Haywood County has 13 peaks above 6,000 feet. They are:
Shining Rock-6,010 feet
Grassy Cove Top-6,055 feet
Tennent Mountain-6,040 feet
Black Balsam Knob-6,214 feet
Sams Knob-6,055 feet
Rheinhart Knob-6,095 feet
Richland Balsam-6,410 feet
Cold Mountain-6,030 feet
Waterrock Knob 6,292 feet
Mt. Lynn Lowery-6,290 feet
Plott Balsam-6,088 feet
Mt. Guyot-6,621 feet
Big Cataloochee-6,180 feet
Other Facts
Haywood County has the highest average elevation of any county in the East.
Haywood’s rivers and springs are its own: all water in Haywood County originates here.
Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County is part of the National Forest Scenic Byway, a 79-mile loop.
Haywood County is a Civil War site: Kirk’s Raid occurred here in 1865.
Canton was originally Cherokee Indian Territory. A post office first opened here in 1837 and the community at the time was named Pigeon River.
Haywood’s oldest church, now First Baptist Church in Canton, was established in 1801 as Locust Old Fields Church.
The railroad came to Canton in 1881 and Waynesville in 1882.
Novelist, poet and educator Fred Chappell grew up in Canton and graduated from high school there in 1954.
Two of the world’s largest sapphires have been found in Canton’s Old Pressley Sapphire Mine, now open to visitors.
Clyde’s 1795 Shook House was home of Jacob Shook. It was used for church services. Bishop Asbury was the first Methodist Bishop consecrated in America and used the Shook House for services.
Haywood County has 15 public schools - 9 elementary, schools, 3 middle schools, 2 high schools and 1 alternative high school.
In 1891, Haywood County got its first library when a group of Waynesville women started the Waynesville Library. in 1915, the Canton Library formed under the guidance of the Canton Woman's Club.