An earthwork platform mound was built here, likely by people of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture about 1000 CE.

They built their townhouse on top of the mound, to provide a place for communal discussion and reaching consensus.

The next year South Carolina built a trading site in Quanassee to gain Cherokee commodities like deerskins in exchange for manufactured English goods.

A Coosa (Creek) war party "cut off" Quanassee in 1725, demolishing the village and enslaving or killing most of its residents.

[6] In October 1837, Tennessee militia established Fort Hembree near Hayesville to prepare for deporting the Cherokee.

The military abandoned Fort Hembree in June 1838, though it was reactivated in 1860 to train soldiers for the Civil War.

[8] After the Cherokee were forced to cede their land, European Americans settled in this rural area and took over what is now known as the Spikebuck Town Mound and Village Site.

In February 1861 the legislation to organize a new county was introduced and passed by the North Carolina General Assembly.

In mid-2007, courthouse operations moved to a new justice center built 1 mile (1.6 km) west of downtown.

[8][11] Truett Memorial, the town's first Baptist church, dates to 1850; its extant stone building opened in 1949.

[8][11] Tiger’s Store downtown is thought to be the oldest continuously operating business in Clay County.

Traveling music groups including Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs, Carl Story, Minnie Pearl, and Hank Williams performed at Hayesville High School in the 1940s and 50s.

[15] The fire started at DeWease’s Hardware Store and was reportedly set intentionally to collect insurance money.

[11] Clay County is featuring Cherokee heritage sites as part of its community redevelopment to emphasize its unique character.

[16] Clay County's public library started in a small room on the second floor of a building on Hayesville's town square.

[24] Despite being a small town, in the 1980s Hayesville gained the only community theatre in far-west North Carolina.

Born in Sweden in 1904, Lidseen moved with her parents to Chicago and studied fine arts at Wellesley College.

Due to the community's enthusiastic response, she decided that the area needed a professional theatre venue and built a three-story, 250-seat playhouse near downtown.

After performing more than 100 plays at the venue, the Licklog Players moved to a strip mall and shut down after their 2014 season.

Today the Peacock Performing Arts Center offers dozens of events per year, ranging from comedies to concerts.

[35] The oldest and largest folk school in the United States, the John C. Campbell Folk School, is located in Brasstown, an unincorporated community that exists partly in Cherokee County and partly in Clay County.

[36][37] The school focuses on creative folk arts for all ages and offers community dance and concert entertainment.

[38] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2), all land.