The Museum of Haywood County History

Name: The Museum of Haywood County History
Address: 178 Morgan Street, Clyde, NC, 28721, US
Telephone: +18285641044

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The Museum of Haywood County History

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10/13/2026

Our museum is also the home of the Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society. Our communities room also houses our library. We have a great selection of books on Haywood County and the culture of our region.

One perk of being a member of the society is access to our library and archive. If you are a member and are interested in a topic about Haywood County, give us a call and we can set up a research appointment.

Want to contribute to our library? We are always looking for books about Haywood County, Appalachian culture, Cherokee history, and Haywood County family histories. We collect Haywood County school yearbooks and documents pertaining to Haywood County. If you have written a family history, we would love to preserve a copy in our archive.

Membership in the society is only $20 a year, or you can buy a lifetime membership. Come join us!

10/07/2026

This Friday is the 60th anniversary of the high school football rivalry so great it has its own Wikipedia page. The Pisgah Black Bears first met the Tuscola Mountaineers on September 23, 1966 (Pisgah won).

People in Clyde, which is about halfway between the two schools always say they don't have to go to the game to know the winner. If the game is played at Pisgah, and there are car horns blaring on the highway after 9 pm, they know Tuscola won. If the night is quiet, Pisgah won. Of course the opposite is true with Pisgah fans blowing the horns if their team beat Tuscola at Waynesville.

Note the date. The 2020 game had to be played in February 2021 due to the covid pandemic.

10/05/2026

This great artifact shows us how genealogists in the past had to rely on physical records and the notes they kept. This notebook was one of many kept by amateur genealogist Albert Stevens McLean. McLean was a native of Swain County, but as all genealogists know, family histories don't end at county lines. McLean kept detailed notes for all the counties in southwestern North Carolina.

For this part of his records, which McLean titled Haywood County Abstracts of Wills, he would have had to spend time in the records in the Haywood County Courthouse. Today this information can be recorded in a flash using our cell phone cameras, and many such records are available online.

This notebook came to the Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society from a womam whose father had purchased it. More of the books were taken to Buncombe County. How easy it would have been for this woman to have just trashed the books, but she went out of her way to find a safe place for them.

These pages of Haywood County Revolutionary War patriots are very appropriate for this anniversary year. His main source seems to be pension application records. He also referenced WC Allen's Annals of Haywood County.

The Sondley Library was compiled by Foster Alexander Sondley and was/is housed in Asheville's Pack Memorial Library. In the 1980s the large collection was culled to raise money to support Pack's North Carolina collection. Note the $5 price. Could it be that this book was part of that sale?

McLean wrote quite a bit about Waynesville's Love family. He was good about making corrections and additions when new information came his way.

And what about that beautiful handwriting. It's an archivist's dream.

McLean also copied the entire 1850 census for each county.

10/01/2026

Haywood County history can be found far from our county lines. This is the home of the Lenoir family near Lenoir, NC. It was built circa 1792 by William Lenoir. William was part of the 1776 Rutherford Expedition which came through Haywood County. His involvement is important because he kept one of the few journals of the expedition.

William's home was called Fort Defiance, not because it was a fort, but because there was a colonial era fort of that name on the property. The house has been beautifully restored and is open to the public.

The next connection to Haywood was through William's son Thomas. Tom married Louisa Avery, daughter of Waightstill Avery, holder of large property grants in western North Carolina. He offered his daughter and her husband land along the East Fork of the Pigeon River. They built a cabin there and established a farm. Seven children, including Thomas Isaac, were born here. As father William grew old, he asked Thomas to return to Fort Defiance to manage his affairs. The East Fork property was left in the hands of Thomas' slaves and overseers.

From the age of six, young Thomas Isaac lived at Fort Defiance. Then, in 1846 after a youth spent in school, traveling, and being somewhat unsettled, Tom's father asked him to go to Haywood to manage the East Fork Farm. We have a very good idea of life on the farm as the Lenoirs were dedicated letter writers. Many of the letters still exist in collections at Duke, Appalachian State, UNC, and in private hands.

Descendants of Tom Lenoir and of the enslaved persons who worked the farm still live in Haywood County. Part of the original farm is still in the hands of the family.

To learn more, read Carroll Jones' great book, "Captain Lenoir's Diary".

The house was inhabited by Lenoir descendants until 1961. Because the home remained in family hands, many of the original furnishings were preserved.

Thomas Isaac Lenoir's trunk. Before moving to Haywood County, Tom had taken a trip around the US with his brother.

Sara Lenoir's 1857 wedding shoes.

09/26/2026

Seeking information! This photo came to the Museum of Haywood County History from the collection of Waynesville mayor Henry Foy. Henry was a preserver of Haywood County history and we at the museum are amazed at some of the things donated by his family.

There is no writing on the reverse, but the thinking is that this team was in Waynesville. Why? Because Henry's collection is Waynesville centric. Don't let the 'C" s fool you. That stands for captain.

Interestingly, some of the players look older than high school age. And there are so many of them!

Has anyone ever seen this photo? Can you identify any of the players?

09/22/2026

In 1939 seventeen year-old Sara Glee Queen accompanied her father's square dance group to Washington, DC. Sam Queen's Soco Gap Dance Team was invited to dance at the White House for President and Mrs. Roosevelt and the King and Queen of Great Britain. It must have been a highlight in Sara 's life thus far, but she was to go on to have many more adventures in her life.

After the Shook-Smathers House in Clyde was renovated in 2004, Sara became one of the first docents in the newly opened Shook Museum. That was the forerunner of the Museum of Haywood County History, and today we honor her for her dedication to preserving Haywood County history.

Sara Queen Brown died on Saturday, September 19, 2026 at the age of 104. She will be greatly missed.

09/16/2026

In Clyde there is a real historic treasure - the Yankee Hipps Hotel aka the Shyland Camp for Girls. The hotel was built in 1898 by Lorenzo Hipps, who named it the Skyland Home Hotel. Locally known as the Yankee Hipps Hotel, the hotel was one of a large trend of grand hotels designed toward attracting the tourist trade.

It wasn't particularly successful; tourists wanted to stay closer to the happening nightlife in Waynesville. The property changed hands several times before landing in the capable hands of Susan Brown. Starting in 1917 Susan leased the hotel from which she ran a summer camp for girls. The hotel came up for sale in 1920, and Mrs. Brown put in a bid and won the property for $3000.

Susan Brown quickly made the property her own. She added features like a swimming pool to attact campers. As much as the hotel was a failure, the girls camp was a success. As Susan Brown aged, her children took over the management of the camp. It's still in the hands of the Brown family today.

What is truly amazing is that even though the Skyland Home Hotel was not successful, today it's the only one of the large Victorian hotels in Haywood County that survives. As the leaves fall this autumn you can look north of downtown Clyde to see the old building.

The staff of Skyland Camp invited the volunteers of the Museum of Haywood County History to visit and explore the grounds and the old hotel building. What a treat!

09/13/2026

Time is running out to see "Willie Morgan: Art in Time and Place ". Even if you have already been by the Museum of Haywood County History to see Mrs. Morgan's work, it is worth stopping by again to see the additions to the exhibition. Thanks to the generosity of owners of Willie's works, we have added twelve paintings to her show.

The paintings here are courtesy of the Coward family, and they are some of the best we have seen. After October 31 most of the works will return to their owners, so this is your last chance to see almost 60 of Willie's paintings in a gallery setting.

The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 3pm through October. We will also be happy to accommodate tours at other times with advance notice.

09/10/2026

Haywood County history is not confined to the borders of our county. In studying the effect of the American Revolution on Haywood, what becomes clear is the major effect was that many of the early settlers in Haywood had participated in the war, particularly in the battles in the Carolinas.

One of the last battles in the Carolinas was Guilford Courthouse. The importance of this battle is often overlooked in the retelling of the war. Although technically a British victory, the Americans inflicted so much damage on the British that Cornwallis, the British commander, realized he simply could not continue fighting Nathaniel Greene's troops in the South. This led eventually to Yorktown and American victory.

Like so many of the battles in the Carolinas, some of the Guilford Courthouse soldiers and their families eventually ended up in western North Carolina. Most biographies of Robert Love, who was so instrumental in the formation of Haywood County and Waynesville put him at Guilford Courthouse during the battle.

Many of the former militiamen and Continental soldiers went on to be leaders in Haywood. Having fought for their freedoms, they knew the kind of life they wanted to establish for themselves and their posterity.

09/02/2026

Here at the Museum of Haywood County History we try to let the public know when we are open but two signs saying we were open was not enough. So we added a third sign. It must have worked because last weekend was one of the busiest we have had all summmer!

We do have regular hours every Friday and Saturday through October, but we are happy to accommodate your group at almost any time if we have advance notice.

Admission is $10 with $2 discount for seniors, military and veterans, HCHGS patrons, and Shook or Smathers descendants. Children under 10 are free.

We do close for the season at the end of October, and that will be your last chance to view Willie Morgan: Art Through Time and Place. Quite unbelievably, twelve paintings have been added to the exhibition since it opened in July. Come by and vote for your favorite painting.

Address

178 Morgan Street
Clyde, NC
28721

Telephone

+18285641044

Website

http://www.nchchgs.org/mhch/

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