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Waynesville/Lake Junaluska
Waynesville:
The county of Haywood was established in March
of 1809. In the bill to create the county, Thomas
Love named seven men who would choose a place near
the center of the county to erect public buildings.
In reality, however, the decision was made by one
man – Robert Love, who made the group an offer it
wouldn’t refuse. Love offered 17 acres of property
in trust to what would be the county and its first
officials. That property would become the county
seat. It is the hill along which Waynesville’s Main
Street runs today.
Robert Love is also credited with
naming the county seat “Waynesville” after
Revolutionary War general “Mad Anthony” Wayne.
From a strictly military
perspective, Haywood County did not figure largely
in the Civil War. However, there are many stories of
wartime chronicled in the Haywood County history
books. Perhaps the most significant is this: With
news of General Lee's surrender traveling slowly,
the Civil War continued in Western North Carolina.
The final shots of that war, east of the Mississippi
River, were fired near Sulphur Springs, and General
James Martin surrendered honorably on May 9, 1865.
The Town of Waynesville was incorporated in 1871.
Waynesville began to see
development after arrival of the railroad in 1884.
The agricultural, lumber and tourism industries in
Waynesville and Haywood County began to thrive as
access to the west was opened up.
In July 1995 the Towns of
Hazelwood and Waynesville merged into one community
and continued to grow with a population today of
9,482.
With a great climate, growing
cultural environment, extensive recreation areas and
educational opportunities for all ages, Waynesville
receives a very high rating for quality of life
issues.
Lake Junaluska:
Lake Junaluska United Methodist Assembly was
conceived in 1908 in Chattanooga, TN during a
meeting of the Laymen’s Missionary Conference. This
group felt that a meeting and education center would
be beneficial for the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, to serve the Southeastern population.
Delegates decided that assembly ground should be set
apart for the purposes of Christian culture and the
dissemination of the principles of Christian
religion throughout the world. After searching for a
suitable location for the meeting grounds,
Waynesville was selected for its reputation as a
summer resort area, its accessibility and its
beauty. The Southern Assembly was incorporated on
June 30, 1910, with the purchase of land beginning
immediately thereafter. The site of the Assembly was
formerly rolling farmland next to Richland Creek,
which was dammed to make the Assembly grounds’ lake.
Today, the Junaluska Assembly is comprised of some
1,200 acres including the 200 acre lake.
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