Lake.
Terry Sanford High School is a public high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It is named after Terry Sanford, who was a North Carolina state senator, Governor of North Carolina, and United States Senator. Students range from grades 9–12 and is a part of the Cumberland County School System.
Warne ( "worn") is an unincorporated community in Brasstown Township, Clay County, North Carolina, United States. In 2010, Clay County was the fourth least populated county in North Carolina, inhabited by approximately 10,587 people. The region has added considerably to its population, a 20.6% increase since 2000. Warne is closer to the capitals of five other states than to Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina.
Tri-County Community College is a public community college in Murphy, North Carolina. It was founded in 1964 to serve Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties and is part of the North Carolina Community College System.
Clay County Progress is a weekly newspaper in Hayesville, North Carolina, and Clay County. It covers Clay and Cherokee counties in North Carolina and Towns County, Georgia.
Chatuge Dam is a flood control and hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Clay County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The dam is the uppermost of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s for flood storage and to provide flow regulation at Hiwassee Dam further downstream. The dam impounds the 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) Chatuge Lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Georgia state line. While originally built solely for flood storage, a generator installed at Chatuge in the 1950s gives the dam a small hydroelectric output. At the time it was built, Chatuge Dam was the highest earthen dam in the world until the Aswan Dam was built in Egypt in 1964. The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, which opened in 1978, is home to several popular events throughout the year including the Georgia Mountain Fair, Georgia Mountain Moonshine Cruiz-In, Georgia Mountain Fall Festival, Superstar concerts, and Georgia's Official State Fiddlers' Convention. Located on a 161-acre (0.65 km2) tract along the shores of Lake Chatuge in the north Georgia mountain community of Hiawassee, the Fairgrounds offers a glimpse into the past with its historic Pioneer Village, an expansive and comfortable music venue in the Anderson Music Hall, and 189 RV camp sites with lake views and modern conveniences.
Brasstown is an unincorporated community located mostly within Clay County, North Carolina, United States, though roughly one third of Brasstown is within the adjacent Cherokee County. Brasstown Creek travels through the community and separates the two counties.
Andrews High School (AHS) in Andrews, North Carolina serves grades 9–12 and is one of only three high schools in the Cherokee County Schools System. As of 2007 it had a full-time teaching staff of 27 teachers giving an average of 11 students per teacher. In 2023-24 enrollment was 221. The school's capacity is 530. The current building is a one-story, three building campus, built in 1962, after the original three-story campus was burned down months earlier. A May 2020 vote by the Cherokee County Board of Education was to consolidate Andrews, Murphy, and Hiwassee Dam High Schools, and a grant of $50 million was given to the school system in September 2022, though the grant was returned as a result of another vote of this time, the new members of the Cherokee County Board of Education.
Murphy High School (MHS) is a public high school in Murphy, North Carolina. It serves grades 9–12 and is one of only three high schools in the Cherokee County Schools system. The MHS campus is sandwiched between U.S. Route 19 and the Valley River. The high school shares its campus with Murphy Middle School and the Cherokee County Schools Bus Garage. As of 2007 the school had a full-time teaching staff of 42 teachers giving an average of 12 students per teacher. It has a GreatSchools rating of 5/10 and an average community rating of 4/5 stars. In the 2023-24 school year, 431 students were enrolled. The school has a capacity of 746 students.
Clay County Schools (CCS) manages the public school system in Clay County, North Carolina. It is the only school district in Clay County and covers all of the county with about 1,320 students attending a total of 4 separate schools located on a central campus in Hayesville. After county government, Clay County Schools is the county's largest employer with a staff of 205 people.
Lake Chatuge is a man-made reservoir in Towns County, Georgia, and Clay County, North Carolina. It was formed by the Tennessee Valley Authority's construction of Chatuge Dam in 1942. The lake is relatively shallow with depths of 30 feet (9.1 m) and reaches 144 feet (44 m) by the dam. In an average year the water level varies 10 feet (3.0 m) from winter to summer to provide seasonal flood storage. Lake Chatuge is the highest major lake in the state of Georgia. It takes up 7,000 acres and is 13 miles (21 km) long.
The Clay County Courthouse is located on Main Street in Hayesville, Clay County, North Carolina. The T-shaped two-story brick building was built in 1888, and is a prominent local example of vernacular Italianate architecture. Its most visible feature is a three-story square tower, which projects for half its width from the main facade, and through which entry to the building is gained.
Tennessee militia established Fort Hembree 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the present town of Hayesville, North Carolina, in October 1837 to prepare for deporting local Cherokee Native Americans during the Trail of Tears. The fort was under the command of General Winfield Scott. Within two week Scott's forces captured around 1,000 Cherokee people who were held prisoner at the fort. A number of Cherokees were stricken with illness while at Fort Hembree and died at the site. The remainder were marched from there to Fort Butler near present-day Murphy and then to deportation camps in Tennessee.
Captain George Washington Hayes was a 19th-century North Carolina politician. The town of Hayesville, North Carolina, is named for him.
