Historic Hayesville, Inc. Centennial Exhibit
The Centennial Exhibit changes the display items with the seasons or for special occasions and events and has many unique items for purchase that make wonderful gifts. There are several rooms to explore, each offering a glimpse into the life and times of the area from long ago. The Exhibit is open on Fridays and Saturdays 11am to 4pm from April through December. Tours are available by request - please contact us by email at
Friends of Historic Hayesville volunteers start cleaning and setting up new displays early each year to get ready for the new season at the HHI Centennial Exhibit.
Click on the room names for a preview and watch for display updates.
Reception Area
Visitors are warmly greeted by volunteers in the reception area. The small, packed room is full of local area information and maps together with some very special, very old items, photos, books and ledgers. Many volunteers are long time residents and are happy to share stories of by gone times in Hayesville. The rooms are for self exploration but questions are encouraged and a volunteer can act as your guide.
Quilt Room
Historic Hayesville, Inc has a quilt room that is full of beautiful handcrafted quilts on loan for display. Of particular note is a Civil War era quilt and it has a story to tell.
The quilt pictured here is on loan from the Dan and Joey McGlamery Collection. It is estimated to be 160 years old!
The quilt was set together (bordered) with material from the wedding dress of Martha Ann McClure Killian. Martha Ann was the first wife of Dr. Daniel Wilkensen Killian and mother of Dr. Paul Bismark Killian. Martha Ann was also Dan's great-great grandmother. Martha Ann and Dr. Daniel Killian were married on August 27, 1861. She died in October or 1877 at the age of 37 and is buried in the family plot in Hayesville, NC.
This quilt survived the Civil War by being buried under the Killian family's smokehouse. It is a prized piece of Killian history. It was passed down to her son, Dr. Killian, to his daughter, Ora McGlamery, and to her son, Dan McGlamery.
Many traditional and modern quilt designs are also on display. The display changes from time to time so there is always something new to see. This "Pickles Quilt" is a wonderful example of modern quilt designs.
Christmas is a special time when the quilt exhibit includes seasonal masterpieces and there are gifts available for purchase.
Other items on display include books, photographs, paintings and even bumper stickers. There are some handcrafted items many of which have a story to tell too.
By way of example, this church model is made from the old split wooden shingles that used to cover the fixed awnings over the sidewalks in downtown Hayesville from the 1970’s to 2016. The model is based upon a historical photograph of the Union Hill Baptist Church on Burnt Schoolhouse Road, prior to its renovation and additions. The church roof lifts off to show the rows of pews etc. inside. This model was handcrafted by local attorney and historian, Gary Nichols.
Local photographer Ron Wallace has many examples of his work that are for purchase at HHI. Much of his work is used by various organizations in promotional materials, his works have been exhibited locally and been used by the Clay County Progress. The towns folk always look forward to his aerial drone shots of downtown events e.g. Christmas parade.
Another small handmade model shows an old bench outside The People’s Store that was located at 54 Church Street. Seated are Wayne "Cutworm" Phillips and a friend telling tall stories and taking a drink or two from a bottle in a paper bag. If you asked the locals back in the 70's where to go, they’d say the People’s Store. It was one of those places with a little bit of everything and a big extra – Wayne "Cutworm" Phillips. He was an entrepreneur, storyteller and fanatical buck dancer.
At the People’s Store, Cutworm Phillips made sure there was always music. Here is a real opportunity to step back in time to the early 70’s in downtown Hayesville.
Watch the video and SMILE.
It aired on WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News in 1977. The Traveler series with Andy Johnston was an Emmy award winning program that showcased amazing people, unusual things, local legends, food finds, outdoor activities, folk art, and family fun. In 2022 the Walter J. Brown Media Archives at the University of Georgia founded The Original Georgia Traveler -- Andy Johnston Collection to preserve and maintain the stories. HHI is so glad they did.
Author Marcia Barnes lives in Hayesville and is an accomplished, awarded writer. Her latest work "Blue Mountain" is a documented narrative on Southern Appalachia 1750 to 1900. This book and note cards from her illustrations are available at the Centennial Exhibit for purchase. It fits in very well with the HHI mission to preserve history of the area and makes for a fascinating read.
Hayesville History Room
One of the rooms in the Exhibit is dedicated to items and articles from times past in Hayesville. Stories and photographs of individuals and industries long gone make for very interesting eye-opening reading of how life used to be.
A visitor may find it difficult to believe that "back in the day", when the creation of the TVA Lake Chatuge was to displace 500 families, the project was put on hold because one of those families had a member who was seriously ill and could not be moved. The whole story can be read in the original newspaper articles that are available for view.
Artifacts and photographs highlighting the vibrant lumber industry and train line of yesteryear, fill shelves in the room.
On a top shelf you can see an exquisite local hand made lap dulcimer instrument – no wonder “music in the mountains” is synonymous with the Smokies and its people.
This was hand crafted by Gordon Parris, a local farmer who became a very accomplished craftsman. He designed and hand made many different mountain musical instruments including the famous Appalachian Mountains lap dulcimer. His instruments still play and all display his wonderful craftsmanship. He also hand-crafted furniture and gunstocks.
Veterans Room
Hayesville is the only town that participates in the NC Small Town Main Street program that has a room dedicated to veterans.
The Centennial Exhibit Veterans Room displays photographs and other war time memorabilia from the Civil War forward through the years to honor generations of soldiers.
Many photographs, together with uniforms, medals, weapons and other items of interest, have been loaned by local families for display.
Some of those photographs are placed around the Veterans Memorial on the square for the annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day activities in partnership with Allison Bristol VFW Post 6812 and the George Lee American Legion Post 532.
The Veterans Room also has a permanently set POW/MIA Missing Man Table - a solemn display. These tables are used at military and formal events to honor prisoners of war and service members missing in action. Each element on the table has a meaning.
TABLE SET UP:
- A small, round bistro table
- White tablecloth
- Single place setting, preferably all white
- Wine glass - inverted
- Salt shaker
- Slice of lemon on bread plate with a pile of spilled salt
- Small bud vase with a single stem red rose
- RED ribbon tied around the vase
- Candle - lit
- Empty chair
MEANING
The table is round -- to show our everlasting concern for our missing men.
The tablecloth is white -- symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to duty.
The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones and friends of these Americans who keep the faith, awaiting answers.
The vase is tied with a red ribbon, symbol of our continued determination to account for our missing.
A slice of lemon on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land.
A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers.
The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God.
The glass is inverted -- to symbolize their inability to share this toast.
The chairs are empty -- they are missing.
To honor all who have served or who are currently serving, area quilters gathered honor and memory squares and have assembled an "Honor" quilt.
Several different handmade tribute square designs were available, within which, inscriptions were clearly marked to honor those who served in conflicts or peacetime. The quilt contains a large display of names honoring those who served as early as the Revolutionary War to current military bases at home and abroad. It has been placed on public display in the (new) Clay County Courthouse.
The quilt is a fitting tribute.
Early Farmhouse Room
The Centennial Exhibit features an early kitchen/early home room complete with old but still working kitchen "appliances".
Many of the once essential tools of the kitchen are now unrecognized and baffle young visitors as to their use.
Look for the feedsack dresses. As early as 1890 the first food/feed sacks were being recycled for use as toweling, rags, or other functional uses on farms. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, flour sacks were produced in a variety of fabrics of tighter weave and often printed in various colors and designs.
These eye catching flour sacks were recycled for clothing particularly in rural areas and by 1925 the sacks were produced in dress-quality red-and-white checked yarn-dyed fabric and used as a selling point.
Feedsack dresses were a common and necessary article of clothing in rural US from WW I through the Great Depression, World War II, and even post-World War II to the mid 20th Century.
Many local families have loaned items for the education of all.