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History
One significant troop movement during the American
Revolution set the destiny of this county and the
generations that would claim it. That movement, the
march of Gen Griffith Rutherford and his 2,400
troops against the Cherokee, introduced future
settlers to the beauty of the Appalachian
Mountains. Many of those men returned to settle
this region after the Revolution – the region became
Haywood County.
At the end of the Revolution, the boundary line of
Cherokee territory was along the Blue Ridge. In
1783, a treaty placed the boundary along the Pigeon
River, opening a part of Haywood County to
settlement. Meanwhile, Congress had agreed that
soldiers and officers who had served to the end of
the war would receive land. Those granted land
began to arrive in 1785. In 1796, a land grant to
David Allison for 250,240 acres included much of
what is now Haywood County. Another land speculator
of that period was Robert Love who, with his brother
Thomas, began amassing their own land fortunes in
this region and west into Tennessee.
Haywood County was officially separated from
Buncombe through a bill introduced by Gen. Thomas
Love in 1808 and the new county of Haywood became a
reality in March of 1809. The County was named in
honor of the state treasurer, John Haywood, who
ironically never lived in or visited the region.
In 1834, Robert Love purchased another significant
land holding – the remaining portion of the Allison
land grant. Continuing his father’s land
speculation, James Robert Love had accumulated a
total of 375,000 acres by 1865. To put this in
perspective, consider that Haywood County today
contains about 345,560 acres. That’s about 30,000
acres less than a single family’s total holdings 140
years ago.
For a complete history of Haywood County, visit the
Haywood County Library North Carolina Room.
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