Clyde, NC

Clyde sits on the Pigeon River in Haywood County, with a town history built around the railroad, livestock, and the U.S. 19–23 corridor. The first train arrived in 1883, and farmers brought cattle to the town’s livestock yard to ship them out by rail. Clyde incorporated in 1889; the Shook-Smathers Museum, a house built around 1795, connects the town to Haywood County’s early Methodist history. Haywood Community College’s main campus is in Clyde and serves the county with professional-craft, trade, and technical programs. Haywood Early College High School is also on the campus. The town’s municipal building, water and sewer service, and town square sit near the same highway and river corridor that first made Clyde a shipping stop. Large portions of the residential area lie in the floodway and 100-year floodplain, a practical fact of the Pigeon River setting. The college campus, town square, and river now define Clyde’s local map.