Hayesville is a town in Clay County, North Carolina, and the seat of one of the state's smallest and most westerly counties, tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains near the Georgia border. Its population was 461 at the 2020 census, though the town serves a county of about 11,000 residents. Hayesville was incorporated on March 12, 1913, with S. E. Hogsed as its first mayor, and its historic courthouse square anchors a community whose identity is tied to the mountains, the water, and the land around it. Water defines the Hayesville area. Lake Chatuge, a roughly 7,000-acre reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Chatuge Dam in the early 1940s, straddles the North Carolina-Georgia state line and provides boating, fishing, and lakefront living. The Hiwassee River, which feeds the lake, is known for its trout fishing and is a favorite for kayaking, canoeing, and tubing. Beyond the water, the Nantahala National Forest, Jackrabbit Mountain, and the Fires Creek area offer hiking, mountain biking, and access to some of the most scenic high country in the southern Appalachians. Life in Hayesville is quiet and community-centered. Clay County Schools, the county's only district, operates four schools on a central campus in the town, giving it an outsized civic role despite its size. Retirees, families, and second-home owners are drawn by the mild four-season climate, the lake and river recreation, and the slower pace, with the Georgia mountain towns of Hiawassee and Young Harris close by. For buyers, Hayesville offers a genuine small-town mountain seat with lake and river access and easy reach into the surrounding national forest.