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Waynesville is an incorporated town in Haywood County, North Carolina, about 30 miles or 50km southwest of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 9,232. It is the county seat of Haywood County. In 1995 the incorporated town of Hazelwood was dissolved, and was taken over by the town of Waynesville.
Waynesville is located just outside the Pisgah National Forest and is close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Geography
Waynesville is located at (35.483226, -82.994511).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 20.1 km² (7.8 mi²), all land.
Most of the town of Waynesville lies between 2500 and 3000 feet (750~900m) above sea level, and is nestled in a valley among 6000-foot (1800m) mountain peaks.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,232 people, 4,106 households, and 2,545 families residing in the town. The population density was 459.9/km² (1,191.8/mi²). There were 4,761 housing units at an average density of 237.2/km² (614.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.42% White, 3.31% African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.01% of the population.
There were 4,106 households out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.71.
In the town the population was spread out with 19.9% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 22.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,296, and the median income for a family was $36,404. Males had a median income of $26,374 versus $21,159 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,821. About 12.6% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.3% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Neighborhoods
Downtown - No longer the primary retail business center of the town that it once was, downtown Waynesville is now home to art galleries, cafes, small shops, banks, doctors, and the town government/administration buildings.
Frog Level - The historic district whose name came about because of frequent flooding of Richland Creek. In the 70s and 80s it was known as a seedy part of downtown, mainly due to a now-closed biker bar called The Tap Room. In recent years, the revitalization of Main Street has spread down into this area. A mural in the area depicts a frog sitting on a level.
Hazelwood - In 1995 due to financial troubles, the town of Hazelwood ceased to exist. It was taken over by the town of Waynesville.
Laurel Ridge - The Laurel Ridge neighborhood is connected to a country club of the same name, and features a golf course, pool, tennis courts, and upscale mountain homes.
West Waynesville - The industrial part of town. There are plans to build a large shopping center in the general area of the now vacant Dayco rubber plant.
Russ Avenue - The newer business district, which features restaurants, retail stores, auto dealerships, banks, grocery stores, and the like. Russ Avenue is the most traveled surface street in Haywood County.
The "Battle" of Waynesville
Waynesville was the scene of the last and perhaps most unusual skirmish in the eastern theater of the American Civil War. On May 6, 1865, Union Colonel William C. Bartlett's 2nd North Carolina (Federal) Mounted Infantry was ambushed at White Sulphur Springs (east of Waynesville) by a detachment of Confederates from the Thomas Legion of Indians and Highlanders. East of the Mississippi Thomas' Legion fired "The Last Shot" of the Civil War in White Sulphur Springs, North Carolina. The Legion consisted of white and Cherokee Indian soldiers who had served under Jubal A. Early during the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864, but had been sent back to their native North Carolina mountains to engage in guerrilla warfare against pro-Union bushwhackers.
The disoriented Union soldiers retreated into Waynesville, and on the evening of May 6th remaining elements of the Thomas Legion surrounded the town. The Cherokees lit numerous bonfires on the ridges above the town and engaged in war chants in an effort to intimidate the Federals. Like the biblical story of Gideon, the Legion created the illusion of entrapping the Federals with superior forces. Furthermore, on May 9, 1865, the Confederate commanders Gen. James Green Martin and Col. William Holland Thomas (for whom the Legion was named) negotiated a "surrender" in exchange for their soldiers' right to keep their arms for self-defense against the roving bushwhackers. These commanders had been made aware that Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston had already capitulated, and that continued hostilities would prove pointless.
Political Controversies
Waynesville attracted national media attention in 2005, when Chan Chandler, the pastor of East Waynesville Baptist Church, expelled nine church members because they had voted for John Kerry, the Democratic candidate in the 2004 presidential election. Forty other members of the church resigned in protest and the pastor was eventually forced to step down under pressure from his congregation and other members of the community. *
The town also received repeated media attention throughout the 1990s due to a lawsuit by the ACLU and local atheist Richard Suhre to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the Haywood County courthouse. The lawsuit was dismissed on several occasions, and formally ended with Suhre's death in 1999.
External links
"Waynesville, North Carolina"