In 1838, the Presbyterian Church used a building at Fort Hembree, until a new church was built on the crest of a ridge now occupied by the current Presbyterian/Baptist Cemetery on Robins Rest Loop, off Fort Hembree Road. As recorded in the Commissioners’ Board Minutes on July 20, 1874, the Presbyterian congregation purchased a lot in the town of Hayesville on which to build the new church and hold services, which it did until 1965, when the church sold the property to the County Government to build a new jail. Pictured is the modern brick church that was later constructed at another site in town, 73 Hiawassee Street (Padgett, 1861 to 1961: Centennial History of Clay County, North Carolina).
In 1838, the Methodists also built their first church, which was a small wood-framed building in the center of the Hayesville’s first cemetery, property that is now the Hayesville Methodist Cemetery on Highway 69 South. In 1844 the official name was “The Methodist-Episcopal Church.” However, when internal factions struggled over the slavery issue and secession from the United States, the church divided, resulting in two branches of the Methodist Church in Clay County: “The Methodist-Episcopal Church South (referred to as “M.E. Church”) and the “Methodist-Episcopal Church North.” The Northern Methodists purchased property from the Baptist Church and built a new sanctuary, located on the site where the Church of God now stands on Fort Hembree Road. And the Southern Methodists held services in a building close by that was once near the center of the existing Presbyterian /Baptist Cemetery on Robins Rest Loop (Ibid.).
An interesting note: In 1887 the Methodist-Episcopal Church South purchased Hicks Academy in Hayesville and ran the school, which later became a college (for more information on the history of changing ownership of Hicks Academy, see Chapter on Schools). Fifty-two years later, in 1939, the North and the South churches finally united. The parent organization became “The Evangelical United Brethren Church”, until its name changed in 1968 to “The United Methodist Church.”
The present United Methodist Church has had several locations in its historical development. After the first wooden structure, the Methodists constructed a small building in downtown Hayesville on the corner of Church and Sanderson Streets, which was eventually sold in l937 to fund the construction of a rock church on Hiawassee Street. This building was completed and dedicated on July 25, l943.
An addition was built in 1991, called “The Gathering Place”; then in 2004 the church again expanded by attaching a 350-seat sanctuary to the east side of the rock building (pictured).
The first Baptist Church, built in Clay County in 1840, was located near the other two churches, also near Fort Hembree, at the approximate site of the present-day Church of God. Services were held at this location until 1904, when the property was sold to the Methodist-Episcopal Church North. At that time, property for a new Baptist Church was purchased between what is now Hiawassee and Pass Streets. The first service in this one-story, one-room structure was held on July 26, 1906. With a few renovations throughout the years, this building served as the Baptist Church until 1947, when it was dismantled to make room for a new Hayesville First Baptist Church, completed and dedicated on September l0, 1950. The name was later changed to “Truett Memorial Baptist Church” in honor of the late Dr. George W. Truett, native son, who was an acclaimed international Evangelist (information provided by the Church office) (For details about Dr. Truett’s accomplishments, see Chapter on Outstanding Citizens.)
In 1998 the old sanctuary was designated as a chapel, when a new yellow brick structure was completed and the first services were held on Easter Sunday that year. This new church is a multiple-purpose building housing a large sanctuary (seating capacity of 500), classrooms, and supportive areas. The basement area is used as a large gathering place with a kitchen. Shown here: Truett Baptist Church and the African American Baptist Church on Fort Hembree Road.
In his book, A History of Clay County, North Carolina, Guy Padgett gives
a detailed history of the following churches: Baptist: Truett Memorial Baptist and Mount Pleasant; United Methodist: Oak Forest, Sweetwater, Hickory Stand, Ogden Chapel (now closed), and Tusquittee, which is no longer in existence—razed and the Tusquittee Volunteer Firemen now occupy the site.
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