Waynesville is a city of 10,000 people (2019) in the Mountain Region of western North Carolina. It grew as an agricultural, lumber and railroad hub, and is home to many historical buildings.

Understand

Main Street

History

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 were attacked at White Sulphur Springs (east of Waynesville) by a detachment of rebels from Thomas' Legion of Highlanders, who had been summoned by locals.

Get in

Waynesville is connected to Interstate 40 and the rest of southwestern North Carolina via the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, providing easy access from Knoxville and Asheville. The Great Smoky Mountains Expressway is a four-lane divided highway between Sylva and Exit 98 near West Waynesville. Then it is a four-lane freeway to Interstate 40 near Canton. It has exits for Hazelwood, West Waynesville and Russ Avenue through the town.

Asheville Regional Airport and Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport are the nearest airports. Asheville is about a 40-minute drive east, Knoxville is an hour and a half to the northwest.

See

Buildings and places listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

• 1 Boone-Withers House, 305 Church St. It was built about 1883, and is a 2½-story, Late Victorian style frame dwelling.  
• 2 Citizens Bank and Trust Company Building, 161 N. Main St. A two-story, brick and marble front rectangular building in the Classical Revival style  
• 3 Francis Grist Mill, N Main St, Walnut St, and Beech St. A functioning Grist Mill that was built in 1887. It is a 1½-story, heavy timber frame mill building sheathed in board-and-batten siding.  
• 4 Frog Level Historic District (roughly bounded by Commerce and Boundary Sts., Water St. and Richland Creek, Depot St., and 80 Commerce St). It includes Early Commercial architecture and Romanesque architecture. The buildings are predominantly one- and two-story brick or frame buildings dating from the first three decades of the 20th century. Notable buildings include the C.G. Logan Auto Company (c. 1915), the Medford Furniture Company (1912), the T.N. Massie & Son building (c. 1900), and the North Carolina National Guard Armory (1936).  

Haywood County Courthouse, c. 1932

• 5 Haywood County Courthouse, Main and Depot Sts. It was built in 1932, and is a three-story, ashlar stone veneered rectangular building in the Classical Revival style.  
• 6 Alden and Thomasene Howell House, 129 Woolsey Heights. It was built about 1905, and is a 2½-story, Shingle Style frame dwelling.  
• 7 Masonic Hall, 37 Church St. It is a three-story, Classical Revival style steel frame and brick building. The Three Seven is now a meeting and venue space  
• Charles and Annie Quinlan House, 274 S. Main St. It was built in 1901–1902, and is a 2½-story, transitional Queen Anne/Colonial Revival style frame dwelling. 
• 8 Clyde H. Ray Sr. House, 803½ Love Ln. It was built in 1901–1902, and is a 2½-story, Colonial Revival style frame dwelling with Queen Anne style design elements.  
• 9 Frank Smathers House (The Evergreens), 724 Smathers St. It was built in 1926, and is a 1 1/2-story, "H"-shaped, eclectic frame dwelling with Gothic Revival and Colonial Revival style design elements.  
• 10 Spread Out Historic District (roughly bounded by N Main St, Walnut St, and Beech St). It includes 67 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential section of Waynesville developed between about 1895 and 1958. It includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Bungalow/American Craftsman style architecture. Notable buildings include Waynesville Presbyterian Church (c. 1907) and two late-1920s apartment buildings.  

Former U.S. Post Office Building (now the Municipal Building) c. 1917

• 11 Waynesville Municipal Building (Former US Post Office Building), 16 S. Main St. The Waynesville Municipal Building is a historic post office building built in 1917. It is a two-story, brick rectangular building in the Classical Revival style with a one-story rear extension.  
• 12 Dr. J. Howell Way House, 301 S. Main St. The home is a large 3½-story brick dwelling retaining a lot of the woodwork, large carved fireplaces, and grand staircase with Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style design elements.  
• Waynesville Main Street Historic District (Rrughly bounded by Depot St., Church and E. Sts, Wall St., and Montgomery St). It includes 35 contributing buildings in the central business district of Waynesville. It includes notable examples of Classical Revival style architecture. 

Go next

Routes through Waynesville

Chattanooga ← Sylva ←

W  E

→ Asheville → Charlotte